The 2nd Social Forum, organised on 25 February 2021 took place online and managed to gather more than 50 participants (relevant EU institutions, key public authorities, non-governmental organisations, Union representatives) from the Western Balkans region and the EU. The Forum addressed the social issues in the rail sector following the 2021 European Year of Rail. At the Forum the Regional Partners committed to reinforce and promote a dialogue for the social dimension in the rail transport through reference to the EU acquis in social matters listed in the Transport Community Treaty. They also recognised that digitalisation and modernisation will bring challenges (transition to a market with competing service providers, ageing workforce, staff shortage, competition with other modes) therefore a credible path for the fair transition for transport workers is needed. Also, the Transport Community has called on the Regional Partners to support education and training in line with the main common objective of achieving a sustainable, greener transport system, by making the best use of opportunities offered by technological innovation that could help identifying ways to attract young people and women to the transport sector.
