The Minister of Labor and Social Security is traveling to Brussels Niki Kerameos is traveling to Brussels to participate in a high-level event on the topic: “Greece’s National Social Pact: A European Model for Social Dialogue” on Thursday, June 18.
The discussion will be streamed live online at 12:00 p.m. Greek time, and its goal is to explore what Greece’s tripartite agreementfor the future of collective bargaining in Europe and how a renewed social dialogue can contribute to more resilient, competitive, and inclusive economies.
The keynote speaker at the event will be Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while Ms. Kerameos will participate in a roundtable discussion with the Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Readiness, Roxana Minzatu and the President of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Séamus Boland.
The event is being held to mark the historic step taken by our country in late November 2025 with the signing of the National Social Agreement by all National Social Partners, representatives of workers and employers. The Agreement paved the way for the signing of new collective bargaining agreements and the extension of existing ones, resulting in wage increases and greater protection for workers. At the same time, Greece’s success was met with an enthusiastic reception by the European Commission, as it served as a powerful example to emulate, a “source of inspiration for social dialogue throughout Europe,” as the responsible European Commissioner, Roxana Minzatu, characteristically stated, at the December Council of Ministers of Labor and Social Security.
This was followed, in March 2026, Ms. Minzatu visited Greece, where, following a meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Minister Kerameos, she commended our country for the reforms that have been implemented in the labor market, while also having the opportunity to visit facilities of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security and the Public Employment Service.
It is worth noting that the enactment of theNational Social Agreement has yielded tangible results in the labor market, as significant Collective Bargaining Agreementssuch as in the restaurant and confectionery sectors, which provide for wage increases and benefits for nearly 500,000 workers in the relevant sectors.
