Celebrating World Public Service Day 2025

Grant Agreement N° VS/2015/0350

“Well-being and occupational safety & health (OSH) in central government administrations: tackling psychosocial risks at work.”

Tender Specifications for video on well-being and occupation safety & health in central government administration : tackling psychosocial risks at work

Date of publication on CESI website: 01/07/2016

Deadline for submission: 30/09/2016

To be sent to: [email protected]

TENDER SPECIFICATION

Background

Central government administration employees and management are faced with a certain number of new challenges linked to psychosocial risks that have a direct impact on the well-being at work. Restructuring, the use of new technologies, the evolution of the workforce profile in central administrations and the growing exposure to violence from public service users represent new challenges in terms of psychosocial risks and can lead to serious illness such as burnout. Preventive risk assessment procedures and efficient chain of responsibility are therefore more than ever essential to improve well-being at work and help employees facing mental health problems.

Purpose of the Contract

The main aim of this contract is to provide project partners with a video illustrating the final outcomes of the project: a background study on psychosocial risk in central government administrations and a step-by-step guide providing common guidelines for risk assessment processes and for improving the deployment of the chain of responsibility. The video, in the form of a cartoon, should be a pedagogical tool to explain how to implement the recommendations (common risk assessment procedure and efficient chain of responsibility) when being confronted with psychosocial risk at work.

Tasks to be performed by the Contractor

The contractor will be expected to produce a 4-6 minutes video, in the form of an animation/cartoon. The main purpose of the video is to illustrate the guide drafted by the selected expert and in cooperation with the project steering committee. The video should be a pedagogical (guide user instructions), dynamic, creative and attractive tool. The video producer selected should create an original visual identity with adequate atmosphere, music and voices. The video should be addressed to employers line/middle managers and a broad range of national settings.

The video will be played on computers, mobile phones and tablets, and thus compatible with both technologies HTML5 and Flash.

The script of the video will be drafted in English in close cooperation with the project researcher and project steering committee, allowing for subtitles in 7 languages on a separate budget line (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Lithuanian and Greek).

Timetable

Duration of the project: November 2015 to May 2017 (18 Months) consisting of 5 stages.

The production of the video will kick in at the fourth stage of the project from October 2016 to February 2017.

REASONS FOR CONTRACTING OUT IMPLEMENTATION WORK:

None of the project partners has the in-house capacity and skills to produce a video in the form of an animation/cartoon. The project partners want to come up with a pedagogical tool addressed to managers and employees on the ground. Producing such a video requires special skills especially in terms of graphic design, visual identity creation and video production that the project partners don’t have at their disposal.

The project partners, in collaboration with the expert, will prepare the script of the video but an external expertise in terms of graphic design and video production is needed to ensure a quality final outcome.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:

Expertise required

The video producer will be expected to demonstrate that he has:

Knowledge of video production (with special skills in animation and cartoons)
Knowledge of graphic design, visual identity creation and subtitles insertion
Experience of producing video with specific requirements and script in English
Experience of working with strict deadline and multiple project partners

Selection criteria

The researcher(s) will be selected on the basis of the clear evidence they provide of how they meet the 4 criteria listed under expertise required (above).

Award criteria

The contract will be awarded to the tenderer whose offer represents the best value for money, taking into account the 4 selection criteria. It should be noted that the contract will not be awarded to a tenderer who receives less than 70% on the Award Criteria.

Content of the bids

The tenderer will ensure that their bid clearly identifies how they meet the selection criteria, ideally by indicating their knowledge and expertise under each of the relevant headings. It would also be useful to see examples of previous work that demonstrates their ability to produce this kind of outcomes/videos.

Presentation of the bids

The deadline for bids is 1 September 2016.

Fees

The fee is €13.000 incl. VAT (excluding travel and accommodation expenses that are covered by another project budget line)

Applications should be sent to Nadja Salson, [email protected]

CESI and EUROMIL

hereby invite you to the next

CESI@noon event

‘The use of military forces for internal security’

Tuesday 27 September 2016 – 1.00-3.00pm
Cocktail lunch at 12.30pm

CESI (European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions), Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée 1-5, 1040 Brussels (Metro Schuman)

The event will take place in English / Register for the event here

***

With growing instability and armed conflicts at its doors, the EU is facing increasing numbers of terrorist attacks and elevated security threats. It has now reached a stage where the line between what is “internal” and “external” security is blurred.

