Skip to main content
Shaping Europe’s digital future
News article | Publication

Appointment of members of the High-Level Expert Group on the Impact of the Digital Transformation on EU Labour Markets

On 7 May 2018, the European Commission (Directorates-General for Communication Networks, Content and Technology – CONNECT and for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion – EMPL) announced the creation of the high-level expert group on the impact of the digital transformation on EU labour markets.

Prof. Dr. Maarten Goos (University of Utrecht) was appointed as Chair of the group by Commissioners Mariya Gabriel and Marianne Thyssen.

The Commission opened a call for expressions of interest for 9 other members of the group. Acting in a personal capacity, independently and in the public interest, the members of the high-level expert group (HLG) shall provide advice to the Commission and, as appropriate, other parties, including:

  • Analysis of how to shape the transformation and what framework conditions to be put in place to make it smooth and human-centric;
  • Identification of the potential social impacts (risks and opportunities) of digitalisation, in particular the large-scale application of artificial intelligence, and the expected job losses and gains;
  • Developing responses to the impact digitalisation has on skills requirements;
  • Exploring viable ways to manage digitalisation's impact on labour law and working conditions;
  • Identifying ways to use digitalisation (in particular artificial intelligence) to make labour markets more inclusive;
  • Assessing the impact of digitalisation on income distribution and existing inequality and ways to respond to it;
  • Defining ways to adapt social security systems to ensure a high level of social protection for all forms of employment;
  • Evaluating mechanisms to adapt the tax and benefit system to ensure that fair contributions are paid and loopholes are avoided e.g. revision of taxation models;
  • Breaking down the potential effects of digitalisation by industry and sector of the economy.

The call for expressions of interest, which closed on 4 June 2018, resulted in more than 80 applications from a broad range of experts across Europe. Following an internal selection process, the Directors-General of DG CONNECT and DG EMPL have decided to appoint as members of the HLG the following persons, who have all accepted:

  1. Mr Morten Binder, CEO of HK, Danish Unemployment Insurance Fund
  2. Ms Katarina Ćurković, Head of career guidance and counselling division, Croatian Employment Service
  3. Ms Solveigh Hieronimus, Partner (Employment and Active Labour Policies), McKinsey & Company
  4. Mr Stephane Kasriel, CEO, Upwork*
  5. Mr Vassil Kirov, Associate Professor, Institute for the Study of Societies and Knowledge, Bulgarian Academy of Science
  6. Mr Karl McFaul, Strategist, City of Lund, Sweden
  7. Ms Maria Savona, Professor of Innovation and Evolutionary Economics, SPRU Science and Technology, Policy Research University of Sussex UK
  8. Mr Gary Shaughnessy, CEO Europe, Middle East & Africa, Zurich Insurance Company Ltd
  9. Ms Lucia Velasco, Director of Research and Social Innovation, Fundacion Tomillo (until July 2018)

*Mr Stephane Kasriel has since given notice of his resignation on 21/09/2018, and will thus not take up the function. 

The group will hold its first meeting on 18 September 2018 in Brussels; following four other meetings, it will issue its recommendations by the end of February 2019.

For all further information, please write to EC-HLG-FOW@ec.europa.eu.