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European Commission Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu speaks at "Europe's Quest for Competitiveness" on 19 May 2025. Photo: POLITICO Europe

Video: Europe's Quest for Competitiveness

May 2025 -1 minute read

Watch the full video of "Europe's Quest for Competitiveness", our event with POLITICO Europe in Brussels on 19 May 2025.

Watch the full video of "Europe's Quest for Competitiveness"

Europe needs every worker it can get. Investing in Roma youth isn’t charity—it’s common sense.

That was the message our president Zelko Jovanovic delivered at “Europe’s Quest for Competitiveness”, co-hosted with POLITICO Europe, as he introduced our new report, The Ten Billion Euro Opportunity, which shows that training Roma youth for shortage occupations could pay off in just 1–4 years—and add billions Europe’s GDP.

The programme continued with a keynote interview with European Commission Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu, who emphasised the importance of investing in skills.

This was followed by a panel discussion. Barbara Rambousek (EBRD), Georg Emil Riekeles (European Policy Centre), Didrik de Schaetzen (ALDE Party) and Andriana Sukova (European Commission), who spoke about how the EU can deliver on its competitiveness agenda through investment, labour market participation and a stronger role for small businesses.

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Roma Foundation for Europe

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