The competitiveness of a social Europe

n a debate with a representative from the European Commission’s Directorate-General ‘Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs’ (DG GROW) on a forthcoming evaluation, and a possible subsequent revision, of the ‘EU directive 97/67/EC on common rules for the development of the internal market of Community postal services and the improvement of quality of service’ (Postal services directive), the members of the trade council criticised the role of the directive in having contributed to the liberalisation of the sector, with subsequent deteriorations in the quality of delivery service and worsened working conditions for employees in the sector.

The trade council members emphasised in particular the key role of robust and extensive universal service obligations (USOs) for a continued maintenance of a high quality of postal delivery services.

More specifically, reflecting on their own trade unionist experiences of the consequences of market liberalisation, and referring moreover to a study on ‘Main developments in the postal sector between 2013 and 2016‘, authored by WIK-Consult and published earlier this year by the European Commission, the trade council members also criticised increasing subcontracted employment practices and spreading precarious work in the sector – something that needs to be brought up in the evaluation of the postal services directive.

It was agreed to continue to push for strong USOs and decent employment in the sector, potentially including together with UNI Europa, CESI’s partner on the employee side in the European postal services sectoral social dialogue committee.

The trade council also saw a welcome address by its former and now honorary President Willi Russ from CESI’s German member organisation dbb/DPVKOM as well as the adoption of topical resolutions on the role of financial services in postal enterprises, which advocates full access to traditional financial services provided by postal companies, and on the recently adopted EU Telecom Package, which calls for (1) a resumption of negotiations to set up a European body responsible for evaluating the consequences of regulation on jobs, social bodies, job quality, motivation and pay systems, (2) provisions for 5G network licences to prevent a competitive licensing war, (3) non-interference in pricing systems of telecommunications companies which leads to more competition in the sector; and (4) the integration of the new EU general data protection regulation in the package. Both resolutions will be made available soon in the resources section.

A video clip of the meeting is available on CESI’s Youtube channel. The next meeting of the trade council will take place in June 2019.

Picture: CESI Trade Council ‘Post & Telecoms’ © CESI 2018

The full interview is available on CESI’s Youtube channel.

Picture: Helga Trüpel © helgatruepel.de 2018

The position of the Council (‘general approach’) is the basis for negotiations with the European Parliament on final legislative provisions which would, after a transition period, become binding in all EU Member States.

According to the Council’s general approach, haulier enterprises should become obliged to:

• organise the drivers’ work schedules in such a way that they are able to return home at least every four weeks – or, if the driver chooses to take two reduced weekly rests, after three weeks on the road;
• ensure the provision of regular weekly rest for truck drivers outside the cabin (e.g. via hotel accomodation);
• implement the principle of the same pay for the same work at the same place, with the general rule being that if an operation is organised in such a way that the link between the driver’s work and the country of establishment remains intact, the driver should be excluded from the EU’s posting rules (e.g. in the case of bilateral transport operations or transit), but that for all other types of operations, including cabotage, the full posting regime would apply from the first day of the operation. An exception would be that on the way to the destination country and on the way back, one additional activity of loading/unloading is permitted in both directions without falling under the posting regime, or zero on the way out and up to two on the way back.

In a first reaction, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “As CESI, we clearly welcome the Council’s decision as a step towards better employment conditions in road transport and for truck drivers, whose working conditions are often precarious.

We know hope for a swift negotiation mandate from the side of the European Parliament so that there is a prospect for better employment conditions in road transport and that truck drivers in Europe will enjoy real new benefits soon.” He added: “The propositions in the Council’s general approach would not end all problems of truck drivers but they are definitely a step in the right direction and to build on during negotiations with the European Parliament. They are a remarkable achievement of the Council, given the scope of the diverse concerns of different Member States that had to be reconciled. In the end the Council’s position is the result of finding a balance between a better protection of workers, demanded especially by Western Member States, and the maintenance of competitiveness of the hauliers, advocated mainly by Eastern Member States.”

More information is available on the Council’s website.

Picture: CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger © CESI 2018

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• Project duration: December 1 2018 – July 1 2020 (extended due to Covid19 pandemic until 31 December 2020)
• Seminars
  • March 29 2019, Berlin – Agenda – Wrap-up report
  • June 21 2019, Madrid – Agenda
  • October 25 2019, Budapest – Agenda
  • October 30 2020, Follow Up Meeting (Online)

The objective of this project is to raise awareness about developing trivialisations or acceptances of violence against state representatives, to build capacity improved occupational prevention and repression tools at work which also focus on the protection of victims of violence, and to discuss possible policy solutions for efficient legislation for improved occupational safety and health as well as an effective defence of the interests and rights of victims and more stringent sanctions of violence committed against state agents.

Manifesto #NoViolenceAtWork (PDF)

Project Manager: Marcella Migliori

Further information: info@cesi.org

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More than ever before, education is a key issue on the agenda of all political decision makers. It is a stated objective of the European Commission to help close gaps between education systems and the labour markets in Europe. At the same time, some young people continue to fall victim to radicalisation and radical political parties are on the rise in Europe – a stark reminder that merely training the future workers of Europe is insufficient: Future responsible citizens must also be formed.

Over two days, the Europe Academy, CESI’s internal training and capacity-building centre, addressed this challenge with the help of contributions of speakers from the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop).

In panel discussions, participants discussed data and information on education and teaching in Europe, the role of teachers in the future European Education Area 2025, the scope of the European Semester in national education policies and the importance of investments in education and quality working and employment conditions for teachers. Case studies were presented on education experiences in Finland, Spain and the Netherlands. The symposium culminated in the development of a “Teachers’ Manifesto: Horizon 2025” which CESI will be publish next year.

In his opening address, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger outlined the two major challenges today’s education is facing, the digital revolution of our economic, social, professional and personal lives and the acceleration and radicalisation of our discourse culture. “The digital revolution is happening and for now it is bringing more questions than answers. What is certain is that the education of the future should provide young students not only with the necessary professional and digital skills but also equip them with a solid set of knowledge and give a base for the development of values, to enable them to become tolerant and responsible citizens. We are very glad that we had an opportunity once again to gather our members and exchange views on these emerging challenges of the future. The positive feedback we received from our members gives us confidence on the value of our Europe Academy as an important trade union platform to exchange ideas and network with partners”, he said.

A video clip about the Lisbon Europe Academy symposium is available on here (teaser) a here (long version).

This conference was part of a broader project of the Europe Academy on “Education Professionals and Trade Unions: Horizon 2025”, co-financed by the European Commission, to help teachers and their trade unions develop European responses to better cope with common future professional challenges.

CESI has been running Europe Academy training and capacity building projects for many years with the objective to inform and engage its member trade union network on specific aspects of European policies and measures, in view of a better ownership of EU-level developments and stronger and more informed interest representation at the European and national levels.

Picture: At the Europe Academy symposium in Lisbon © CESI 2018

After having signed 17 Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects one year ago, the defence ministers agreed on additional 17 projects to foster cooperation within EU.

Thomas Sohst welcomed the additional projects: “Cooperation and training between armies is always a good tool to strengthen the common understanding and the trust in each other in light of future operations. Common developed and procured equipment on the one hand can save money on the long run.”

Yet, he also added with regard to the armed forces personnel of the member states working together in joint operations: “Don’t forget that PESCO should also have a social dimension, as we stated already in December 2018. Progress in this area should be evaluated by the defence ministers as well. The armed forces personnel has to be convinced that PESCO is of benefit for them as well, looking to comparable working conditions in peacetime as well during and after operations.”

The conclusions which the Council adopted the at the end of its meeting are available here.

Picture: Trade council ‘Defence’ President Thomas Sohst (DBwV) © CESI 2018

John Clinton, the President of the trade council ‘Justice’, introduced the topic of personal protective equipment (PPE) for justice and security personnel for debate in order “to get a common ground on what is needed to carry on their tasks and to get forward a standardised type of PPEs for workers in the prison sector across Europe.’ Jean-Claude Delage (Alliance Police Nationale, France) updated the trade council members on the use of PPEs in France, following the latest terrorist attacks, emphasising that since modern threats have escalated to new levels of sophistication, PPEs should also be adapted to the new tools and threats used.

A European Commission representative from the Directorate-General Justice gave an overview of EU mechanisms to maintain the rule of law across Europe, with special attention to aspects related to the independence of the judiciary and the effectiveness of public prosecution.

Members of the Austriam GÖD trade union raised the question of what happens when the right to effective and timely judicial remedies is not fully respected. In reaction to a presentation on the recent EU Justice Scoreboard, CESI members pointed out that they stand on the side of the workers affected by the recent attacks on the independence of the judiciary in Poland, Hungary and Romania and on the academic freedom in Hungary.

In connection to this, Javier Jordán de Urríes from the Spanish CSIF trade union organisation made gave an update about the Spanish protocol set up to avoid violence in prisons. His overview highlighted challenges which are valid in many EU member states, including in the fields of ageing prison staff, workforce shortages, privatisation of prisons, radicalisation among inmates and lacking training of prison officers in social skills for conflict prevention) as well as insufficient rehabilitation programmes for inmates.

CSIF members are currently on strike to ask the government for their right to collective bargaining and for ‘equal pay for equal work’ rights. To support their cause, the members of the CESI Justice and Security trade councils adopted two resolutions, one for the workers in the justice sector and one for the prison staff.

A short video capturing the interventions made at the meeting are available on CESI’s youtube channel.

Picture: The trade councils ‘Justice’ and ‘Security’ in session © CESI 2018

One of the key consequences of a change from unanimous voting to QMV in the Council is that decision-taking can no longer be blocked unilaterally and, often, egoistically by single Member States. Politically, thus, the lowest common denominators needed for decisions can, in theory, be raised, which means that this could pave the way for more ambitious legislation in the social field, leading to higher minimum standards. With the EU being a supranational integration project, QMV would help take effective European approaches and decisions in the common interest.

Moving from a special legislative (e.g. consultation) procedure to the ordinary legislative (i.e. co-decision) procedure means that the European Parliament becomes a real co-legislator on an equally powerful footing with the Member States in the Council, instead of being just consulted. In the past, the European Parliament has often shown to be more socially progressive and ambitious than many Member States in the Council. An introduction of the ordinary legislative procedure in EU social policy may therefore promise more socially ambitious EU legislation.

CESI therefore believes that QMV and the ordinary legislative procedure should be introduced in as many social policy subfields as is possible under the EU Treaties’ passerelle clause provisions, namely:

• combatting discrimination based on sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation;
• measures on social security or social protection for citizens exercising free movement;
• social security and social protection of workers;
• protection of workers where their employment contract is terminated;
• representation and collective defence of the interests of workers and employers; and
• conditions of employment for third country nationals legally residing in the Union.

