EPP-CoR members underlined that the Quality Jobs Roadmap must be anchored in local realities and supported by the Union of Skills initiative, if it is to deliver for citizens across Europe.
Emil Boc, Mayor of Cluj-Napoca and European Committee of the Regions (CoR) rapporteur on the Union of Skills Strategy, stressed that the Roadmap must go beyond technical rules. “The Quality Jobs Roadmap means more than rules. It means respect for work, motivation for young people, protection for the vulnerable, and a competitive economy for all. The Quality Jobs Roadmap is the bridge between workers’ potential and Europe’s future.”
Boc underlined the centrality of skills to Europe’s transformation: “The Union of Skills plays a central role. Without skilled people, we cannot create good jobs, tackle labour shortages, or face the digital and green transitions. Local and regional authorities are not just implementers — we are architects of this transformation.”
Speaking on behalf of the EPP-CoR Group, Csaba Borboly, Vice-President of Harghita County Council, welcomed the Commission’s initiative and linked it to the European Pillar of Social Rights. “For us, quality jobs mean three things: fair working conditions with decent wages, work-life balance, and safe environments; digitalisation with responsibility, where new tools empower workers rather than expose them to risks from AI or algorithmic management; and fair transitions, where reskilling and worker involvement ensure no one is left behind.”
Borboly also called for strong local involvement in shaping and implementing the Roadmap: “We have learned in the CoR SEDEC commission, through our Skills opinion, that anticipating labour market change requires both data and the knowledge of local actors. Policies made in Brussels only succeed if they work on the ground, in cities and regions.”
Both Boc and Borboly stressed that diverse forms of work, from agency to platform jobs, must be fairly regulated, and that social protection for all remains a cornerstone of public trust.