European Union

Statement 

International Labour Conference
113^th session

Geneva, 2 - 13 June 2025

________

General Discussion Committee on Promoting Transitions towards Formality

Discussion point 3

________

DP3: What priority actions should ILO constituents and the Office take to address informality and promote the transition to formality in line with Recommendation No. 204 and ensure, through social dialogue, effective coordination and integration of policies to prevent informality and promote transition to formality? How should such policies and interventions be adequately and sustainably financed to support inclusive and productive pathways to the formal economy and decent work? How can the ILO strengthen its role and cooperation within the multilateral system to improve policy coherence and foster complementarities for accelerating transition to formality?

Chair,

I speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The candidate countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania*, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, the EFTA country Norway member of the European Economic Area align themselves with this statement.

1. Persistent informality remains a major barrier to the advancement of fundamental principles and rights at work, which are essential for achieving social justice and sustainable development. We therefore reiterate the centrality of ILO Recommendation No. 204 and recognise the relevance of Recommendation No. 202 on social protection floors as a key tool with its two-dimensional approach to reduce informality and support the growth of formal employment.

2. We advocate for an integrated and holistic strategy on formalisation that encompasses all five categories of fundamental rights, the extension of social protection, and the promotion of effective and inclusive social dialogue. This strategy should be pursued in line with the One ILO approach and should include greater coherence between supervisory mechanisms and technical assistance, strengthened institutional capacities to enforce labour standards, and the meaningful participation of social partners. A gender equality perspective should be mainstreamed throughout.

3. We underscore the importance of development cooperation and partnerships in supporting ILO constituents. The EU contributes to this effort through initiatives such as SOLIFEM and FORLAC 2.0, and encourages closer coordination with other actors working on formalisation to increase impact.

4. We highlight that formalisation is more sustainable when policies combine deterrence, prevention and incentives. Approaches must be tailored to diverse realities of informal work, including seasonal, platform and care work. Cross-border cooperation is key to addressing informal labour mobility.

5. We underline the added value of targeted inspections and behavioural insights, as supported by the European Labour Authority and its Platform tackling Undeclared Work. Promoting the social economy and cooperatives, extending social protection to non-standard and self-employed workers, and strengthening the organising capacity of trade unions for informal and non-standard workers are essential.

6. We call on the ILO to strengthen research on barriers to realising fundamental rights, support harmonised and sex-disaggregated data collection, and reinforce national capacities for data use. This should align with the 2023 International Conference of Labour Statisticians resolution on informal economy statistics. We welcome ILO’s global knowledge-sharing platforms, such as the Informality Dashboard and Formalization Academies, and the continued implementation of the living wage estimation programme launched in April 2025.

7. Finally, we reaffirm the ILO should play a pivotal role in promoting policy coherence across the multilateral system. We encourage further cooperation with the UN system, the IMF, the World Bank, and regional economic organisations to ensure sufficient fiscal space to address the root causes of informality and the alignment of demand- and supply-side measures. The ILO should advocate for the mainstreaming of fundamental principles and rights at work across all policy fields. It should also foster cooperation within the ILO and its offices and with UN resident coordinators' teams.

Thank you.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.