Heading to the summer break

Dear members, partners andfriends,

Observant followers of our newsletter may have noticed that our last edition dates to March. And indeed, due to the plethora of activities and tasks and the unexpected departure of one of our colleagues, we had to set priorities, which often comes at the expense of communication – ironically, one of the most important part of our activities.

So, before summer break,and with a slightly bad conscience, I seize the opportunity to share with yousome highlights of the past months.

Despite scorching heat, ou yearly flagship event, the CESI Summer Days, was very well attended, not only by the Brussels bubble, but also by our members. Together with policymakers, social partners and experts, we discussed how the forthcoming Quality Jobs Act can contribute to both Europe's competitiveness and workers' well-being – on that occasion, CESI’s demands have been put forward.

I also had the privilege to present our views on a high-level implementation dialogue on the future EU “DeliveryAct” in the postal sector. For CESI, the principle of fair working conditions and universal access to postal services must remain at the heart of futurepostal and parcel regulation.

Our recent position on the EU’s 2028-2034 long-term budget (the Multiannual Financial Framework/MFF) advocates for a budget that places workers, public services and social cohesion at its heart. It goes without saying that if citizens expect more problems tobe tackled at EU level, this must also be reflected in its financial capacities. However, expectations and reality will most certainly drift apart.

As you may have noticed, we organised a plethora of conferences, statutory meetings, CESI@noon events and project activities covering issues as diverse as artificial intelligence and algorithmic management at work, the human factor in Europe’s defence readiness, health care workforce shortages, working conditions in the public sector, social and public sector safeguards in trade agreements, future-proof education, and - the common thread that runs horizontally through many of our activities via our EU co-funded ‘PillAct’project- the (positive) impact of EU laws and guidelines on national social and labour standards (if correctly implemented and applied).

Along the same line, our new ‘Dialogue+’ project, which is about to start, intends to further strengthen the capacity of CESI and its member organisations to effectively participate in and contribute to the implementation at national level of core frameworks of EU policy-making. One of the key deliverables will consist in facilitating an exchange programme for trade unionists across Europe.

Just before the summer recess, I also had the opportunity to visit Strasbourg during the final plenary session of the European Parliament. In a variety of exchanges with MEPs from across the democratic political spectrum, we discussed many of the issues that feature throughout this newsletter, among them the announced EU Quality Jobs Act, fair labour mobility, occupational safety and health, socially fair public procurement, the implementation of the Minimum Wage Directive, and social priorities for the next MFF.

As we head into the summer break, I would like to express my sincere thanks to our members, experts, partners and colleagues in the CESI Secretariat for their dedication and support during the last months.

Your expertise and commitment enable CESI to remain an independent and credible voice for workers across Europe.

I wish you a relaxing summer and look forward to continuing our work together in the second half of the year.

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