While being aware of the competences and prerogatives of the Member States in social affairs, moving on to QMV and the ordinary legislative procedure in social policy would also respond to the need long advocated by independent trade unions to complement the advanced economic integration and the completion of the EU single market with a real social dimension which responds to permanently evolving realities on the labour market. More and more flexible, mobile and digital work and the spread of -mostly still unregulated- new forms of employment across borders in the EU necessitate certain binding and ambitious minimum social standards for workers and employees beyond national legal orders. This is in the spirit of the ‘Triple Social A-Ranking for the EU’ which Commission President Juncker announced at start of his mandate and must be an essential feature of the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Delivering on this is also vital to maintain the citizens’ trust in institutions which are capable of responding to the concrete needs of the citizens, which clearly are of social nature at the European level as well.

CESI’s full consultation statement can be accessed here.

The League of Nations, founded after World War I on the basis of internationalist ideas and along the credo ‘cooperation, dialogue and common efforts make conflicts less likely’, was in the end, for a multitude of reasons, not successful, with another -Second- War ravaging the continent and the entire globe and shattering peace to pieces once again. However, after 1945 it served to a considerable extent as a template for the creation of the United Nations, and post-1918 federalist ideas fed, in Europe, into the creation of the Council of Europe and into what later became the EU.

According to CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger, it is worth considering the intergovernmental cooperation and especially the economic and political integration which has evolved in Europe as the backbone of peace and the foundation of relative prosperity that we enjoy in our daily lives.

“Many tend lose sight of the fact that peace and cooperation are clearly intertwined. As we mark the 100-year anniversary of the end of the First World War, we should recall how far we have, in the end, come.”

He added: “In 1918 and again in 1945 other regions in the world were facing similar challenges as Europe -divided societies, mistrust among people, cultures and minorities. Europe’s response was cooperation and integration based on an remarkable extra will to trust each other for the common good in a situation where this was, admittedly, not easy to do. Other regions were not so lucky, and there the scars of war and conflict are visible still today. Many people there would be very glad to have something like an EU. They cannot enjoy peace, and therefore prosperity, as we do in the EU.”

Klaus Heeger concluded: “Today, we should take a step back and recall that even if the EU does have shortcomings, the response to addressing these cannot be to move towards nationalism and protectionism once again. This would be fatally short-sighted.”

Picture: Red poppy, a symbol of casualties of World War I © britishlegion.org.uk 2018

In the joined cases C-619/16 and C-684/16, the CJEU upheld that paid annual leave (and, as a consequence, after the termination of the employment relationship, the “corresponding absence of an allowance in lieu”) remains due by the employer even if the worker has not applied for it during the employment relationship. In the first case, C-619/16, a trainee with the Land of Berlin refrained from taking paid annual leave, whereas the second case, C-684/16, concerned an employment relationship with the German Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in the frame of which a worker requested the payment of an allowance instead of his annual leave not taken. The CJEU, in line with its settled case-law, also reconfirmed that the principles of its judgments “apply equally to employers which are public [] or private []”.

In the joined cases C-569/16 and C-570/16 two widows of former public and private sector employees had claimed, as their heirs, allowances ‘in lieu’ of the paid annual leave not taken by their husbands during their employment relationship.

The Court subsequently stated that “under EU law, a worker’s right to paid annual leave does not lapse upon his death” and that allowances may be claimed by his/her heirs. Here too, the Court upheld that “the heirs may directly rely on EU law, both against a public and a private employer”. The Court finally underlined that the right to annual leave is an essential principle of EU social law and a fundamental right guaranteed by the EU Charter and that this right includes the right to be paid during such leave.

Moreover, in its Matzak ruling, already in February this year the CJEU had delivered a landmark judgment on the ‘stand-by’ time of volunteer firefighters, taking an important stand in relation to the notion of working time and the scope of the working time directive and stating that the ‘stand-by’ time at home of a volunteer firefighter who is obliged to respond to calls from the employer within a short period must be regarded as ‘working time’. This judgement could have strong impacts on national systems of fire and civil protection services, but also on sectors characterised by the need of rapid interventions and hence on the intensive use of ‘on-call’ and ‘stand-by’ services, above all in the security and health sectors.

In a reaction, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger welcomed the judgments: “The right of workers, whether in the public or the private sectors, have been further strengthened. The ECJ has recently shown a certain intransigence when it comes to the application of the Working Time Directive, and we particularly welcome that the Court increasingly bases its lines of argumentation on the EU Charter. It proves that the rights and principles enshrined therein are not toothless”.

Visual: Decent work. A human right © CESI 2018

Indeed, in 2017 and 2016 the EU Equal Pay Day was also on November 3. In 2015, it was on November 2. This shows just how slow progress towards wage equality is in Europe. Since the first EU Equal Pay Day in 2012, the pay gap between men and women in the EU has been stagnating between 17.5% and 16.2%. “On average, women continue to work almost 60 days for free year after year. Real progress is missing and this is just insufficient”, Kirsten Lühmann said.

In a joint statement issued in advance of this year’s EU Equal Pay Day, European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans and the Commissioners for Employment and for Justice, Marianne Thyssen and Věra Jourová, underlined that “We cannot accept this situation any longer”, but acknowledged at the same time that “There is no instant solution to fix this inequality.” According to Kirsten Lühmann, resignation can be no excuse for inactivity on policy makers.

She added: “I welcome the announcement made this week by the European Commission to pursue an evaluation of the Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment of men and women in matters of employment and occupation. But work must not end with an evaluation. What is needed is swift real action. Trade unions have stressed for long that binding rules, for instance on pay transparency, can be very effective tools to mitigate pay discrimination.”

CESI and its member organisations and affiliates will continue to stand up for quick and substantial progress to close the gap.

Picture: Kirsten Lühmann © CESI 2018

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• Seminar: November 22-23 2018, Lisbon
• Agenda of the seminar: EN /
• Video sum-up clips: Short version / Long version – CESI Youtube Channel
• Manifesto for the teaching profession: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT

The education and vocational training sectors play a crucial role in overcoming the EU member states’ current challenges, including unemployment, job creation and the improvement of social cohesion. Indeed, the education sector is not only expected to transmit knowledge and skills, but also fundamental values such as social, civic and intercultural core values. Despite its important role, the education sector has suffered from budget cuts as a result of the crisis. This means that today, jobs in education are less secure and fewer investments are made than before. In this context, this project focused on teachers at all levels and on the promotion of their profession.

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CESI agrees with the overall objective to have targeted EU legislation which is free from unnecessary complexity or rules on challenges that are best dealt with by the EU Member States. As such, a tool for analysis and review, managed by the European Commission, about which rules and legislation are needed in which are obsolete can be a useful instrument for an efficient and effective EU policy design. There is a role for a ‘Better regulation‘ agenda.

However, CESI raises doubts whether the structure of the tool is fit for purpose to arrive at ‘better’ regulation in the EU. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said:”According to CESI, ‘better’ regulation should mean, in terms of processes, designing policies in the most transparent, impartial and inclusive manner possible and, in terms of content, having an open eye in policies for a sustainable balance between social, environmental and economic considerations. In both the process and the content-wise direction, the ‘Better regulation’ agenda needs improvement.”

For instance:

• Too often, it seems that the ‘Better regulation’ agenda, materialised via evaluations, roadmaps and impact assessments, is above all a biased tool for the European Commission to help it justify proposing to cut rules to reduce costs for economic actors and enterprises. However, according to CESI, the economic without the social can never be sustainable. Deregulation at the expense of workers is neither fair not expedient, as an adequate protection of workers is both an end in itself as well as an instrument to achieve sustainable economic growth and macroeconomic prosperity in the long term – even if it appears to some to be an “unnecessary cost” and harmful for “competitiveness” at first glance in the short term.

• The wording in consultation documents and the questions posed therein by the European Commission towards the stakeholders seem all too often biased towards the European Commission’s political objectives. The questions should not be narrowly framed but give space for stakeholders to actually provide new ideas beyond of where the European Commission obviously seems to want to head.

• The Regulatory Scrutiny Board, a body of seven members that advise the European Commission on impact assessments and evaluations of policies, should be independent but is instituted by the European Commission itself. It has immense power in the political and legislative field, yet is neither democratically legitimised nor controlled. According to CESI, evidence presented by the social partners (also the sectoral ones!), the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, as well as information gathered in meaningful public consultations, should be the backbone of transparent and evidence-based policy drafting in the European Commission, not impact assessments drawn up by external consultancies according to the European Commission’s wishes and then rubberstamped in uncontrolled procedures.

CESI’s full consultation statement can be accessed here.

With regards to the Brexit negotiations, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk declared that no date for the Brexit transition period had been agreed upon, but that the proposal for a two-year phasing out period is considered ‘unanimously’.

For CESI, this leads to major open questions in terms of the timing of applicable workers’ rights for both UK residents in the EU and non-British EU citizens working in the UK. CESI President Romain Wolff stated that “Brexit will impact people and workers first and foremost. CESI stands firmly behind its trade union members working in UK in order to assist in the best way possible in this transition.”

In terms of migration, the European Council’s conclusions reveal a more security-based “comprehensive” approach, according to which efforts for better border control and migration management should be stepped up. In the area of internal security, the need to improve the capacity to respond to cyber threats was highlighted.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger expressed concerns whether the workers in the security sector will be sufficiently trained and staffed in order to deal with the new challenges: “As expressed on various occasions in our trade council meetings, we support the European Agenda on Security as long as tackling security threats is done with respect to the fundamental rights and rule of law. This should apply to the procedures involved but also to the status of the police and services involved.”

In its March 2018 resolution, the CESI’s Trade Council Security & Justice had already expressed the strong conviction that the delivery of the European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice is possible only by investing in human capital, i.e. in the workers.

The full conclusions of the European Council meeting of October 17-18 are available here.

Picture: European Council building © Consilium 2018

Under the heading ‘Reinforcing competitiveness, sustainable job creation and social fairness in the European Union’ the discussions of the Tripartite Social Summit this week focused on three main themes:

• The digital revolution and its potential for labour markets and the economy
• Implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights: stock-taking and way forward
• The Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 including InvestEU, ESF+ and the deepening of the EMU.

Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said: “We need a socially sustainable EU economic governance with increased public and private investment, social partners involved in the Semester and in European and national reforms, strengthened collective bargaining in all EU countries for a fair wage for working people.

