3.-4. novembril 2004 toimub Dublinis Euroopa Elamis- ja Töötingimuste Parandamise Fondi Euroopa Muutuste Jälgimise Keskuse eestvedamisel Fondi Foorum 2004, millel seekord pealkirjaks

Living to work - working to live Tomorrow's work-life balance in Europe

* An average of 23% of EU citizens complain they are too tired to carry out household tasks when they come home from work.
* About 15% of people in the new Member States report difficulties in fulfilling family responsibilities because of time spent at work.
* Women, more often than men, experience problems in balancing work and family responsibilities.
* People who work more than 48 hours a week generally report being less able to reconcile their working and non-working lives.

These data from the Foundation’s recent European Quality of Life survey, highlight one of the key challenges facing Europe’s policymakers today. How can we balance worklife commitments while moving towards the full employment target of the Lisbon agenda? While aiming to create more and better jobs, policymakers across the 25 countries of the new European Union are increasingly faced with the pressing issues of flexibility and work, pension reform, time management and labour market restructuring.

Must we work more and longer to maintain our ailing pension systems?
How do we offset the effects of an ageing workforce?
Should we encourage women back into the workforce at all costs?
Who will then look after our children? How will we care for our parents?
These issues, and many more, will be examined at this year’s Foundation Forum 2004 which brings together high-level European representatives from the social partners, government and civil society, as well as experts in the field to provide fresh and timely insights into the future direction of this crucial debate.

The Foundation will reimburse travel costs on presentation of tickets and boarding passes. Airfares will be reimbursed on the basis of the most economical fare in economy class available at the time of the invitation, allowing for travel on weekdays. If exceptionally, for reasons beyond the control of participants, seats have to be booked in a higher class, the participants must produce supporting evidence from the travel agency.

Draft Programme

Day 1: 3 November, Dublin Castle, Dublin City Centre

08.00 Registration

09.00 Opening of Foundation Forum II

• Willy Buschak, Acting Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
• Micheál Martin TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ireland
• Vladimír Špidla, Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs*

10.00 Time for work and time for life – Challenges in the new Europe

• Chair: Acting Director of the Foundation, Willy Buschak
• Speaker: Dr Vlado Dimovski, Minister for Labour, Family and Social Affairs, Slovenia

Minister Dimovski sets out the challenges and dilemmas facing governments - 20 minutes presentation and 10 minutes for questions

10.30 Coffee

11.00 Work-life balance in Europe – is there a right answer?

• Moderator: Dermot McCarthy, Secretary to Irish Government
• Panel:
  - Gerd Andres, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Ministry of Economy and Labour, Germany
  - Avril McDermott, Head of Human Resources, Hewlett-Packard, Ireland
  - Diane Perrons, Director of the Gender Institute, London School of Economics, UK
  - Juliane Bir, ETUC Youth
  - Tjark de Lange, President of YES for Europe, European Confederation of Young Entrepreneurs

The panellists will debate Minister Dimovski’s contribution, starting with a five-minute contribution. Dr Dimovski will take part in the panel. Following the panel discussion, the debate will be opened to the floor.

13.00-14.30 Luncheon

14.30 (includes break) Four parallel workshops/debates:

Implementation, initiatives and actions that can anticipate the future scenarios - each workshop will have a moderator and a rapporteur.

Debate room 1: Do we need to work longer – Time over the life course

• Moderator: John Bowman
• Introduction: Hubert Krieger, European Foundation
• Discussants:
  - Jan Grönlund, Permanent Secretary, Ministry for Industry, Trade and Employment, Sweden
  - Anneke Goudswaard, TNO, The Netherlands
  - Robert Ball, Head of HR Development, MG Rover, UK
• Rapporteur: David Foden

Debate room 2: Time and flexibility – How working time can reconcile work-life issues

• Moderator: Shane Kenny
• Introduction: Agnès Parent-Thirion, European Foundation
• Discussants:
  - Linda Hantrais, Loughborough University
  - Fritz Verzetnitsch, Confederation of Trade Union, Member of the Parliament, Austria
  - Ainars Baštiks, Minister for Children and Family Affairs, Latvia
• Rapporteur: Greet Vermeylen, European Foundation

Debate room 3: Investing in work-life balance – a win-win situation?

• Moderator: Willis Goldbeck
• Introduction: Sabrina Tesoka, European Foundation
• Discussants:
  - Wolfgang Seidl, ACCOR, France
  - Reija Lilja, Labour Institute for Economic Research, Finland
  - Lucy Fallon-Byrne, National Centre for Partnership and Performance, Ireland
  - Sandra Bonfiglioli, Professor of Land Science, University of Milan, Italy
• Rapporteur:

Debate room 4: Work and care – payback to the elderly or investment in a new generation?

• Moderator: Bob Collins
• Introduction: Robert Anderson, European Foundation
• Discussants:
  - Katalin Levai, MEP, Hungary
  - Gail Hunt, National Alliance for Care-Giving, USA
  - Niels Ploug, Danish National Institute of Social Research, Denmark
• Rapporteur: Henrik Litske, European Foundation

17.30 Balancing work and life

• Speaker: Bertie Ahern TD, Taoiseach, Ireland

18.00 End of Day One

20.00 Dinner at Dublin Castle, hosted by Irish Government

Day 2: 4 November, Raymond-Pierre Bodin Conference Centre, European Foundation, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18

09.15 Welcome to the Foundation

• Jan Willem Van den Braak, Chair of the Foundation's Administrative Board

09.30 An economy or a society – where do we live and work?

• John Bowman, broadcaster, discusses this topic with:
  - Michal Boni, Polish Employers Confederation
  - Lord Bill Brett, Director of ILO for UK and Republic of Ireland
  - Jeannine Rupp, Director of Personal and Professional Life Integration, Kirkpatrick Lockhart Law Firm, USA

10.00 (includes break) Moving the work-life agenda forward

• Moderator: Shane Kenny

Debate Forum
Some 20 people (representing the mix of Forum participants including the national Ministers, EU Social Partners, the Commission, the Irish Government, the EU Parliament) start the debate in the inner ring of the conference centre.

12.30 What next?

• Acting Director Willy Buschak, European Foundation

13.00 End of Forum and lunch

Lisainfo: Eve Päärendson, 6999304, eve@ettk.ee.