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Mr President,

a warm thanks to the President of the European Commission for officially opening this event and laying out there all of those issues that we will grapple with over the course of the next two days.

I thought it was very reassuring to hear from her the word skills come up so often.

Given that it was front and center of your interests at this event, just as I let the Commission President leave and before we move to our next speaker, whom she has already referenced, just a moment,

spirit of partnership was what she talked about, who in the room is a trade union or social partner,

who is representing trade unions or social partners in this room, raise your hands. Who is representing government at any level?

Where do we have local or regional government in the room, where do we have policy makers in the room? Who is here from civil society?

Where are civil society actors, fantastic, and where are our employers? OK, I have kept it very simple.

I have just cited those who our Commission President talked about as the spirit of partnership and also,

I quote, Europe's social model in action.

Now, it is my pleasure in just a moment to invite to join us remotely Enrico Letta, president of the Jacques Delor Institute, former Prime Minister of Italy,

he's also Dean of the IE School of Politics, Economics and Global Affairs in Madrid and as you all well know,

author of the April 2024 high-level report on the future of the single market. So welcome Enrico Letta.

So thank you so much, it's a delight to have you here, time is of the essence, so I shall directly hand over the floor to you, thank you. Thank you very much.

It's really a pleasure for me to be here and to try to add some ideas.

I am very pleased also because I heard very important thoughts and I heard very important references,

first of all to a European pride.

I want to say, at the beginning of this intervention that, I mixing languages.

I am really, Trying to be a militant of saying bastard.

EU bashing and the fact that we have to be very proud of some of the most important assets,

some of the most important values, and social Europe, Europe of the people is part of them.

I start by saying that my report, the name of my report,

the title Much More Than a Market, was inspired exactly. By Jacques Delors.

Last time I met him before the beginning of the journey for my report,

he told me to write the report, do not lock yourself in Brussels.

You have to go everywhere in Europe and not limit yourself visiting the capitals.

He told me in the capitals you will meet a lot of ambassadors.

They will tell you everything is going very well.

No, you have to go in the regions, in the provinces, in the small cities, because you have to meet the people, because the single market is the people,

and this is why I wanted in the report to highlight the most important part of the single market,

that is the reference to the people.

Of course, the people is one of the four freedoms, but we know very well.

That it is not enough to this reference.

The mobility of workers, the voluntary workers' mobility is key for the single market we know very well because it was built on four freedoms,

and labor mobility must be treated by the same political and economic importance as capital and goods. I would say.

Mobility strengthen productivity, supports innovation,

and helps allocate talent where it is most needed.

It was so important to listen, talking about the union of skills.

It will be one of the most important achievements during this legislature,

and I'm sure that Vice President Mînzatu, thank you very much for your commitment, for your talent. You will be successful in that.

The Skills portability Initiative is an important step forward.

Making qualifications, certifications, and skills more transparent and transferable reduces friction and empowers workers to move voluntarily and confidently,

but legal freedom. To move is not enough. Institutional barriers still fragment our labor market.

Unjustified non-compete clauses immobilize workers even when their skills are in high demand.

Restrictive occupational licensing and highly divergent recognition systems across member states slow down mobility and create artificial shortages.

We speak of fair competition for goods and capital,

but labor markets are equally vulnerable to anti-competitive behavior.

No poach agreements and wage fixing agreements reduce bargaining power, depress wages,

and prevent talent from reallocating to the most productive firms. The harms is equivalent to traditional cartels.

Workers lose fair market conditions and the economy loses dynamism.

A competitive Europe cannot tolerate labor market practices trap that trap workers or suppress wages. Mobility must be free, fair, and protected.

And at the same time, We have to balance mobility with the freedom to stay. I want to tell you a story.

When I was traveling around Europe to prepare the report, I had some meetings with a group of citizens,

and in some of these meetings I met people telling me in different languages,

but always with the same big meaning. Europe is for you, referring to me.

Europe is for you because you are someone who is talking another language in this moment,

who is working in another country that is not your country of origin. You like mobility, you like being cosmopolitan. Europe is for you.

And many times I heard Europe is not for me. Because I was born here. I was retired here.

My children were born here and I will die here. I speak only my language. At least my dialect.

I don't want to move to work and I don't want to travel. I don't take planes.

This idea of the freedom to stay is for me a fundamental topic for the European Union of the future.

If we are not able to ensure the freedom to stay with all the social aspects of the freedom to stay,

it will be very complicated.

To have a European Union beloved by our people,

and it will be very easy to use Europe as a scapegoat of national and regional problems.

And the freedom to stay is strictly related to services of general interest and is strictly related to quality jobs.

I'm very happy and I really support Roxana Minzato's work on quality jobs,

and I was very happy listening to President von der Leyen pushing in that direction. We have a great opportunity.

I would like to End up this intervention with this momentum that we are having.

The momentum is related to the fact that the European Commission is elaborating and launching this strategy on the one market,

one Europe.

One Europe, one market is the most important mission for us.

If we are one Europe and 27 markets, we are a weak Europe.

If we have one Europe and 27 markets,

we have not quality jobs, but we have poor jobs.

We have to work to make possible this one Europe, one market in this year 206.

It is possible I saw with my eyes the determination of the 27 leaders and President Costa and President von der Leyen in Alden Wiessen.

The determination in considering that in reality today the most effective reaction to all challenges that we are receiving from abroad,

first from the US administration, is one Europe, one market,

strengthening our market, creating the one market strategy.

With all the different aspects of the integration of the European market,

it is absolutely fundamental today to be competitive in the world of giants.

If we are still fragmented, we will lose this competition.

This is why The narrative that I proposed to the leaders. Is a narrative with a third step. We had the common market until '92. Then we had the single market.

Now we have to enter into the one market, and this is why this one market act,

I hope, will be comprehensive of the most important achievements that are today necessary.

Is the moment to relaunch the social dimension of European integration is the moment to get the one market strategy. I think this momentum is there.

The momentum that was created by the international situation and that was created by the decisions and the thoughts of the Alden Wiesen retreat is there,

and I saw the Commission, President von der Leyen, Vice President Mînzatu,

the Commissioners and all the people working with the Commissioners determined to get these results.

But it is not, and this is my conclusion, only in the hands of officials.

Is As Jacques Delors said, A matter of the people. The single market is the people.

So as citizens, as I am, as we all are. We have to fight.

We have to be vocal, and our fight for one Europe, one market, is the fight for the future of Europe, a competitive,

fair Europe, a social Europe that can be at world level fighting for our values,

the European values, European pride that today has.

Had until now and I'm sure will have a great moment. I thank you very much.