A just transition must ensure workers hit by climate change and digitalisation are not left behind. EU legislation and the new EU MFF must support social cohesion and inclusion and full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.”

Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI, the umbrella organisation of independent trade unions in Europe, commented: “We fully agree with Mr. Visentini’s statement. Minimum standards on labour law and social protection, fair mobility and transitions, the fight against precariousness and in-work poverty, investments in people and not least the proper interest representation of workers are a cornerstones of a social EU – especially in view of the emergence of new forms of work in the collaborative economy. CESI’s members attach great importance to this, because they are greatly concerned by it as well.”

CESI has continuously and consequently seized the principles established by the European Pillar of Social Rights, which picks up all of these challenges, by means of a plethora of advocacy initiatives, projects and conferences on core labour rights, adequate social protection and effective interest representation for all workers.

Accordingly, Klaus Heeger highlighted: “We are the ones who seize and implement the Pillar too! Since all workers count, more inclusive ways of policy deliberations have to be found. Because the future of work is also our future!”

Visual: The future of work – Our future © CESI 2018

At CESI, we are fully committed to ensuring the protection of personal data in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). As a data controller, CESI follows the principles of transparency, fairness, and accountability in all our data processing activities.

Purpose of data collection:

We collect and process personal data for the purpose of fulfilling our organisational objectives, managing events, distributing newsletters, maintaining communication channels, and reporting on EU-funded projects. Personal data may include names, contact details, photographs, and other necessary information.

Legal basis for processing:

CESI processes personal data based on the following legal grounds:

1. Consent: In cases where we ask for explicit consent, such as for newsletters, photographs, and video recording at events.

2. Contractual obligations: When processing is necessary to fulfill a contract or to provide services requested by individuals.

3. Legitimate interests: Where CESI has a legitimate interest in processing data, for instance, for communication with stakeholders or reporting purposes.

Data minimisation & retention:

We ensure that only the minimal necessary data is collected and processed, relevant to the specific purpose. Personal data is retained only for as long as necessary to fulfill the intended purpose or as required by law. When no longer needed, data will be securely erased.

Rights of data subjects:

CESI recognises the rights of individuals under GDPR, including:

•The right to access personal data we hold.

•The right to request correction or deletion of data.

•The right to object to or restrict processing.

•The right to data portability.

•The right to withdraw consent at any time.

Data security:

We implement robust security measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, disclosure, or alteration. This includes encryption, secure storage solutions, and restricted access protocols.

Data collection at CESI events and events of our members and partners

CESI and its members organise events and meetings where we may collect personal data in the form of photos, videos, meeting recordings, and live streams. These materials are used for the following purposes:

-Event coverage and communication: We publish photos and videos on our social media platforms, website, and internal communication channels to provide event highlights and updates.

-Reporting for EU-funded projects: Photos, videos, and recordings may also be used in reports related to EU-funded projects. This may involve sharing such materials with the EU Institutions to fulfil our reporting obligations. Additionally, this material may be published in EU-related sources for the purpose of ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of EU funds.

Your rights and our commitment:

We are committed to processing personal data in accordance with the GDPR and upholding your rights, including:

-Right to information: We inform participants prior to events about the collection of media and its intended use. Participants are encouraged to ask any questions or request further details.

-Right of access and rectification: You may request access to your personal data, including media in which you appear, and request corrections if needed.

-Right to erasure and restriction of processing: Upon request, you may ask for the removal of your personal data from our published materials under certain conditions.

-Right to object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data, especially when it comes to media that is shared publicly.

Data security and retention:

CESI applies strict security measures to safeguard the integrity and confidentiality of personal data. Media files are retained for the duration necessary to fulfil the purposes for which they were collected, in alignment with GDPR retention requirements.

For further enquiries or to exercise your rights regarding personal data, please contact us at info@cesi.org.

When we compare that to the integration in the EU, it goes without saying that we are too impatient. The latest enlargement took place in 2013, and yet we expect the EU to be the most homogenous and happy club, with common views on how to achieve an ‘ever closer Union’. Clearly, this is not the case.

Given its heterogeneity, the EU lives of compromises, of respect and of empathy at all levels – between the EU level and the member states, between the South and North, the East and the West.

This, however, becomes increasingly tricky when we think of sensible issues such as taxation, migration, austerity measures or breaches of the Union’s liberal democratic values. In these cases, finding compromises or showing respect and empathy for the viewpoints of others seems difficult, as it leads to having to reconsider own core principles and identities.

Often, we only like the EU when we can ‘impose’ our way of living and thinking on others. Then we fight for the ‘ever closer Union’ and consider ourselves as good Europeans. The moment someone else’s idea may get imposed on us we speak of intrusion, we scourge the bureaucratic monster in Brussels for its unworldliness, we call for more solidarity and the respect of (our) values, and we speak of subsidiarity, brandishing our endangered identity against bloodthirsty ‘eurocrats’.

We should be aware that compromises are not a sign of weakness but that compromise means respect and equality, that it precludes submission, that it is needed if we want the EU to survive.

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Last Sunday, October 7, was International Decent Work Day. Taking its roots in Article 7 of the UN’s International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, just and favourable work conditions should be ensured for everyone.

Those include fair and equal wages, safe and healthy working conditions, equal opportunities, a limitation of working hours, and adequate holidays. In the light of the 20 principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, solemnly proclaimed by the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Commission on November 17 2017, the need to ‘deliver’ “fair working conditions” is more urgent than ever.

CESI has continuously and consequently ‘seized’ these principles – through a plethora of advocacy initiatives, projects and conferences on core labour rights, adequate social protection and effective interest representation for all workers. According to CESI, ‘all workers count’, and in the EU’s common market a basic level-playing field in employment and social affairs is essential to prevent competition and race-to-the-bottoms between Member States at the expense of workers. European minimum standards should apply for everyone, be it on information and consultation rights, posting conditions, paternity leave rights or working time.

This ‘seizure’ is part of our daily work. Not only on October 7. Because decent work is a human right.

Picture: Klaus Heeger © CESI 2018

As established in Article 7 ICESCR, just and favorable work conditions for everyone should ensure:

• remuneration which provides all workers, as a minimum, with fair wages and equal remuneration for work of equal value without distinction of any kind, in particular women being guaranteed conditions of work not inferior to those enjoyed by men, with equal pay for equal work, and with a decent living for themselves and their families in accordance with the provisions of the present Covenant;
• safe and healthy working conditions;
• equal opportunity for everyone to be promoted in his employment to an appropriate higher level, subject to no considerations other than those of seniority and competence;
• rest, leisure and reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays.

Of course, many of these principles are also inherent in national constitutions as well as in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (Fourth Chapter on Solidarity), the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers and the European Social Charter.

But in the light of the 20 principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, solemnly proclaimed by the Council of the EU, the European Parliament and the Commission on November 17 2017, the need to ‘deliver’ “fair working conditions” is more urgent than ever.

CESI has continuously and consequently ‘seized’ these principles – through a plethora or advocacy initiatives, projects and conferences on core labour rights, adequate social protection and effective interest representation for all workers. According to CESI all workers count, and in the EU’s common market a basic level-playing field in employment and social affairs is essential to prevent competition and race-to-the-bottoms between Member States at the expense of workers. European minimum standards should apply for everyone, be it on information and consultation rights, posting conditions, paternity leave rights or working time.

This ‘seizure’ is part of our daily work. Not only today. Because decent work is a human right.

Picture: Decent work, a human right © CESI 2018

The event was composed of two parts, the first one consisting of an internal meeting among CESI affiliates to discuss the major conflictual aspects of the judgment and the subsequent situation experienced at national levels. The second part was a public event, attended by a variety of stakeholders and interested parties.

The panel included the lawyer of plaintiff Rudy Matzak, Pierre Joassart; a legal officer from the European Commission, Andrea Grgic; the Vice-President of Avenir Secours and CESI affiliate Alain Laratta; the President of the Luxembourgish trade union FGFC and member of CESI Marco Thomé; and the Vice-President of the justice sector of the Spanish trade union CSIF and CESI member Javier Jordán de Urríes. The moderator, Pierre Baussand, led a through an active and lively discussion which focused in particular on the different professions which would be impacted by the judgment.

It appeared that not only firefighters could expect changes, but also any professions that are using the on-call working time can expected to be re-thought, or at least considered as being impacted by the ruling, including the health and social care sector.

The cumulation of working hours as a result of people pursuing different jobs at different employers and the exemptions of the EU working time directive in this regard were an unavoidable part to the debates. The discussion also addressed in particular the need for an organisational change of the national voluntary firefighting systems. It was mentioned that voluntary firefighters often accumulate more than 100 hours per week next to their main job, if their on-call home-based working time is to be indeed considered as working time. How could this possibly be reconciliated with legislation?

This also brought up the question of responsibility and remuneration. How will on-call time be financially compensated? Who is to be held accountable for the breach of the 48 hours per week limit under the EU working time directive, and how will it be possible for local authority to bear additional staff costs?

CESI will follow up on this event and this topic which will continue to be at the centre of this debate at the EU but certainly at the national levels too. A note by the CESI General Secretariat summarising the main arguments of the case and its implications is available here.

Find here a previous article published on CESI’s website on the subject matter and here the article that Pierre Joassart wrote on it. Further information is also available in the press release of the ECJ on the case. The full judgment is available here.

In an input presentation, Marco Thomé, President of CESI’s Luxembourgish member organisation FGFC presented the social aspects of a study conducted by the Luxembourgish government to reform its public administration system in the context of digitalising work and organisational processes. Benefits and concerns about the growing use of digital technology were mentioned, as well as the need for trade unions to address this subject and raise awareness on how to manage potentially adverse impacts that digitalisation could have on jobs, on people and the social sphere of our society at large.

With Lara Wolters from the S&D group at the European Parliament as a guest, the trade council members then deliberated on a (possible) exclusion of (certain) public sector workers from chapter III of the currently negotiated new EU directive of predictable and transparent working conditions.

The members made clear that possible flat-rate exclusions of all civil servants and all workers employed in public emergency services, the armed forces, the police authorities as well as judges, prosecutors, investigators and other law enforcement services, as suggested by certain actors, is unacceptable. If at all, exemptions should be carefully tied only to individual articles and apply only to personnel where this can clearly be justified, the members argued.