In order to prevent and face further attacks, military forces are increasingly deployed inside the borders of some European countries. While this seems like a reassuring short-term solution, it raises many legal and political questions: Under which conditions is the deployment of military personnel inside the country legal? Which specific tasks may or may not be performed by the military? Is the military trained and equipped to perform police-like security tasks? Which additional training is necessary?

These and many more are the questions to be debated with the participants. The speakers will tackle these issues from a legal, political and a military personnel’s perspective.

Welcome:

Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI
Emmanuel Jacob, President of EUROMIL

Discussion with the participation of:

Colonel Erwin Hoogland, Dutch Ministry of Defence
Captain Lars Scraeyen, Belgian Royal Higher Institute for Defence
Thomas Sohst, German Armed Forces Association

Moderation:

Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI

Conclusions:

Michael Gahler, Member of the European Parliament

The Alliance, established in July 2013, gathers more than 150 stakeholders from 31 countries in the area of apprenticeships. The overarching objective is to engage in networking, cooperation and sharing of good practices in relation to quality apprenticeships.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Some Member States already have long-standing and successful apprenticeship systems based on quality learning outcomes and good working conditions. As a European trade union confederation, we consider it a natural task to establish cooperation and interaction between the European Alliance for Apprenticeships and our national member organisations active in this field, so that best practices may be shared.”

As a trade union confederation representing the interests of more than 5 million public sector workers, including from national trade unions in the education sector, CESI has been actively following the work of the Alliance since its inception. CESI will, as an official partner of the Alliance, focus its work in particular on events and meetings on the promotion of the reputation of apprenticeship schemes, also in public administrations, and the commitment of teachers in this field.

More information about CESI’s involvement in the Alliance can be accessed through CESI’s pledge as published on the European Commission’s EAfA website.

Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, declared: “Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.”

Indeed, according to the findings of an in-depth state aid investigation launched in June 2014, the tax rulings in question enabled Apple to avoid taxation on almost all the profits made in the entire EU Single Market by recording all sales in Ireland rather than in the countries where the products were sold.

The Apple case in Ireland, just like Starbucks in the Netherlands and Fiat in Luxembourg previously, is just another example of how harmful tax competition between EU Member States can be. Several hundred billion euros are lost annually by governments in Europe due to tax avoidance – even though many of them are struggling to finance basic public services and are in fact in dire need of taxes.

As CESI has repeatedly stated in the past, much still remains to be done to effectively fight harmful tax practices at the EU and international level and to restore trust in tax systems, namely:

• ensuring more transparency on tax rulings and public country-by-country reporting;
• creating sanctions for corporate tax dodging – So far, caught multinationals only pay what is due, so a deterrent effect is lacking; and
• adopting a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) which, by removing current mismatches between national systems, offers a holistic solution to the current problems with corporate tax avoidance in the EU.

International Youth Day was initially announced on December 17 1999 through a UN General Assembly resolution that went ahead endorsing the recommendations made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth declaring August 12 as the day to celebrate youth across the globe. With a different theme each year, the 2016 Day focuses on the leading role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production.

CESI affirms the need to work towards poverty eradication and ensuring that the youth can access education, training as well as employment. Young people are more likely to be forced into precarious employment, more than often jumping from one temporary contract to another and are experiencing a staggeringly high unemployment rate. As a comparison, the general unemployment rate within the 28 member states stands at 8,6% according to Eurostat figures, but the figure for young people dating from 2016 is 19,6%. This is unacceptable as the next generation should be the back bone of our societies.

As a trade union confederation, CESI reiterates its role as a social partner to encourage positive developments and calls for further investments into public services especially for the young.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Public services provide for the necessary conditions for growth, employment and investment – for the population at large, but especially for our struggling youth. Over the last years, austerity and privatisation measures have proven harmful for social cohesion in Europe. However, despite the financial crisis that has gripped Europe leading to an even bigger need for more resources, public services have, during the last years, met with significant budget and personnel cuts and trends towards low pay and poor working conditions.”

