EU-ALMPO Launch Event: From AI Promise to Policy Practice

11/02/2026

The EU Active Labour Market Policies Observatory (EU-ALMPO) project Launch Event, Harnessing AI in Supporting Labour Market Policy Making, on 10 February 2026, marked an important moment in advancing a data-driven transformation of European labour market policies.

Designed as an interactive space for exchange, the event brought together policymakers, researchers, practitioners, and social partners in a focused dialogue about how Artificial Intelligence can support labour market policy design and implementation across Europe — with a strong emphasis on realism, policy relevance, and practical value.

Bridging Data, AI and Labour Market Policy Needs
EU-ALMPO was created to address a fundamental challenge: policymakers often lack timely, comparable, and evidence-driven tools to understand labour market dynamics and intervene effectively. Traditional methods struggle to reflect the complexity of emerging trends such as digitalisation, skills mismatch, demographic change, and economic shocks. EU-ALMPO’s approach is to harness AI and advanced analytics to support the full Active Labour Market Policy (ALMP) cycle — from policy design and targeting to monitoring and evaluation — while grounding AI use in transparency, ethics, and trust.

Key Contributions at the Launch Event

Prof. Giannis Tzimas (UOP, Project Coordinator) presented the EU-ALMPO vision, underlining both the challenges and the potential of AI in labour-market policymaking. This highlighted the shift needed from reactive, static analyses to proactive, evidence-based policy design. Following this, Mihai Palimariciuc from the European Commission set the stage by outlining the EU’s strategic priorities in employment, digital transformation, and the role AI can play in shaping future-ready labour markets.

The keynote block featured authoritative perspectives on how AI intersects with labour market transformations:

• Dr. Stefano Scarpetta (OECD) emphasised that while AI — and particularly generative AI — is diffusing rapidly across jobs and sectors, high-quality evidence on its impact is still emerging. Early findings suggest AI use does not inherently lead to workforce substitution at large scale but does reshape task composition and skill demands, with human skills (e.g., critical thinking, communication and management) becoming increasingly essential.
• Andrea Glorioso (DG Employment, European Commission) explored the balance between algorithmic innovation and the imperative to protect quality jobs and worker wellbeing.
• Dr. Konstantinos Pouliakas (CEDEFOP) presented detailed evidence on how AI-related skills are spreading beyond ICT occupations and identified skill gaps that could represent a significant bottleneck for adoption and competitiveness.
• Dr. Eleanna Kafeza (Technology Innovation Institute) offered insights into open-source AI approaches, illustrating how public-oriented AI models can be mobilised for policy innovation.

This session underscored that AI does not merely automate tasks — it reshapes work, reallocates tasks, and elevates the importance of human competencies in economic activity and policy execution.

Roundtable Discussion: From Evidence to Action

Moderated by Prof. Łukasz Sienkiewicz (Gdansk University of Technology), the roundtable brought together experts from research institutions, international organisations, and policy practice. Participants explored how EU-ALMPO can bridge the gap between analytical insights and policy needs, focusing on:

• Cross-sectoral collaboration in policymaking
• The role of AI tools in strengthening evidence-based intervention design
• Risks, limitations, and governance of algorithmic systems
• Embedding research and practice in continuous policy learning

The discussion reaffirmed that AI can augment policymaking only when integrated with strong institutional governance, ethical frameworks, and active stakeholder involvement.

Closing remarks from Dr. Flavia Pesce (IRS) reiterated the main takeaways:

• AI and generative technologies are not distant challenges — they are embedded in today’s labour markets.
• Evidence shows that AI changes task composition more than employment levels, increasing the importance of upskilling and reskilling.
• Skills gaps — not tools — are the real bottleneck to effective AI adoption.
• Ethical, transparent, and inclusive governance must be at the centre of AI-driven labour market innovation.

As labour markets undergo rapid transformation, initiatives such as EU-ALMPO demonstrate the importance of combining technological innovation with strong policy intelligence and social responsibility. For TRAILS, the dialogue opened by this event resonates closely with its own commitment to forward-looking, evidence-based approaches to labour market transitions. Strengthening cooperation between projects that bridge research, policy and practice will be essential to ensure that AI serves not only productivity and competitiveness, but also inclusion, fairness and sustainable employment across Europe.

The event concluded with a call for stronger collaboration across policymaking, research, and practice — and anticipation for the next phases of EU-ALMPO’s work, which will focus on piloting AI-supported decision-making tools and platforms for European policymakers.