Susanne Kraatz from the European Parliament’s research service the presented a study recently commissioned by the European Parliament on ‘Employment in Privatized utilities: A higher risk of precariousness?‘, which showed a decrease of public administration staff and a great impact on jobs through privatisation of public utilities. An important discussion on the potential need to (re-)municipalise services followed. The trade council members agreed to continue to address this topic.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger also outlined the concept of a CESI@noon event for the next day on the organisation of working time in public services under EU law following the so-called ‘Matzak’ judgment of the European Court of Justice (CJEU) of February 21 2018 which had ruled that, under EU law, stand-by time of a worker at home who is obliged to respond to calls from the employer within a short period must be regarded as ‘working time’. discussion followed about the impact of the judgment on the system of firefighters in particular but also on other professions in sectors such as health and social care.

The next meeting of the trade council will take place in 2019.

Picture: At the meeting of the LRA Trade Council © CESI 2018

Sara Rinaudo from CESI’s Italian affiliate Confsal was elected a new member and welcomed to the Board as a new active voice for young trade unionists in Italy.

The Board also set up plans for an active and systematic participation of Board members in the different bodies and organs of CESI and for a broad participation of CESI Youth affiliates in the various activities and projects of the CESI Youth.

During the meeting plans were drawn up for a dedicated CESI Youth European Election Campaign as well as for a new project to gather opinions and positions of young trade unionists on ‘The future of work’.

The Board reiterated its motivation towards a dissemination, via its activities, of values such as democracy and equality as well as the promotion of civic participation of young people in the European and national spheres.

The CESI Youth thanks ANIEF, an affiliate of CESI’s Italian member organisation CISAL, for hosting and co-organising this Board meeting.

Picture: The CESI Youth Board in session © CESI 2018

His speech focused very much on topics which promise to be popular with the citizens – first of all, as we know from the news, the abolition of winter-summer-time-switching. It’s a safe topic. Other safe choices: new measures to prevent terrorism, more development cooperation with Africa to mitigate migration push-factors, fresh efforts to make Europe more of a political global player. However, new projects for increased economic and social equality were missing.

While Juncker spoke, CESI’s reflection group met to spell out proposals to sharpen CESI’s identity, improve the representation of CESI’s members and push forward the EU’s social agenda.

Yes. ‘All workers count’. CESI does more than represent its many member organisations and their 5 million affiliates. CESI defends the interests of the society as whole. And a pledge for more social fairness will become key ahead of the upcoming European elections in May 2019. A new visual identity for CESI with sharp slogans will help do that: ‘Yes, we care. We deliver – For a more social EU’.

While CESI Youth analyses best practices of how to recruit new young members, CESI, together with national and international partners, focuses on the interests of workers in the future world of work. To ensure their representation and their access to labour law and social protection. All workers count.

The principles of the much-noted European Pillar of Social Rights must and will be seized at all levels. And coherent approaches at EU level will be increasingly decisive to bring forward social standards and cohesion.

By the way: ‘Yes. We care.’ – This also means we will vote at the EU elections. For social fairness and pluralism at all levels.

This will be one of our main messages in the months to come.

Picture: Klaus Heeger © CESI 2018

Responding to recent political discussions within the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, and based on a detailed position of CESI, the members engaged in a lively discussion on a (possible) exclusion of (certain) public sector workers from chapter III of the currently negotiated new EU directive of predictable and transparent working conditions with the European Parliament’s shadow rapporteur for the S&D group, MEP Javi Lopez.

Transparent and predictable working conditions: No flat-rate exclusion of public sector workers

CESI’s affiliates made clear that possible flat-rate exclusions of all civil servants and all workers employed in public emergency services, the armed forces, the police authorities as well as judges, prosecutors, investigators and other law enforcement services, as suggested by certain actors, is unacceptable.

If at all, exemptions should be carefully tied only to individual articles and apply only to personnel where this can clearly be justified, CESI’s members argued.

Access to social protection for all: Why no EU directive?

In a discussion with Ana Carla Pereira, Head of Unit in charge of national social security systems at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, CESI’s members warmly welcomed the content of the European Commission’s recent proposal on access to social protection for all. As already stipulated in a previous position of CESI, they however questioned the likely effectiveness of the measure, which will be a Council recommendation and not a binding directive. CESI’s affiliates mentioned that a proposal for a binding directive would have been legally possible under the EU treaties, and expressed hopes that the Member State governments will nevertheless take the initiative seriously.

Work-life balance: Do not water down the European Commission’s proposal

With the Austrian Council Presidency as a guest speaker on the European Commission’s legislative proposal on work-life balance for parents and carers, CESI’s affiliates voiced strong concerns over moves by the Council of Ministers to try to water down various provisions of the European Commission’s original proposal in negotiations with the European Parliament. They emphasised that the provisions of the European Commission’s proposal were minimum measures required to bring about a more equal sharing of domestic responsibilities between women and men. Hollowing out the proposal would jeopardise progress for more gender equality in Europe, CESI’s members argued.

CESI’s FEMM and SOC Commissions also heard a presentation of Aristea Koukiadaki from the University of Manchester on temporary contracts, precarious employment, employees’ fundamental rights and EU employment law, and, under the leadership of CESI’s Spanish member trade union organisation FASGA, deliberated on the ineffectiveness of gender equality plans in companies across Europe. Both topics will be further examined at the next meeting, which will take place on March 7 2019.

Picture: CESI’s SOC and FEMM Commissions in session © CESI 2018

Delivering a ‘Europe which protects’ should mean not only reinforced security and defence, which Juncker stressed repeatedly, but also explicitly refer to social security standards and core labour rights for all. Indeed, little was said about further plans to develop a social dimension in the EU. At least Juncker committed to fair(er) taxation and hence a move towards more equal societies, defending a legislative proposal against some skeptical Member State governments “to make internet giants pay taxes where they create their profits.” Fighting tax evasion and social dumping have been for long on CESI’s agenda.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “With the next European elections coming up in 2019, next year will be a decisive one for Europe. The driving forces of the Union need to stick together, protect Europe’s legacy of liberal democracy and personal rights and freedoms and highlight the added values that the EU can be for citizens.

Key areas where Europe can deliver tangible results for citizens are in the fields of labour rights, access to social protection and fair corporate and finance taxation.” According to the Secretary General, Europe can only be called ‘social’ when workers’ rights are respected, employment is stable, secure and predictable for all, and excessive inequalities and poverty are kept at bay.

Commission President Juncker also highlighted the intention of the European Commission to stop clock-changing. Klaus Heeger welcomed this move, yet highlighted: “As always, the devil will lie in the details. Since it could be up to the member states to decide whether they would like to stick either to summer or to winter time, many discussions at EU and national levels are still to come. It is also questionable if this initiative should deserve such big attention. Stopping clock-changing is something which many citizens seem to agree with; however Europe clearly faces many other, bigger and more urgent challenges than this.”

President Juncker’s full speech and supporting documents and proposals of the European Commission were published here.

Picture: European Commission President Juncker addresses the European Parliament © European Union, 2018

What is working time? The interpretation of the European Court of Justice
The impacts of the Matzak judgment on ‘home based on-call time’ on employment and working conditions

Wednesday, September 26, 2018 – 12.30 to 14.30
Light lunch 12h30-13h00
CESI premises, Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée 1-5, 1040 Bruxelles

Register for the event here.

In February this year, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered a significant verdict in favour of a Belgian volunteer firefighter for his home-based on-call time. Indeed, in its ruling, the Court stated that “stand-by time which a worker spends at home with the duty to respond to calls from his employer within 8 minutes, very significantly restricting the opportunities for other activities, must be regarded as ‘working time’”.
This case may have fundamental impacts on services which strongly depend on “on-call” and “stand-by” duties, in particular in the areas of health, civil protection and law enforcement.
What are the concrete impacts on working time, remuneration and organisation of these services? Is this judgment helpful or detrimental to these sectors? What are the current challenges in terms of sustainability and organisation of these services?
The panel will allow assessments and exchanges of views among experts, lawyers, politicians and trade unionists.

Opening, 13.00
Mr Romain Wolff, President of CESI

Discussion with the participation of
Maître Pierre Joassart, Deckers&Joassart, lawyer of Mr Matzak
Alain Laratta, Vice-President of Avenir Secours, Lieutenant-Colonel of French Firefighters
NN, representative of local and regional administrations (tbc)
Andrea Grgic, European Commission

Moderator
Pierre Baussand, Director of the Brussels Liaison Office, Eurofound

Conclusions
Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI

Call for selection of an external expert (researcher) – deadline 14 September 2018

The applications have to be sent by express courier, putting on the envelope “Call for selection of an external expert (researcher) for the project on Improving work-life balance: opportunities and risks coming from digitalization” at:
Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri
Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica
Ufficio Relazioni Sindacali
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II n.116
00186 Roma – Italy

Research on Improving work-life balance: opportunities and risks coming from digitalization.

Terms and conditions
In order to ensure a large visibility to these terms and conditions, the Dipartimento Funzione Pubblica (DFP) will publish them on its web site. DFP will keep these terms and conditions on line for 45 days.

1. Background
The research is part of a work-life balance and digitalization project selected by the European Commission under budget line 04.03.01.08, and introduced by the Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri – Dipartimento della Funzione Pubblica (PCM-DFP) – EUPAE Italy, in cooperation with the Trade Union side coordinating entity EPSU, on behalf of the European Social Dialogue Committee in Central Government Administrations – SDC CGA.
The project aims at identifying opportunities/challenges/risks and find innovative solutions for work-life balance stemming from digitalization.

2. Purpose of the Contract
The main aim of this contract is to provide social partners with two products as follows:

First, a European comparative study (Field Study) based on good or interesting policies, practices, national regulations, EU provisions including Commission’s latest proposal to reconcile work and private life, across a sample member states relating to work-life balance and digitalization in central government administrations, looking at issues such as flexitime, reduced working hours, part-time, distance working, forms of leave etc., with particular reference to gender equality.

Second, user friendly Policy Guidelines with DOs and DON’Ts based on the study and inputs from the members of the SDC CGA.
The research will examine the national legal framework on work-life balance and digitalization with a special attention to the evaluation of existing rules and the role of social dialogue.

The researcher can also consider relevant good or interesting practices, policies and experiences developed outside the European Union.

In addition the researcher will contribute to the preparation of the content of the first Focus Group planned in 2018 in Spain, the second Focus Group planned in 2019 in France, and of the final project Conference planned in 2019 in Italy.

The target audience/readership of the study will primarily be the members of the SDC CGA.
The Policy Guidelines will be addressed to managers, employees, and trade union lay members.
The research will be the basis for the development of the serious game: a tool for the follow up and dissemination of project results.