CESI is of the opinion that the participation of trade unions in setting into motion European employment policies is crucial to ensure an effective implementation of such measures at the national level. This is especially important with regards to the Youth Guarantee where the implementation needs to be further enhanced and developed throughout Europe. Supporting a sustainable and inclusive recovery together with the implementation of an investment plan for jobs is a necessary pre-condition for improving the situation of young people in the labour markets.

Despite all the prophecies of doom, the European unification process is a truly marvellous feast that was born only thanks to the political will “from above”.

However, at the very latest since the Maastricht Treaty (which paved the way for the Euro), there have been some negative developments, which have gained prominence since the beginning of the financial and debt crises, and they have yet to be overcome. People’s passion for Europe has practically transformed into the opposite feeling. The recent Brexit decision could represent a new turning point. It is pointless to enumerate the errors made until present and analyse them individually. However, we cannot turn the clocks back or return to a point in the past before any of this occurred, to a “status quo ante”. Although the last words about the UK’s exit from the EU have not yet been pronounced, one must look ahead more than ever before. To do so, however, the remaining 27 Member States must agree on a clear common goal and share a joint position.

Learning without looking back in anger

The fact that the UK belongs to Europe was actually always a certain fact. The adhesion of the UK to the European Communities over forty years ago under a sheen of believing that one could participate in this union without restraint and even design it in cooperation with others in a constructive fashion soon proved to be the object of a yet unheard-of sabotage manoeuvre that has always deeply affected the integration process and the original Community and the later European Union. Why? In those days already, political decision-makers and their successors on the British Isles had already clearly made their minds up to stall all steps towards a political union in Europe. Ms Thatcher’s independent “I want my money back” has left a deep scar.

Unfortunately, many countries followed suit – including Germany, sadly – and were able to hide behind such positions. Bragging about European successes, “selling” them on one’s national territory as the achievements of the country’s leaders while blaming anything less attractive concerning common compromises on “Brussels” and Europe, and consequently on the European unification process; and speaking about EU workers in a negative light, denigrating them – these practices have damaged the reputation and image of Europe in our countries over the years. For a hopeful future for European integration, such attitudes must stop once and for all, both on the side of leaders and the media that support them, and a constructive, democratic position must be taken in order to begin walking a better, common path. This is a duty, not an unattainable objective.

For the future of Europe, more truthfulness is definitely required. The truths mentioned above about our recent common history must therefore be addressed “sine ira et studio”, and without bitterness or blame – because everyone is partly responsible.

It must be clear, however, that whoever commits to a now inevitable second attempt to achieve a new, precisely defined common goal cannot simply back out alone once it has been agreed upon. Dishonesty about Europe and broken promises must stop.

New challenges as a binding force

The new global challenges (climate change, debt crises, refugees, etc.) were identified a long time ago. They cannot be dealt with by Member States on their own, only if they act together.

Any other way would not have much impact. In this way, the effectiveness and commitment of our many invoked common values in Europe (as in “advanced” Western industrialised nations) have wasted away and diminished. We have indeed neglected to take care of those values and keep them alive (such as “democracy” and “human rights”, “reliability of administrative actions for the good of the people” and “social justice”). This is why we must resurrect our support of these values and try to experience them in an exemplary manner against a backdrop of truthfulness, if they are still to be binding in Europe and in every Member State. This is the case for the leading classes, who should lead by example, as well as all European citizens in the Member States.

When the European Communities were founded in the 1950s, the memory of the destruction caused by wars between nations in Europe influenced not only the unification concept of the founding fathers, but also other cross-border, integration-promoting forces, such as the convinced European Federalists, whose binding force between nation and language is often denied and underestimated from today’s viewpoint. The Member States’ agreed respect and rejection of all imperialistic expansion was already path-breaking and exemplary. We Europeans can still be proud of those actions to this day. Even other large regions of the world could benefit from them.

However, this does not change anything to the fact that a consensual identification of the common interests of the EU Member States has yet to be achieved. The large eastward enlargement of the EU following the fall of the Berlin Wall was simply too sudden and it happened too fast. In addition, it was not fully in compliance with the original concept drawn up by the six-member Community. This led to excessive expectations from the newly acceding countries… which were eventually dashed. Many of those countries did not immediately want to give up their newly-recovered freedom for the benefit of the European Union after the collapse of the Soviet Union either, in whatever form and whatever the advantages gained in return, although many of the Central and Eastern European countries aspired to belonging to the Union.

