The ministers agreed that a coordinated approach was needed at both the national and the European level as was a joint response to the crisis in the form of short and long-term measures for preserving employment and demographic measures designed to protect those age groups and regions affected the most by the crisis, the Croatian Ministry of Demography, Family, Youth and Social Policy said in a statement.
Croatian Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic said that the European ministers had shown commitment to further dealing with the impact of the pandemic on the economy, labour market and social protection systems.
The virtual conference, held on the initiative of the Croatian EU Presidency, was also attended by EU Vice-President for Demography and Democracy, Dubravka Suica, Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, and representatives of social partners at EU level.
The competent ministers presented measures that have been or will be implemented in EU member-states to alleviate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and exchanged opinions on demographic challenges, the Croatian ministry said in a statement.
The European Commission is expected to soon publish a report on the impact of demographic changes, and Croatian Demography Minister Vesna Bedekovic expects it to help define the most efficient ways of coping with those changes, the ministry said.