For the full details

Application form

Resolutions were adopted on both topics and are available in the resources section.

In its resolution on the implementation of the new EU Regulation on cross-border parcel delivery services, the members of the Trade Council criticise in particular excessive emphases on parcel delivery costs reductions and the absence of any socio-political aspects in the new Regulation. “More competition in the sector worsens existing social problems. Cross-border parcel delivery services are not improved just by lower prices, but rather by an adequate quality of the service”, the resolution argues. In this context, the resolution calls on Member States to make use of flexibility clauses under the new Regulation to include additional reporting obligations by service providers that can effectively indicate and lead to tackle socially adverse conditions for workers in parcel delivery providers.

The resolution on worker-friendly demographic change in telecoms and postal service providers argues in particular against age-related dismissals for workers beyond the age of 50 and in favour of adequate pensions in the sector that can prevent old-age poverty and in favour of additional measures for health and safety at work so that workers can actually work healthily until they reach the statutory pension age.

The Trade Council meeting was also an opportunity for discussions about the situation in the different Member States with regards to employment challenges arising from privatisations, increasing parcel delivery market powers of companies like Amazon and the continuing decline in postal mail. The topic of social and employment impacts of digitalisation was also at the centre of the debate, based on a keynote address by Wilhelm Gloss of the Austrian FCG trade union.

The next meeting of the Trade Council will take place on December 7 in Brussels.

Picture: CESI’s Trade Council ‘Post & Telecoms’ © CESI 2018

Carmen Jaffke from the Luxembourgish General Confederation of Public Services (CGFP) will be a full member in the Board of Administration, Kirsten Lühmann from the German Civil Service Federation (dbb) will serve as alternate. The mandates expire in 2020 when renewed elections will take place.

CESI has been a member of the EWL since 2006. Both Carmen Jaffke and Kirsten Lühmann have been a member and alternate in the EWL Board of Administration in the past and have both an extensive track record as trade unionists and supporters of gender equality and women’s rights.

Carmen Jaffke is President of the Equality Law Commission of the CGFP as well as Vice-President of CESI’s members’ Commission on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality. She has held both posts since 2007.

Kirsten Lühmann, a Bundestag MP for the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2009, is a former Equal Opportunity Commissioner of German Police Trade Union (DPolG, a member of the dbb) as well as a former member of the Executive Board and now Honorary member of the General assembly of the dbb’s Federal Women’s Council. She is also a member of the International Association of Women Police (IAWP) and the European Network of Policewomen (ENP). Within CESI, she currently serves as President of the Commission on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “I congratulate Carmen Jaffke and Kirsten Lühmann on their successful re-elections. Both are committed and long-standing proponents of lived gender equality. As President and a Vice-President of our internal Commission on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, they are perfectly placed to act as an intermediary between CESI and the EWL, and to strengthen joint interest representation. Discussions around EU gender equality files currently negotiated, such as the one on work-life balance, show that strong united voices advocating, for instance, more effective measures for an equal sharing of domestic responsibilities between men and women are greatly needed. Progress on gender equality in Europe in almost all areas of employment and societal life has been slow for years, and strong stakeholder alliances are needed to push decision-makers to act more decisively.”

The General Assembly also elected a new EWL President, Gwendoline Lefebvre from the Coordination française pour le Lobby Européen des Femmes (CLEF), as well as a new Executive Board. All names of the new leadership of the EWL -President, Executive Board and Board of Administration members – are available on the website of the EWL.

Picture: Carmen Jaffke/Kirsten Lühmann © CGFP/dbb 2018

Years after the financial crisis, the June 2018 European Council and Euro Summit are again set to focus on the way forward for Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), including on major institutional reforms. Whether it is the Five Presidents’ Report, the European Commission’s reflection paper and associated proposals, the vision presented by President Macron, the Council’s Leaders’ Agenda, or the long-awaited Franco-German proposals on EMU reform, it is beyond doubt that:

• Member States do not have a common understanding of what is needed to render EMU financially and politically sustainable;
• There is a major lack of trust, both in the “North” and in the “South”, which is in itself becoming an impediment to further reform.

We understand that fiscal matters strike at the heart of national sovereignty, and will be jealously guarded. But Eurozone governance cannot have it both ways. Decisions of this magnitude cannot be “coordinated” at the European level while declining to integrate democratic control to a proportionate extent.

For the June European Council and the further process on deepening EMU, we call on leaders to:

• focus Eurozone reform efforts on restoring trust from European citizens;
• ensure accountability at the level at which decisions are effectively taken, including by institutionalising the Eurogroup and strengthening the role of the European Parliament, notably in the appointment process of the European Central Bank’s leadership
• to take advantage of existing EU-level structures when introducing new instruments such as an SRF-backstop, a euro area budget, or a rainy-day fund, enabling accountability to both the European Parliament and the Council; as well as institutional watchdogs like the European Ombudsman and Court of Auditors;
• better anchor the political accountability of the European Central Bank in order to protect its independence and its legitimacy, in view of ever expanding tasks.

The full letter is available here.

The Spanish Nursing Technicians Trade Union SAE (Sindicato de Técnicos de Enfermería) is a non-partisan independent nation-wide trade union established for nursing staff. It was founded in 1988 and has been actively participating in collective bargaining in the filed of Spanish healthcare since then. It is the most representative trade union in the sector in Spain.

The Serbian Trade Union of Doctors and Pharmacists SLFS (Sindikat lekara i farmaceuta Srbije), established in the 1990s, brings together doctors and pharmacists employed in the public sector. It is an independent trade union whose objective is the protection and improvement of common and individual professional rights and interests in the Serbian public healthcare sector.

Trade Union of Physicians in Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegowina SSDMRS (Strukovni Sindikat Doktora Medicine Republike Srpske was founded in 2005 and represents physicians and dentists employed in the public healthcare system. It is representative in Srpska.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “I am glad to welcome our two new member organisation from Spain and Serbia, and look forward to fruitful cooperation with the Trade Union of Physicians in Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegowina. Their competence and sectoral expertise will further reinforce CESI’s voice in the representation of the interests of employees in the field of public healthcare in Europe.”

Logos: SAE/SLFS/SSDMRS logos © SAE/SLFS/SSDMRS 2018

Policy makers from the European Parliament and Commission as well as trade union representatives from CESI member organisations from 4 European countries -Italy, Spain, Luxembourg and Germany- met to discuss the current state of play in the EU Member States as regards abusive uses of fixed-term work contracts under the EU Directive 1999/70 on fixed term work and what could be improved at the EU level in order to achieve less abuses at the national levels and limit the occurrence of abusive work contracts in the labour markets. CESI trade unions members from Spain and Italy expressed concerns about their situation at the national level regarding the abusive use of fixed term contracts especially in the public sector. In this context it was als ocriticised that the European Commission’s recent legislative proposal for a Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions could exclude public sector workers.

Not least in light of the recent resolution of the European Parliament’s Petitions Committee (EP PETI) of May 31 this year and increasing case-law on precarious work, CESI believes it is important to start coordinated initiatives with key stakeholders in order to improve access to labour rights and social protection for workers in atypical work.

In addition to stakeholders from CESI and its member organisations, Members of the European Parliament, representatives from the European Commission and the Director of Eurofound Juan Menéndez-Valdés participated in the event.

MEP Thomas Mann (EPP), who hosted the event, called for a better implementation of existing labour standards at the international, EU and national levels. In this context, he highlighted in particular the relevant EU directives, the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) decent work agenda and the European pillar of social rights. MEP Brando Benifei (S&D) emphasised the importance of promoting job security especially for younger generations facing particularly high unemployment rates and precariousness. MEP Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL), rapporteur on a recent own-initiative report of the European Parliament on precarious work, underlined that since 2005 standard employment has fallen from 62% to 59% while atypical work has increased.

To fight fraudulent employment contracts, Juan Menéndez-Valdés highlighted the need for more contractual clarity and transparency for workers in precarious forms of employment.

Marcello Pacifico, President of CESI’s Italian affiliate ANIEF, and Javier Jordan de Urries Sagarna, President of CESI’s Employment and Social Affairs Commission and affiliate of CESI’s Spanish member organisation CSIF, summed up a number of main priorites for trade unions to bring down and prevent abusive employment relationships:

1. More awareness at the national and EU levels on precariousness and the importance of effective labour rights and social protection;
2. A truly consistent application of the principle of non-discrimination and correct and uniform application of EU legislation at the national levels, especially of Directive 1999/70 on fixed term work;
3. An adaptation of EU legislation to reflect evolving changes in the labour market so as to cover all forms of new work and guarantee access to effective and adequate labour rights and social protection for all.
4. The full implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Picture: CESI breakfast debate with MEP Thomas Mann © CESI 2018

For CESI this day is an opportunity to celebrate the values and virtues of public service to the community, but also to highlight the contribution of public services, recognise the work of public servants and encourage young people to pursue careers in the public sector. Furthermore, CESI believes this day is significant to highlight services of public services as essential to guarantee citizens’ fundamental rights. They set the frame for democracy, non-discrimination and the rule of law.

Since decades public services have been hit hard by the financial and economic crisis. With significant budget and personnel cuts, the capacity of public services to fulfil their general interest mission has been profoundly affected.

The acute refugee crisis has added additional pressure to local, regional and central administrations that were already understaffed and underfinanced. It is therefore more than crucial to revalorise and recognise the importance of such work, but also vital to put into place policies that protect and allow public services to develop and maintain their level of quality.

It must be pointed out that guaranteeing the cohesion of societies and catering to public interest are of fundamental importance. The safeguarding of a proper functioning of public administrations must thus be an objective priority that cannot be subordinate to any other principle, especially not to purely economic considerations.

Above all, CESI believes it is more than crucial to drive a political change of paradigm, in order to finally view public services as an investment in people rather than as a cost to society. The World Public Service Day is a step toward this societal transformation.

Picture: Public services image © www.teachhub.com 2018

Mr Matzak has been a volunteer fire-fighter at the Belgian fire station of Nivelles (30 km away from Brussels) for thirty years.

Volunteer fire-fighters provide their services as a fire-fighter alongside their main job. The former services are usually provided in the evenings or at the weekend.

Mr Matzak has been a volunteer fire-fighter at the Belgian fire station of Nivelles (30 km away from Brussels) for thirty years.

Volunteer fire-fighters provide their services as a fire-fighter alongside their main job. The former services are usually provided in the evenings or at the weekend.

Mr Matzak, like his colleagues, was remunerated when in actual service and when on duty at his place of work. However, when on call at home (a compulsory duty), he was not paid, with the exception of the time he was called into work.

