EESC’s conference – Including newcomers: from European to the local context

How is the EU measuring up when it comes to integrating newcomers to our societies? Whole-COMM will participate to the conference, organised by the EESC’s permanent group on immigration and integration, which aims to examine the success and lessons learned of integration and inclusion as an EU policy as well as a reality facing many cities and regions in the EU.

Distinguished panels from EU policy, social partners, cities and think tanks will help answer this question.

Hybrid conference via Interactio, EESC – JDE62 – Thursday, 19 October 2023 from 9:30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.


09.00 a.m. – 09.30 a.m. | Testing possibility for the Interactio tool

09.30 a.m. – 09.35 a.m. | Welcome and Introduction

  • Cristian Pîrvulescu, President of the Study Group on Immigration and Integration (IMI) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

09.35 a.m. – 10.25 a.m. | Panel I: The policy and the data: what is the current general landscape on integration?

Moderator: Cristian Pîrvulescu, Group II, EESC

  • Giacomo Solano, Head of Research, Migrant Integration Policy Index, Migration Policy Group (tbc)
  • Giuliana Benedetto, Policy Officer, Legal pathways and Integration, DG Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
  • Klára Fóti, Research Support Officer, Working life Unit, Eurofound

Q&A

10.25 a.m. – 11.45 a.m. | Panel II: On the ground, what’s happening in member states?

Moderator: Paul Soete, Group I, EESC

  • Linda Ozolz, Vice Mayor, City of Riga, Latvia
  • Diana Botescu, Head of Unit for migration and refugee policies, City of Berlin, Germany
  • Evi Voet, Associate Director for the team on asylum and refugees, City of Ghent, Belgium (tbc)
  • Andrea Pettrachin, Whole-COMM project, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Italy

Q&A

11.45 a.m. – 12.00 p.m. | Coffee break

12.00 p.m. – 01.00 p.m. | Panel III: Critical view from social partners and civil society

Moderator: José Antonio Moreno Díaz, Group II, EESC

  • Marta Machado, Deputy Director General, HOTREC
  • Edwin Atema, The Federation of Dutch Trade Unions (FNV) (tbc)
  • Frohar Poya, Research and Outreach, European Network of Migrant Women
  • Öndercan Muti, Project Coordinator, Population Europe, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Q&A

01.00 p.m. | Closing of conference

Participants can speak and listen to ES/EN/IT/RO

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