This fact must be taken into account too in a second attempt to strengthen the European construct.

Creation of a core Europe with political clout and capable of action at the centre of a larger European Union now counting 27 Member States

A conceivable, feasible way to strengthen and expand what has already been achieved could be the definition of a solution agreed upon by the Member States to abandon the idea of a blanket pace for the continuation of the EU as it now stands and the establishment of a concept for a strong core Europe that could act as an important player with equal rights on the global stage and convincingly reflect European values and its way of life, thus achieving an adequate, responsible potential for power and acknowledgement. The strength to take this step could also arise from the fact that this core Europe may already be proven to be real and embedded in today’s actual European Union, but it may have to be moderately reshaped (which could also be helpful when designing future relations with the British).

This so-called core Europe could be formed by the original six founding countries (France, Germany, Italy and the three Benelux states, i.e. Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg), as well as the two states in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain) and Austria. So it could initially be composed of nine Member States, as long as the populations of the said countries agree with the concept and are willing to go along with it. If countries such as Austria and the Netherlands are not prepared to do so, the core would be smaller.

The remaining 18 countries of the EU (or more) would form a larger union in conjunction with the other core nine (or fewer), in which this stronger and more integrated future core Europe would be integrated. The potential 18 countries mentioned above that would lie outside the core Europe but that would still remain within a larger union (including countries such as Greece, Poland, Hungary or, if applicable, the UK) could adapt the European achievements to their more or less Eurosceptic desires (for instance in the sense of an initial restriction in terms of integration to free trade for these 18 countries) and achieve greater consolidation. This would not prevent a later accession to the core.

In this manner, the achievements of Europe (e.g. the Eurozone, Schengen and the remainder of the Western European Union, WEU) would be secured along concentric lines and ellipses. They could be adapted and may even be easier to manage.

On the other hand, the core Europe would have true common economic, foreign and defence policies, recognised common institutions, thus being a “political union”. Of course, the populations of the affected core countries would have to be asked about this concept and agree to it. On the other hand, in such a core Europe the subsidiarity principle and the expansion of the many value-building individual characteristics of the core countries and regions could be specified and further developed, in order to act as an example for “unity in diversity” – which should still be an aim.

In such a framework, a European identity could finally be forged in a gradual manner. It would emerge from greater identification with the larger European region in a multipolar world, which is where we are heading anyway. Everyone could find their place in that diversity, even in our national and cultural identities, without having to mortgage imaginable developments for the future. Today, no one can reliably say where the final borders of Europe in the east and south will be.

Basically, it is necessary to develop a concept for Europe by means of a realistic, sensible combination of “downsizing” and a greater “step forward” that does not exclude common perspectives, and in which unconditional Europeans, federalists and sovereigntists as well as eurosceptics can all find their place, and which can be supported by all affected population groups.

In this sense, the population totalling 500 million people (but which only represents 7 % of the global population!) could heartily say “Our future lies in Europe!” (where else?) with full heart and conviction once more. As to friends from the UK, the EU will be able to console itself on the basis of the fact that all countries from which the British ever withdrew developed successfully thereafter.

Grant Agreement N° VS/2015/0350

“Well-being and occupational safety & health (OSH) in central government administrations: tackling psychosocial risks at work.”

Tender Specifications for video on well-being and occupation safety & health in central government administration : tackling psychosocial risks at work

Date of publication on CESI website: 01/07/2016

Deadline for submission: 01/09/2016

To be sent to: [email protected]

TENDER SPECIFICATION

Background

Central government administration employees and management are faced with a certain number of new challenges linked to psychosocial risks that have a direct impact on the well-being at work. Restructuring, the use of new technologies, the evolution of the workforce profile in central administrations and the growing exposure to violence from public service users represent new challenges in terms of psychosocial risks and can lead to serious illness such as burnout. Preventive risk assessment procedures and efficient chain of responsibility are therefore more than ever essential to improve well-being at work and help employees facing mental health problems.