When on stand-by at home, he was forced to remain available and report present at his place of work within eight minutes if called in.

With approximately thirty of his colleagues, Mr Matzak launched legal proceedings under Belgian jurisdiction in order to obtain pay for his stand-by time at home.

The Labour Court of Brussels referred the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg in order to decide whether this stand-by time at home was to be considered working time.

In its decision dated 21 February 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Mr Matzak’s on-call time when not at his place of work constituted working time.

Indeed, in its ruling, the Court stated that “stand-by time which a worker spends at home with the duty to respond to calls from his employer within 8 minutes, very significantly restricting the opportunities for other activities, must be regarded as ‘working time’”.

In other words, if it is a worker’s duty to stay at home with the obligation to respond to his/her employer’s calls within such a short timeframe (in this case, eight minutes), then this is to be considered working time.

This represents a fundamental development for all European workers because until present, the Court of Justice of the European Union considered only duty at the place of work to be working time (e.g. even in the case of stand-by time), whereas time spent at home – even with the obligation of responding to the call of duty from the employer within a short timeframe – was never considered working time.

However, let us remember that the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union only considers working time in terms of workers’ well-being.

The Court of Justice of the European Union has consistently interpreted that the European directives relating to working time do not directly imply the right to remuneration.

As a result, the present ruling may have a very important ripple effect in addition to the issue of remuneration.

Indeed, the European Union’s Working Time Directive does not allow an employer to require his/her workers to work over 48 hours a week and sets forth a rest period of 11 hours per 24-hour period. Therefore, this means that a worker cannot be on stand-by duty at home subject to constraints such as those Mr Matzak was under for over 48 hours a week or 13 hours per 24-hour period (i.e. twenty-four hours minus eleven hours).

However, across the European Union, in many jobs both in emergency response and healthcare services impose longer stand-by periods at home for a longer time than that.

In addition, despite the fact that this must be verified under the legislation of each country, it is highly likely that the fact that this has been interpreted as working time on a European level may have an impact on remuneration, i.e., that such stand-by time may grant the right to pay.

Thus, under Belgian law, the Labour Court of Mons issued a ruling on 25 May 2018 stating that, following the Matzak ruling, all stand-by time at home is to be remunerated in full.

If this case law is to be respected, it will have a considerable impact on the budget of administrations.

However, if these bodies react intelligently, they will come to the conclusion that it is more advantageous to request stand-by time at the place of work, because the pay will be the same – and workers on duty at the place of work means higher service quality for the citizens.

For instance, if Mr Matzak were to be on stand-by at the fire station, he would be able to respond to the call of duty eight minutes sooner.

In a life-or-death situation, eight minutes can make a significant difference when it comes to chances of survival.

The Matzak judgment will undoubtedly lead to others because if the Court has interpreted stand-by time with the duty to report to the service within eight minutes as working time, meaning that the “line” between working time and rest periods will be called into question. For instance, will a duty to report in at the place of work within fifteen minutes or half an hour be considered working time?

One thing is clear: the Matzak judgment represents case law on working time at the Court of Justice of the European Union and from now on, stand-by time at home may constitute working time.

Picture: Pierre Joassart © Deckers & Joassart 2018

The Trade Council welcomed Barbara Gerstenberger, head of Working Life Unit at Eurofound, who presented a report on minimum wage across Europe and the situation and the impacts of the introduction a potential EU minimum wage in each Member States. Further to this presentation, a position paper was adopted on this very topic.

The quality of administrations was also subject to discussion with the presentation of the new Quality administration toolbox by Florian Hauser, who gave an update on the latest developments with regards to the Structural Reform Support Services (SRSS) which can help national administrations in the implementation of structural reforms to improve the quality of their national services.

Further, the Trade Council touched upon the violence at work by third parties and had an exchange on recent activities of its members on that subject matter. Marina Surina from CNV-Connectief explained the reasons for organising a recent new type of event on this subject matter in The Hague, CESI@home. A position paper on this issue was then adopted by the members of the Trade Council.

Next to these specific topics, the meeting was an opportunity to share experiences, initiatives and challenges which central government administration personnel faces at the national level. The different activities and projects of the European sectoral social dialogue committee ‘Central government administrations’, where CESI is a social partner, were also presented and further discussed.

The position papers adopted at the Trade Council meeting will be further published on CESI’s website in the resources section.

Picture: CESI Trade Council ‘Central Administration and Finances’ © CESI 2018

“A moment of great international instability, of a great definition of new geopolitical structures at world level. The failure of the recent Canadian G7 summit and the subsequent Trump meeting with Kim Jong-un draws new guidelines that significantly dominate a new peaceful axis that excludes Japan and includes China and Russia, as well as the United States. And probably the sunset of the Atlantic axis that has governed the equilibrium of the world since the end of the Second World War.

As a result, continental Europe is in a phase of major change, with the threat of higher tariffs on the export of aluminum and steel. Furthermore, sanctions towards Russia are still in place. It should be stressed that Britain on the one side and Canada on the other are in a worse place than Eastern Europe.

This is since Britain (through Brexit) has precluded itself the possibility of a free trade area with the other European countries that would have been more useful as the historic American ally seems to have closed a history that had lasted over the years.

While the definition of new international balances is underway, the new Italian Government with the known affair of the Acquarius ship seeks to carve out an international position, becoming a de facto ally of the “Visegrad” group countries that are actually the same countries that have broken the European Community policy spirit on the equal distribution of immigrants.

Italy, as guided by Salvini, tries to ally itself with those who have created the problem, refusing in the last few weeks to renegotiate the Dublin Treaty and sending upstream a community policy that could alleviate Italy from the weight of immigration. There is not only the issue of migrants that of course calls for a central role in the emotional impact of our country, there are also important economic and social deadlines that await our country in the definition of its role as Europe evolves.

On one hand there has been a constant acceleration towards the end of quantitative easing. This can only lead to further pressures on the national public debt, on spread and on the interests that the country must issue to make our government bonds attractive to investors. We have to remember that our country, in order to support the economy and the burden of public debt, must put more than 500 billion euros in bonds each year. Since the European Central Bank and foreign investors principally own our public debt, in order to sustain this level of issuance, Italy paid in 2017 75 billion of interest expense on bonds. Each point of interest growth is worth 5 billion euros of additional indebtedness. This creates a vicious circle that threatens to bring the country quickly into a default if we do not supplement the country with structural reform policies that affect the public debt by creating development. Still, on the economic side, we should note that Italy in May had, for the first time in over twenty years, a negative spread on Greek bonds and that Spain in 2018 overtook Italy in the creation of wealth. In the next ten years, Spain will surpass our country by a further 7 percentage points, creating a considerable gap in favor of Spanish citizens compared to the Italian ones.

From a political stand, there is an increasing alliance between Macron and Merkel that the recent failure of the G7 only welded further. This outlines a strong core of Europe to which Spain and Portugal belong along with a nucleus of the countries of Northern Europe. The politics of populism of the Italian government, therefore, puts the country in an undesirable condition. There may be two scenarios: that of an alliance with the countries of the authoritarian regimes of the Visegrad group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) and parts of the Balkan countries, or that of joining our poor Mediterranean relatives Greece, Malta and Cyprus.

The role of the European reformist and democratic union, in this framework, becomes even more important. This is because in Europe, unions have always collaborated in the making of a policy that aims at development and favors employment. A policy that creates a social cohesion that aims at increasing people’s rights and has a strong awareness that a regulated immigration policy, respects religious values but also anchors west Christian values is essential today. It is essential if we want to fill the demographic void existing today in every country of the European Union and above all in Italy.

In this context, workers unions and organisations and especially the independent ones such as CESI can play a fundamental role by calling on the European Commission and the Parliament, which is due to renew in July 2019, to follow a strict policy against exploitation and illegal employment. Resources are needed to provide employment to the tens of millions of young people who risk being without decent jobs for decades. Moreover, the trade unions in Europe can and must become a point of reference in the fight against precariousness and the severe social injustice that affect significant parts of the population. A social injustice that creates the roots of a general discontent which fuels populism and sovereignties. The independent autonomous European workers union has in its DNA this political line since it derives from the best of liberal, Christian and Social Democratic culture. The workers union can and must play an important role so that Europe does not have only the winning sign of a wild capitalism without rules, but also the social spirit of equal opportunities, equality and solidarity.

This road is marked by initiatives such as those taken in Italy by Confsal on the recent May 1 demonstration in Naples. This type of manifestations represent a strong set against the drift of sovereigns that produce selfishness and make only the strongest ones win without a network of social and economic protection for the weaker social strata. With this basic approach and with these strong convictions, I hope to be elected Vice-President of CESI. I would commit myself to work together with my brothers of the unions throughout Europe, so that our action will be ever more incisive and representative and will become a constant spur for the European institutions.”

This is an unofficial translation of the Italian original manuscript.

Picture: Roberto Di Maulo © Confsal 2018

Youth unemployment as a general focus will to be driving the newly formed CESI Youth Board. The Board is particularly committed to work on initiatives developed at the EU level such as the Solidarity Corps and Erasmus+ and Pro but will also seek to strengthen its platform that has been now established in order for the young people to have a place to share their thoughts, experiences and views of the society we are living in.

The CESI Youth Board members have great expectations from what the CESI Youth can achieve together with CESI. Giving a voice to young people, including the ‘youth’ perspective into the main work and fights of CESI, and spreading the initiative of a youth platform across national entities are parts of the objectives set by the CESI Youth Board for the next four years to come until the next CESI Youth Congress.

After a first common position on apprenticeship systems in Europe, the Board will gather views and opinions of its youth counterparts to create a basis on which the CESI Youth can start advocacy for more and fairer rights for young people. After an interesting presentation by Mr Andrei Popescu from the European Commission’s DG EDUC on the Solidarity Corps initiative at the Youth Board meeting, CESI Youth intends to position itself on this -in its view- interesting yet not flawless initiative.

The next CESI Youth Board meeting will be held in Palermo in September, which gives around three months to the Board members to work on set issues and reflect on their positions so as to present work and initiatives to each other in September.

Along with other unions, CSIF highlighted its stand in favour of the basic right to early retirement for the local police staff. Under the slogan ‘Jubilación anticipada, Policía Local y Autonómica ¡Gobierno cumple ya!, Miguel Borra, President of CSIF, urged the Spanish government to comply with the demands.

The Plenary of the Spanish Congress will include a last minute amendment to the draft General State Budgets for 2018 by which the right to early retirement at 59 years would be extended to the local police, as has been proposed by the Independent Trade Union Centre and of Officials (CSIF).

