CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger expressed his disappointment: ‘CESI co-signed the agreement in 2015, and when EPSU had announced legal action against the Commission’s decision, we of course supported their case. The implementation of the agreement at EU level was supposed to provide civil servants and employees of central government administrations in the Member States with a minimum level of information and consultation. Three years later, we see that the Court of Justice came to a decision that not only denies the access to information and consultation rights for millions of workers, but also weakens social dialogue and, to a certain degree, the EU social partners´ autonomy. However, the Court also reiterated the General Court´s and the Advocate General´s findings, namely that the European Commission has important discretionary powers when it comes to EU social dialogue. CESI has continuously argued that those should be used to promote and facilitate a more inclusive social dialogue – while respecting the social partners’ full autonomy for the initiation of collective bargaining and, given the case, the conclusion of collective agreements.’

In this frame, CESI welcomes the Commission’s plan to review the European sectoral social dialogue, with a view to improve its effectiveness, accountability, legitimacy, popularity, and acceptance among the workforces. ‘We stand ready to deliver our part for a more inclusive and accepted sectoral social dialogue´, Klaus Heeger commented.