Purpose of the Contract

The main aim of this contract is to provide project partners with a video illustrating the final outcomes of the project: a background study on psychosocial risk in central government administrations and a step-by-step guide providing common guidelines for risk assessment processes and for improving the deployment of the chain of responsibility. The video, in the form of a cartoon, should be a pedagogical tool to explain how to implement the recommendations (common risk assessment procedure and efficient chain of responsibility) when being confronted with psychosocial risk at work.

Tasks to be performed by the Contractor

The contractor will be expected to produce a 4-6 minutes video, in the form of an animation/cartoon. The main purpose of the video is to illustrate the guide drafted by the selected expert and in cooperation with the project steering committee. The video should be a pedagogical (guide user instructions), dynamic, creative and attractive tool. The video producer selected should create an original visual identity with adequate atmosphere, music and voices. The video should be addressed to employers line/middle managers and a broad range of national settings.

The video will be played on computers, mobile phones and tablets, and thus compatible with both technologies HTML5 and Flash.

The script of the video will be drafted in English in close cooperation with the project researcher and project steering committee, allowing for subtitles in 7 languages on a separate budget line (French, German, Spanish, Italian, Czech, Lithuanian and Greek).

Timetable

Duration of the project: November 2015 to May 2017 (18 Months) consisting of 5 stages.

The production of the video will kick in at the fourth stage of the project from October 2016 to February 2017.

REASONS FOR CONTRACTING OUT IMPLEMENTATION WORK:

None of the project partners has the in-house capacity and skills to produce a video in the form of an animation/cartoon. The project partners want to come up with a pedagogical tool addressed to managers and employees on the ground. Producing such a video requires special skills especially in terms of graphic design, visual identity creation and video production that the project partners don’t have at their disposal.

The project partners, in collaboration with the expert, will prepare the script of the video but an external expertise in terms of graphic design and video production is needed to ensure a quality final outcome.

SELECTION PROCEDURE:

Expertise required

The video producer will be expected to demonstrate that he has:

Knowledge of video production (with special skills in animation and cartoons)
Knowledge of graphic design, visual identity creation and subtitles insertion
Experience of producing video with specific requirements and script in English
Experience of working with strict deadline and multiple project partners

Selection criteria

The researcher(s) will be selected on the basis of the clear evidence they provide of how they meet the 4 criteria listed under expertise required (above).

Award criteria

The contract will be awarded to the tenderer whose offer represents the best value for money, taking into account the 4 selection criteria. It should be noted that the contract will not be awarded to a tenderer who receives less than 70% on the Award Criteria.

Content of the bids

The tenderer will ensure that their bid clearly identifies how they meet the selection criteria, ideally by indicating their knowledge and expertise under each of the relevant headings. It would also be useful to see examples of previous work that demonstrates their ability to produce this kind of outcomes/videos.

Presentation of the bids

The deadline for bids is 1 September 2016.

Fees

The fee is €13.000 incl. VAT (excluding travel and accommodation expenses that are covered by another project budget line)

Applications should be sent to Nadja Salson, [email protected]

Troubled times ahead for the UK

Especially the UK will likely face troubled times: In British politics, the party landscape will change, with UKIP basically having lost its raison d’être (the departure from the EU) and Prime Minister Cameron having announced his resignation. Plus, in order to stay a member of the EU, pro-EU Scotland may strive anew for independence. Northern Ireland may join these efforts. As regards the economy, the future is just as unclear. The UK will have to negotiate new trade agreements with third countries. However, as a small entity (compared to the EU), the UK will have difficulties to strike favourable deals. And what will be the future economic relationship with the EU, which currently receives almost half of all British export goods and services? EU leaders have so far made clear that a new accession to the EU in the foreseeable future is not an option, and that negotiating cherry-picking such as a British access to the EU’s Single Market with exemptions where its suits the UK best is not acceptable. The EU will likely be tough on the UK. Great Britain could become Little England.

No panic in the EU

For the EU, the Brexit is certainly unfortunate. Especially in its foreign and security policy, the EU will lose weight. However, negotiations on challenges like migration management will remain difficult – with or without the UK. These were neither caused by the British nor will they be solved by the Brexit. What is true, however, is that the EU may struggle to carry on on these subjects for some time, given that Brexit negotations will absorb a lot of resources of the EU during the next years. At the same time, though, in fields in which UK governments have been difficult partners, such as in employment and social affairs, prospects for progress on files and initiatives like the labour mobility package or the Pillar of social rights may even increase.