While waiting for the vote on the budget, CSIF (which in recent months had intensified the dialogue with the government and the different parliamentary groups) urged an approval of the amendment to ensure early retirement to local and regional police. According to Miguel Borra, “there is no way back!” CSIF hopes that the government will unblock the situation and move forward “imminently”.

More information and a video are available here.

Logo: CSIF logo © CSIF 2018

According to the Court „the impairment of the freedom to form and join trade unions is justified by sufficiently weighty interests that are protected under constitutional law” and “the ban on strike action for civil servants is an independent and traditional principle of the career civil service system”.

The judgement is being considered as surprisingly explicit, especially as the Court underlined that “a right to strike, even for some groups of civil servants only, would interfere with the core structural principles guaranteed by the Basic Law and would fundamentally reshape the understanding and regulations of the civil service” and that it would “erode the principles of alimentation, lifetime employment and the duty of loyalty as well as the principle that material rights and duties, including remuneration, must be regulated by the legislature”. A right to strike “would require fundamental changes to these principles, which are essential to the functioning of the civil service.”

With a view to the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR) and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights, the German ‘Bundesverfassungsgericht’ made clear that the ban on strike action for civil servants is justified (under Art. 11(2) first sentence or Art. 11(2) second sentence ECHR) based the particularities of the German system of the career civil service.

The German Civil Service Association (dbb), a member of CESI, welcomed the judgement. “It is time that this discussion ends and that the particularity of the German system is recognised. Being a German civil servant does not only entail rights, it also entails obligations for both, the State and the civil servant. Allowing the right to strike would open the door to the erosion the German civil service as such” declared Uli Silberbach, President of the dbb.

The complaints were brought to the German Constitutional Court by teachers having the civil servants status and who had been sanctioned for their participation in strikes.

The European Parliament has welcomed around 9000 participants around different thematic, all extremely interesting. Inside the European Parliament, CESI Youth organise a panel on Apprenticeship, which included Ms Ann Vanden Bukcle (European Commission), MEP Julia Ward, Josef Holnburger (ETUC), Alicia Herrera (EAN) and Matthäus Fandrejewski (CESI Youth Representative). The discussion was interactive and focused on the link between the quality and the reputation of such scheme.

Outside the Parliament, CESI Youth was organising an activity which consisted in the gathering of thoughts of different challenges and fears for our future. Each thought was put on a box, from which we created a ‘wall of fears’. This wall of fear embodied the main concerns of this generation and called on the main actors of society to consider them and act accordingly.

A panel was held on this very subject matter,in which inadequacy of our government to deal with migration, EU scepticism, and inequality across the continent, were recurrent themes. Our CESI Youth Vice-Representative, Valentina Viviani, was present at the panel, as well as Sabrina Pellerito (CESI Youth Board member) to discuss the involvement of the challenges Italy faces currently with its government and to also discuss social inclusion. At the end of this debate, we all tore down this wall as a symbol of fight against our fears, so to demonstrate our will to perseverate despite those challenges.

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The second day of celebrations took place in the Ridderzaal in the Dutch Parliament, where the 1948 Congress of The Hague was held, which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the European Movement and the foundations of the European Union itself. During her keynote speech, European Movement International President Eva Maydell MEP stated:

“Now more than ever we need to stand up for what we hold dear, we need to speak up for what we consider to be true, we need to come forward and be the change we want to see in the world around us. If this gathering is to do anything, it must be to remind us that Europe is not just institutions or nations, politicians or politics. It is each and every one of us, citizens of Europe.”

Minister of the Interior and Deputy Prime Minister of The Netherlands, Ms. Kajsa Ollongren also told the audience:

“The ambition demonstrated by that congress [Congress of The Hague 1948] is still highly relevant. We too must now dare to look ahead. To the Europe of our children and our grandchildren. We need to decide what kind of Europe we want them to live in. And with that vision of Europe before us, we should take concrete steps to make it a reality.”

The two days also served as a discussion arena for the Declaration of The Hague, written and released by the European Movement and partners. Based on the discussions and debates among citizens and stakeholders, in the Declaration, we are calling for:

• a European democracy that encourages the full participation of all citizens and boosts transparency of decision-making, supported by increased investment in education
• safeguarding our open societies, defending the rule of law and strengthening the judiciary and free press
• a deeper economic and monetary union, based on an inclusive and fair economy, more ambitious when harnessing technology, focused on sustainable investments
• a social model that address widening inequalities, prioritises investment in education, culture, R&D and skills for the jobs of the future
• the promotion of European heritage and identity, while building on our cultural diversity
• strong efforts in a transition towards sustainable renewable energy, decarbonisation and the circular economy, reversing biodiversity loss, combating air and water pollution, eliminating toxic chemicals and promoting sustainable agriculture
• a more holistic approach to migration, addressing its root causes, offering protection to those in need and pursuing the social, cultural and economic inclusion of refugees and migrants in Europe in order to seize the opportunity of the diversity brought by these new Europeans
• a joint response to current geopolitical challenges, in particular when addressing difficulties with Russia and the rise of extremism and terrorism
• a common European defence policy and closer security cooperation, supported by a close partnership with the EU’s immediate neighbourhood.
• a steady involvement and implication of the candidate countries and the countries in the Eastern partnership with whom we will share a common future
• the full participation of women and young people to ensure that no one is discriminated against, both in the economy and in society as a whole

The full Declaration of The Hague is available here.

The speeches given in the Ridderzaal and a recording of the event can be found on this page of the website of the European Movement International.

* This press release was shared from the website of the European Movement International (EMI). CESI is a member organisation of the EMI.

The exchanges of views focused on the rights of association of military personnel (in particular with regards to the recent success of the complaint Euromil and the Irish association PDFORRA at the European Committee on Social Rights) of the Council of Europe, the relations between EU and NATO, the positioning of the EU towards Russia, and, not least, the importance of the human factor in the future European Defence Union.

Experts from the European External Action Service (EEAS), from NATO and from the Cabinet of the EU´s High Representative Mogherini brought new insights to the latest developments in the field of European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP).

In his presentation, Mr. Vuorimaki, EEAS, highlighted the coherent approach of the EU in its relations to Russia based on the five guiding principles: (1) full implementation of the Minsk agreements, (2) closer ties with Russia’s former Soviet neighbors, (3) strengthening EU resilience to Russian threats, (4) selective engagement with Russia on certain issues such as counter-terrorism, and (5) support for people-to-people contacts. In the view of CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger, contacts with Russian trade unions should be considered as being in line with the principle of ’people to people contacts’.

The representative from NATO, Mr. Chalupecky, described the current challenges of the North Atlantic Alliance, highlighting the positive signals and practices of solidarity among NATO members in the recent years. Altogether, the efforts of the EU to develop its own military resilience are seen positively, as they may lead to a more efficient use of resources. To his mind, the issue of unequal financial contributions to NATO will remain on the agenda, forcing EU countries to contribute more to military expenses in the long term.

In a final round of discussion with Mr. Rentschler, Deputy Head of Cabinet of the EU´s High Representative Mogherini, the general frame and structure of the European Security and Defence Policy was outlined and concrete possibilities to engage with representatives of the military and civilian personnel of the armed forces were discussed. Thomas Sohst, President of the TC, concluded: “You cannot frame a European Defence Union without considering the human factor. This cannot be sustainable. The personnel of the armed forces is the one giving flesh to visions and political will. To listen to them on a regular basis could be key to success. Especially the newly introduced mechanism of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) creates new possibilities in this regard.”

Under the agreement, workers who provide a service in an EU Member State other than their country of origin will benefit not only from the minimum wage but also from local collective agreements. They shall also be entitled to the same travel, accommodation and meals allowances that their colleagues receive. This legislation will help bring an end to the exploitation of which so many posted workers have suffered in recent years. Posted workers will not only be guaranteed the same pay as their colleagues, they will also receive the same entitlements, making their terms and conditions genuinely equal.

One drop of bitterness remains though: Posted workers in the road transport sector will be excluded from the new rules until the so-called ‘lex specialis’ laying down specific rules for posting in the road transport sector is adopted. This means that more rights with regard to duration, pay and collective agreements will not apply to road transport workers for now. This might create a ‘two-tier’ directive that discriminates lorry drivers who are working under very hard conditions in a sector that is hardly controlled.

A crumb of comfort is that the European Commission will have to review the implications of the directive on the road transport sector by five years after its entry into force. With this reporting obligation, we managed to create visibility for the conditions in the road transport sector and there is a chance that this topic will be put forward again in the near future.

One of the great benefits of the EU for citizens is being able to live and work in every EU Member State. By ensuring fairness for those working across borders, we are delivering on that promise and making a more socially-just Europe possible. Now it is up to the Member States to revise their national legislation on posting so that posted workers in their countries will really profit from local collective agreements. They must deliver for the same pay for the same work at the same workplace to finally come true.

Terry Reintke | Photo credit: European Parliament audiovisual

The proposed mechanisms which should allow whistle-blowers to report wrongdoings are threefold. Firstly, a mandatory internal reporting procedure should be established. Public administrations and municipalities of more than 10.000 citizens as well as private companies of more than 50 employees having more than 10 million of euro in turn-over have to create an internal procedure to allow reports from whistle-blowers. Secondly, there should be a possibility to report to the competent public authorities, but only if the internal reporting mechanism is not effective. Thirdly, and on the condition that neither the internal nor the public reporting were successful, the possibility to report directly to the media or grand public still remain.

According to CESI, the first channel, even if mandatory, may in practice be insufficient due to a lack of awareness. The second ‘public authorities’’ channel could however lead to major outcomes whilst respecting the secret of investigation and the innocence assumption. The third channel only appears to be appropriate when all other options have been exhausted and unsuccessful.

CESI believes that the inclusion of too many other grounds (such as the wide range of listed breaches of EU law) only weakens the very purpose of the proposal itself which is to capture complex wrongdoings in tax matters. As a matter of fact, other (important) grounds such as public procurement, financial services, money laundering or terrorist financing have been included in the proposal, hence broadening its scope. Furthermore, the notion of tax fraud or tax evasion only appears briefly within the proposal, both of which render the proposal less and less appropriate to tackle situation such as Luxleaks, Swissleaks, Offshore leaks etc. It is important to remember the outcome of the public consultation, which were that ‘tax evasion’ and ‘tax avoidance’ were mentioned by 84% of individuals and 68% of organisations as areas in which rules on whistle-blower protection was the most beneficial.

