From Brussels to Strasbourg; and from there, to the whole of Europe

Dear members, partners, and friends,

In a dynamic and ever-changing landscape, trade unions have the responsibility to stay alert, adaptable and responsive, ensuring that the representation of our workers remains effective.

At European level, promoting better working standards means understanding the high diversity among various national contexts and sectors and looking for solutions applying to different environments.

To do this, we are in continuous exchange and cooperation with our members to be aware of their needs and demands and be ready to support them in their national level interest representation.

At the same time, we strive to uphold our strong position at the European level within the so-called “EU bubble” to ensure that European workers remain a valuable part of the EU policy-making. For this, the support we get from our members is of paramount importance.

In a continuous flurry of activities and rapid developments in the EU, we have managed to make CESI a central player in the promotion of working rights in Europe, something which was also confirmed by the active participation of high-level EU stakeholders in ‘Summer Days’, two weeks ago.

For this event, CESI gathered in Brussels more than 150 representatives from EU Institutions, think tanks, trade unions and companies, highlighting the importance of social policies for the (green) future of Europe and giving to its members the opportunity to be heard by decision-makers at the European level.

Another key feature of our lobbying for workers are regular missions to European Parliament plenary sessions in Strasbourg. Last week, we exchanged with a good dozen of MEPs about current policy issues including social public procurement in the forthcoming Net Zero Industry Act, a revision of the European Work Councils (EWC) Directive, priorities for a new Directive on a European framework for quality (paid) traineeships, and the functioning of the European social dialogue.

This summer break will now give us some time to reflect and to prepare for a new autumn filled with activities. Through a multitude of events in a series of European countries – including Germany, Austria, Spain, Estonia, Italy and Luxembourg-, we will try to capitalise on the valuable lessons from the past months and share them with our members at national level.

The coming months will be busy but most certainly rewarding, too. And we look forward to seeing you then.

I wish you a nice summer!