The EU can also pre-empt a domino effect of exits by other Member States if it makes sure in the exit negotiations that ‘out’ really means ‘out’ and that no benefits can be expected from leaving the EU. In the future, citizens in other Member States may think twice before voting ‘Leave’ in theoretical future referenda.

The International Public Service Day is held under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) every year on June 23. On the occasion of this year’s edition, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “All countries and all people need a public service that is competent, equipped and well-resourced. Public service needs to be diverse and ethical. It needs to be dedicated to effectively serving people and improving the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable.”

CESI, too, wishes to recall and emphasise the paramount importance of accessible, affordable and qualitative public services to fulfill and respect human rights.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Public services provide for the necessary conditions for growth, employment and investment and thereby guarantee inclusive, sustainable and democratic societies. But for efficient administrations, sufficient qualified and motivated staff is essential! However, despite the current crises actually requiring even more resources, public services have, during the last years, continued to suffer from significant budget and personnel cuts and trends towards low pay and poor working conditions. This makes their mission to provide effective services of general interest for the citizens difficult.”

He added: “Over the last years austerity and privatisation measures have proven harmful for social cohesion and social justice. Moreover, tax evasion and tax fraud have deprived governments from tremendous but essential resources. It is more than ever urgent to ensure that firms pay their fair share of tax and that states start investing in publicly owned public services again.”

One June 23, CESI’s Presidium adopted an appeal to the EU institutions on the functioning of public administrations in Europe. This appeal calls

• to consider safeguarding the proper functioning of public administrations as a priority objective, not subordinate to any other principle;
• to be clear that in public balances there must not be spending cuts which may put at risk the performance of public administrations;
• to encourage Member States more systematically to ensure adequate wages for public sector workers.

The full appeal can be accessed here (in English language). For other language versions, please see the policy positions section of CESI’s website.

The basic positioning paper, which is an update to a predecessor version of 2013, is structured in four parts.

The first part outlines the role of CESI as a European level trade union confederation in Brussels. It stresses that an increasing number of decisions and laws are struck and adopted on an EU level with concrete impacts on workers, and that this necessitates a European level representation of workers.

The second part sets out fundamental principles of CESI’s trade union activities. The section names non-partisanship, trade union pluralism, freedom and democracy as core principles that guide CESI’s work.

A third section lays out CESI’s particular strength in the representation of public sector workers. It calls for well-resourced public administrations as a guarantee for the citizens’ right to good administration.

Finally, a fourth section introduces CESI’s fundamental action strategies. In doing so, it defines the basic principles of interaction between the CESI General Secretariat and its member organisations and affiliates.

The entire positioning paper can be accessed here (in English language). It is also available in the policy positions section of CESI’s webpage in all five working languages of CESI (EN, DE, FR, ES, IT).

Themed ‘Which indicators for a better integration of the social investment concept and a move towards upwards social convergence’, this CESI-EPC workshop followed earlier editions on ‘Measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of social investment policies and designing the right policy mix’ on October 9 2015 and ‘How to integrate the concept of social investment in the macro-economic and fiscal governance instruments of the EU?’ on February 23 2016.

Chaired by Lieve Fransen, EPC external expert on social policies and former Director for social policies and Europe 2020 at the European Commission, the workshop featured interventions by Diego Collado from the Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy and Anton Hemerijck from the Free University of Amsterdam.

Reflections were presented by Claire Dhéret from the EPC and Frank Vandenbroucke from the University of Amsterdam. Further input was provided Klaus Heeger, CESI Secretary General, Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive and Chief Economist of the EPC, Christian Bodewig, Programme Lead for EU Member States at the World Bank, as well as by representatives from the Brussels-based organised civil society, among them the Social Platform, Eurodiaconia, Caritas and Solidar.

During the debate, a discussion ensued in particular about a possible measurement of specific impacts of specific social investments on individuals over time – After all, established indicators on, for example, poverty so far fail to shed light on which social policies impact on them to which degree and at which speed. The ability to measure impacts of social investments in more detail would make it easier for policy makers to design the right social investment measures, it was argued.

