Heesen: Do not economise public services to death

“Even now, we already have serious personnel shortages in many administrative areas,” CESI President Peter Heesen said on 1st November in Berlin. Heesen regards the personnel trend in broad areas of public services with concern. “This applies for virtually all EU member states.” The heavily indebted states are particularly hard hit, having been forced by the EU Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund to implement harsh austerity programmes.

“Naturally, in states such as Greece, the economy needs to perform better and, above all, savings have to be made. However, we will not solve the historical debt problem by saving ourselves into a depression and destroying public services,” Heesen says. Europe’s public services are inextricably linked with the European social model. Above all, we must not lose sight of the income side of states. “In countries such as Greece, there is obviously still a great deal of room for improvement. One element of the truth is that, if you want to dismantle debt, you need a tax administration, for example, that works,” the CESI President says.

Heesen is concerned about the long-term consequences of the austerity measures in public services. In the debt crisis, another crisis looming on the horizon disappears from view. “In many European countries, demographic change is starting to fully take hold. We have an acute problem with personnel recruitment,” the CESI President says. “Public services are competing with the economy for the best brains. The attractiveness of employment in the civil service already plays a big role here.” Governments are well advised to take into account the effects of the ageing of European society in their budgets and savings proposals. Above all, Heesen points out: “Public structures are very difficult to rebuild once they have been demolished.” Particularly in times of crisis, however, reliable public services are guarantors of social stability.