Spain's commitment to the rotating presidency of the EU Council is to promote quality employment policies and to combat job insecurity in order to build a Social Europe. During the conference, the acting Secretary of State for Employment and Social Economy, Joaquín Pérez Rey, assured that the debate on mental health is a milestone on the agenda: "that today Europe is working on mental health, that today the European Commission is talking about a comprehensive approach (...) means that we are in a position to generate a prosperous Europe not based on precariousness and where work is not in any case a place of suffering".

With this objective in mind, the Ministry of Labor and Social Economy presented, in March, the first report promoted by the Spanish Government on job precariousness and mental health: PRESME report, "Precarious work and mental health: knowledge and policies"

The conclusions of this report were evaluated by the European Economic and Social Committee and it is expected that next October 9 the first conclusions on mental health and job precariousness will be approved by the EU Council to promote employment policies and research on mental health at work, and improve working conditions, among others.

During the conference, Joan Benach, coordinator of the Commission of experts on the effects of precarious employment on mental health, presented the session entitled "Understanding precarious employment and mental health: the PRESME report".

"Precarious employment and precarious work are a toxic social determinant of health, affecting our health, our well-being and our mental health," Benach explained. Benach’s presentation focused on four points: firstly, the social determinants of health; secondly, precarious work, with the aim of understanding what it means when we talk about precarious work; thirdly,  a presentation of the PRESME report; and finally, the challenges for research and public policies.

Regarding the PRESME report, Benach highlighted the report’s main objectives: to fight against precarious work and its effects on mental health; to improve the conditions of protection, health and assistance of the working population; and to measure, analyze and evaluate precarious work and mental health problems. For Benach, reducing and eliminating precarious work is one of the most important challenges of our time and is essential to achieve a more just, democratic and healthy world.

During the conference, other topics were addressed, such as the role of institutions, mental health in the digital world of work, psychosocial risks in the health and care sector, methodologies for the study of mental health, andfuture advances in the protection of mental health at work, among others.

The full report can be accessed here: "Precarious work and mental health: knowledge and policies".