It emerged that such precise measurements are, however, conditioned by the ability of social scientists and social economists to deliver research results as exact as in “chemistry laboratories”. It was argued that in areas such as education and training, “proves stronger than plausibility” can be established, even if “delivering chemistry” is (still) difficult in other areas. In any case, several participants said, even plausibility should make a strong case in favour of social investments.

Based on the input of the three CESI-EPC seminars on social investments, the EPC will during the next months work on a publication on how to foster social investments in Europe.

The Union of Montenegrin Physicians was founded in 2013 and is a vocational trade union representing the interests of doctors of medicine. The UMP works towards the improvement of the socio-economic position of Montenegrin doctors as well as for the improvement of working conditions and the protection of the labour rights of its members.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “I am very glad the UMP chose CESI to represent its interests in the EU arena. CESI already brings together a number of trade unions in this area. The accession of the UMP further strengthens our voice as a trade union confederation representing workers from the public health sector towards the European institutions.”

In the position, which was endorsed earlier this year by CESI’s Trade council ‘Central Administration and Finances’, CESI and UFE, the Union of Finance Personnel in Europe, welcome the fact that the new European Commission has placed the fight against tax avoidance and tax fraud practised by businesses on the top of its political agenda but argue that despite some progress, several demands of trade unions in the area of tax transparency and tax justice have not yet been met.

In particular, CESI and UFE:

• welcome the European Commission’s recent proposal on increased transparency requirements for corporate taxation but regret that it only applies to multinationals that operate in the European Union, thus excluding foreign tax havens and pushing businesses to relocate;

• call for a Tax Identification Number (NIF) covering all 28 EU Member States as a tool for public administrators to facilitate the exchange of tax-related information between countries;

• encourage the Commission to pursue an ambitious agenda in terms of a Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB) in the EU;

• welcome the European Commission’s legislative initiative aiming to introduce six legally binding measures to fight aggressive tax planning applied by corporation but question whether these measures are sufficient to abolish tax loopholes in general and resolve the problem of unjustified transfer pricing, patent boxes, notional interests, hybrid products acting as a base for double non-taxation; and

• encourage the Commission to work towards a harmonisation of procedures as regards the denunciation of tax swindling – noting that the Member States with the lowest fines and least constraints benefit from a competitive advantage and are responsible for a certain amount of distortion of competition, thus promoting tax fraud.

The full joint position can be accessed here (in English language). For other language versions, please see the policy positions section of CESI’s website.

“Once again, we face the growing threat of terrorism and radicalised elements within our own borders. Our European police forces and firefighters are in charge of protecting our security and safeguarding us from dangers. Every single day, they form our first line of defence against terrorism and other security threats. It’s about time we protect them too!”

The UEFA European Championship raises particular challenges, in which all forces of society are urged to ‛protect those who protect’ much more proactively. “At times like these, we need to remember that our societies are based on values of freedom, democracy, respect and tolerance. The current challenges faced when attempting to ensure that these principles are respected are tremendous – yet security forces and law enforcement bodies lack the necessary support.”

CESI’s new position paper on the important role of public sector workers in the fight against radicalisation and terrorism was submitted to the Dutch EU Presidency at a meeting with the Minister of Security and Justice, Ard van der Steur, on May 31. This paper highlights the need for a holistic approach to fight radicalisation on numerous fronts – as well as the urgent need to guarantee increased assistance and support to public sector workers in the fields of law enforcement, civil protection, education, culture and, last but not least, sports.

A humane reception of refugees is a topic that preoccupies many Member States but there are a multitude of integration-related issues that only begin once a person has been granted international protection, entering employment being one of them. At Tuesday’s CESI@noon event, CESI set out to discuss labour market integration from the entrepreneurial and trade unionist side.

Moderated by the Secretary General of the European Movement International, Petros Fassoulas, the event hosted key actors and experts within the field: Brando Benifei, Italian S&D MEP and currently rapporteur for a parliamentary report on social inclusion and labour market integration of refugees; Marie Boscher, legal migration and integration expert in the European Commission’s DG HOME; Elif Alduman, President of the humanitarian and development organisation KYM International; Wolfgang Müller, Managing director at the German Federal Employment Agency; and Robert Anderson, Head of Eurofound’s Living Conditions and Quality of Life research programme.