On a positive note, CESI supports the highly ambitious aim/intention of the proposal to harmonise whistle-blowers’ reporting procedures across the EU member states. CESI hopes that member states will be able to find common grounds and agree with this proposal so that the directive could be effective by the end of 2019.

In a first reaction, what does or should a “European Education Area” mean? In your view, what could the EU do or provide as tools, to help teachers on the ground to implement or take part in this “common area”?

Gregory: The European Union is legitimate to deal with all education-related issues. I will not address the Sorbonne process neither the Commission’s definition. However, it seems important to me to take into account all know-how and methods from all EU countries in order to share good teaching practices. This idea of a forum for dialogue should be implemented. The framework of a European area of education and of exchange of good practices would enable all education actors to elaborate common tools.

For example, we could elaborate tools to strengthen European identity (democracy, law, peace) to fight against radicalism and Euro-skepticism.

The pooling of tools or good practices on the shaping of the European identity of young people should serve both the improvement of working conditions of teachers and the success of students.

Katarzyna: The European Area should mean a kind of web consisting of European systems of education. Although each system is different, they should be connected by certain common values and aims of the whole European education.

It is said that young people are our future, so the European Union should do its best to help those young people find themselves in the European area. Today’s world is changing very fast, and very often national systems of education are outdated, adjusted to reforms implemented 10 or more years ago. Even if it is not the role of the EU to interfere in national systems of education, it should make it easier and possible for students to make their own decisions about their educational goals, both in their countries of origin and abroad. As a result, the European Education Area should create a kind of “European system of education” in which every young man or woman could find their own place.

When speaking about teachers, what is the most important is that they should be given the feeling of appreciation from their national government and the society for the whole responsibility of their job. What is more and goes after this, remuneration of teachers should be higher (at least in many EU countries) and national governments should spend more money on education, didactic material and classroom equipment.

Click here to read the full interview.

Grégory Corps is a 32-year-old French teacher. He teaches History and Geography at a secondary school in Grenoble. He is also union leader at the academic level and a member of the social commission of CESI’s French member SNALC/CSEN. Katarzyna Pawlaczyk is a 33-year-old Polish teacher. She has been teaching English in a resocialisation institution (closed boarding school) for 10 years. This school teaches girls aged 13-18 with challenging social backgrounds. Katarzyna isan active trade unionist in CESI’s Polish member organisation WZZ Solidarność – Oświata.

Note: The points of view raised in this interview are of personal nature and do not necessarily reflect official positions of CESI or CESI Youth.

Picture: The CESI Youth Board. Katarzyna 5th and Grégory 9th from the right © CESI 2018

Under the chairmanship of Esther Reyes (SATSE, Spain) and Raffaele Donnorso (CONFSAL, Italy) and in the frame of the major trends and priorities of EU policies and strategies relating to healthcare staff representatives, the meeting participants discussed matters lying at the heart of the public healthcare staff in Europe, including the development of a forward-thinking approach to the future of healthcare and better working conditions of healthcare providers.

In this context, the application of the EU working time directive (also against the background of the latest case law of the Court of Justice of the EU on the directive), third-party violence against employees at work and health and safety problems caused by the exposure to dangerous substances were discussed.

The latter was debated on in the framework of EU-OSHA’s latest awareness-raising ‘Healthy Workplaces Campaign‘ which currently addresses the management of dangerous substances and which features CESI as an official campaign partner.

The event was preceded by a press conference on the occasion of which the general concerns of doctors and medical staff in the Balkan countries as well as the guiding principles of trade union rights and pluralism in the area were highlighted.

Speaking on behalf of the Trade Council, and underlining major challenges in the health care sector, Esther Reyes underlined the necessity to further improve working conditions and safety and health standards.

„If we want to improve public health standards, the way forward is an adequate recognition of the value of the health sector workers as well as more determined and well-targeted investments in the quality public health services“, Ms Reyes stated. “And to these belong investments in the human factor, meaning in patients and workers”, she added.

Picture: CESI’s Trade Council ‘Health Services’ in session © CESI 2018

Emmanuel Jacob, who spoke as an expert on behalf of EUROMIL, a European federation of military association, flagged up just how much trade union rights for military personnel vary across the EU Member States, with no rights granted in countries such as Italy, the UK, Estonia and Romania and not more than restricted rights applying in a further set of countries including France, Poland and Spain – even though other countries which already grant full rights demonstrate that trade union rights for military personnel does not yield in strikes and security problems.

Mr Jacob also explained how, despite European integration advancing swiftly in defence -the European Defence Union being a flagship initiative of the Juncker Commission-, a harmonisation of worker rights and working conditions of military personnel serving in joint military operations of EU Member States under the common EU flag is yet to be realised.

Some weeks ago in April, a CESI delegation including Klaus Heeger as well as Thomas Sohst and Wolfram Kamm from CESI’s member organisations DBwV (the German Armed Forces Assocation) and dbb (the German Civil Service Association) already met with representatives of the German Ministry of Defence in Berlin to establish how the European Defence Union’s new Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) can better take account of a human factor to harmonise labour standards for military personnel at the EU level. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The common market with common standards is a guiding principle of European integration. Here, I wonder why military personnel from different EU countries should, when serving in joint EU operations, face different worker rights and working conditions. This is neither fair nor practical.”

CESI is a long-standing proponent of an application of EU labour and social rights for the personnel of the military forces in all EU Member States as well as of common rights and working conditions for military staff during joint operations under the EU banner. Further information is available in recent resolutions here and here. Follow this link for background information about yesterday’s hearing in the European Parliament.

Picture: At the European Parliament’s hearing on rights of soldiers © CESI 2018

According to the European Commission the agreement of the social partners, which dates back to December 2015, cannot be translated into a binding EU directive because central government administrations are placed under the authority of national governments and exercise the powers of a public authority – which means that their structure, organisation and functioning are entirely a matter for the respective national authorities of Member States. Moreover, according to the European Commission, the organisation of central government authorities varies widely between Member States so that a binding EU Directive transposing the social partner agreement into EU law would result in significantly different levels of protection depending on how centralised or decentralised the central administrations of the Member States are.

CESI disagrees with this interpretation and stresses that with this decision the European Commission denies workers in central government administrations information and consultation rights based on EU law.

Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Of course the organisation of government authorities varies, but this is the very reason why we need an EU directive which sets common minimum standards that all Member States need to fulfil!”

CESI is also in agreement with EPSU that the European Commission’s refusal to propose a transposition of the social partner agreement into an EU directive counteracts the autonomy of the social partners. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger added: “How credible is the European Commission’s recent initiative for a New Start for Social Dialogue if it does not support a transposition of a landmark social partner agreement into EU law, as foreseen by the Treaties?”

EPSU and CESI are, on the employees’ side, the two recognised European sectoral social partners in the area of central government administrations, forming a common delegation in the social dialogue committee named TUNED.

Picture: At today’s EPSU press conference on information and consultation rights for central government workers © CESI 2018

The CSIF representatives´ aim is to bring more attention to their claim for better working conditions of prison staff. CSIF opted for that form of protest after negotiations with prisons´ managements had ended without any agreement. No proposal from the employers´ side was submitted.

After months of mobilizations throughout Spain, CSIF brought its claims to the management of penitentiary institutions demanding immediate solutions to unblock the current situation and to achieve wage equalization with Catalonia – as has happened before with the National Police and Guardia Civil. CSIF’s demands also aim at the establishment of a working group including prison officers so to promote union unity.

The negotiations held the day before concerned salary improvements and public employment offers. According to CSIF, prisons suffer from a staff deficit of 3,000 employees.

The salary differences between Catalonia and the rest of Spain range from a minimum of 1,600 euros (generic office clerk) to 25,000 euros, depending on the position. In order to ensure fair employment conditions to everyone, the Spain would need to increase its thereto dedicated budget by 168 million euros.

More information and the report about salary discrimination in Spain are available here.

Youtube video

In its legislative proposals and accompanying texts on the next MFF, the European Commission proposes a long-term budget of €1,279 billion in commitments (taking inflation into account) over the period from 2021 to 2027, equivalent to 1.11% of the EU27’s gross national income (GNI). This represents an increase of €192bn increase compared to the current MFF 2014-2020, which amounted to €1,087 billion. The share of funding in the area of social affairs and cohesion will decrease.

According to the European Commission, the MFF reflects the spirit of the Rome Declaration of March 2017 in which leaders of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Member States fixed what should be the EU’s core tasks in the years to come: (1) border, internal security and migration management, (2) sustainable economic growth, (3) social progress, (4) external development cooperation and security.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The Rome Declaration called for a social Europe which promotes social progress and cohesion as one of the EU’s four priorities for the future. We welcome the proposal for a substantial increase of funding for Erasmus+ but with social inequalities between the very rich and the very poor increasing at unprecedented paces, we call for adequate funding for the social dimension of the EU. The European Commission put the European Pillar of Social Rights very high on the political agenda and CESI has warned from the start that its implementation will not come for free. The next MFF is the place to ensure the right financial prospects for the implementation of the Pillar. We hope that the European Parliament and the Council will support this view during its upcoming legislative negotiations.”

Existing since 2000, EU-OSHA’s Healthy workplaces campaigns typically run for two years and are backed by the EU institutions and social partners such as CESI. At the national level, they are coordinated by a network of focal points of EU-OSHA.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by dangerous substances in the workplace and to promote a culture of risk prevention. The specific objectives are:

• to raise awareness of the importance of preventing risks from dangerous substances , helping to dispel common misunderstandings;
• to promote risk assessment by providing information on practical tools and creating opportunities to share good practices;
• to heighten awareness of risks linked to exposures to carcinogens at work by supporting the exchange of good practices;
• to target groups of workers with specific needs and higher levels of risks by providing tailored information as well as examples of good practices; and to
• to increase knowledge of the legislative framework that is already in place to protect workers, as well as highlighting policy developments.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “This Healthy Workplaces Campaign edition comes at a timely moment to complement the EU’s current legislative agenda on caps for carcinogens and mutagens at work: Legal restrictions on the exposure of workers to hazardous substances and accompanying awareness-raising projects and information-dissemination must go hand in hand. CESI will contribute to the success of the Campaign by reaching out to -and working with- its extensive network across Europe: For a proper and responsible management of dangerous substances which puts the health and safety of workers first.”

More information about CESI’s involvement in the 2018-19 Healthy Workplaces Campaign is available here.

Logos: Logos of CESI, EU-OSHA and the Healthy Workplaces Campaign © EU-OSHA/CESI 2018