The meeting was held in Struga, North Macedonia on June 29 and 30, 2022 and gathered 12 members from the Western Balkans and European Union (EU) participating in Employment and Social Affairs Platform (ESAP) 2 regional project. ESAP 2 is funded by the EU and implemented by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

The meeting kicked off with findings of research conducted on Universal Labour Guarantee in North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Romania, and Poland.  It then continued with the latest developments related to employment termination and the effects these developments have or are expected to have on employment relationships. Both discussions were moderated by Cristina Mihes, Head of the ILO Labour Law and Reform Unit at Geneva.

Valerie Van Goethem, Labour Law Specialist from ILO Labour Law and Reform Unit in Geneva presented insight into EPLEX, database containing legal information on the regulation of temporary contracts and employment termination at the initiative of the employer. Van Goethem also presented preliminary results of an ILO survey on changes of regulatory interventions in relation to employment termination in COVID-19 context.

CEELEX is a legal database containing labour and industrial relations related legal texts. ESAP 2 project will support national legal experts to update CEELEX and generate knowledge in the field of labour and industrial relations based on the collected information.