Brando Benifei: Key to achieve labour market integration without disadvantaging other groups

Mr Benifei firmly stated his belief in things being done at the local level wherever possible, and encouraging what is important for civil society and trade unions. He reported that in his report he put a focus on direct financial support to social partners working on the ground. Mr Benifei also insisted on the fact that integration must not be done at the expense of other vulnerable groups. This can be materialised by working against social dumping and not decreasing national minimum wages or preventing that resources are being channelled from other needs, he said.

Marie Boscher: Failing to invest in integration today will bring enormous costs in the future

Mrs Boscher guided the participants through an overview of recent actions launched by the European Commission in the field of migration management, including the publication of an action plan on integration and a proposal on a revision of the EU’s Blue Card Directive to attract highly skilled third country nationals on June 7. She highlighted that according the Commission, a revised Blue Card Directive would also apply to beneficiaries of international protection and permit them to carry out entrepreneurial activity alongside traditional employment. Ms Boscher was very clear that failing to invest in labour market integration today would bring disproportional costs in the future. She also reported that the Commission will pursue a pilot programme during this summer which aims to find and present best practices for migrant entrepreneurship, and explaining how and why they are so successful.

Elif Alduman, Wolfgang Müller: Labour market integration experiences in Germany and out on the field

Drawing from experiences on the ground, Elif Alduman and Wolfgang Müller spoke of their experiences in Germany and out on the field. Ms Alduman brought forward examples of refugees who had successfully invested and opened up their own businesses and recalled that the former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was the son of Syrian refugees.

Wolfgang Müller presented the German national public employment service, which is the biggest of its kind in Europe. He reported that the service makes an effort to already intervene when refugees first arrive in Germany and the decision of granting asylum is still pending. He underlined the service’s philosophy to initiate the integration process as soon as possible and even before asylum has been granted – albeit only when there is a certain likelihood that the decision will be a positive one. Mr Müller made clear that the service’s intervention policy is based on the likelihood of a positive outcome of an asylum procedure and that it is irrelevant how easy it will be to integrate a person into the labour market.

Robert Anderson: An important role for mentoring schemes by trade unions and entrepreneurs

Robert Anderson presented the work done by Eurofound on refugee integration into labour markets and the possible contributions of social partners in this context. He stressed the importance of sharing best and creative practices as concerns specific aspects related to the integration of refugees into the labour market, such as skills assessments and the recognition of qualifications. Targeted subsidies to employers for job placements may be helpful but involving workers in quality mentoring could also be an effective route, he remarked. He also said that there is an important role to be played especially by trade unions in raising awareness and giving advice to refugees with regards to accessing employment.

The Secretary General Klaus Heeger also concluded that labour market integration of refugees can also be beneficial for trade unions (see also https://euobserver.com/opinion/134381)

CESI’s work on this topic will continue as more refugees are arriving in Europe and it is increasingly important to initiate integration as soon and as all-inclusively as possible.

While allowing for certain flexibility to react to relevant issues that may arise unexpectedly, the work programme foresees the following activities during the next two years:

1. The Committee will closely cooperate with the European Commission throughout the transposition process of
its Agreement on Information and consultation rights of workers and their representatives adopted on 21 December 2015 into a directive and its adoption in the Council and Parliament.
The Committee will also monitor national developments on information and consultation rights, especially regarding restructuring with short updates of key developments at the Committee’s meetings in light of the content of the Agreement.

2. By the end of 2016, the Committee will produce a monitoring report of its Framework Agreement for a quality service in central administrations for a quality service in central administrations.

3. In view of the ongoing European Commission consultation of social partners on its roadmap ‘New start to address the challenges of work-life balance faced by working families’, the Committee will prepare a common position on this particularly important topic. As part of annual reviews, the Committee will follow up on its policy recommendations towards equal pay between women and men adopted in 2014 with a view to improving access of women to decision-making positions and tackling women’s overrepresentation in low pay positions.

4. The Committee will focus on psycho-social health risks at work. To this effect, an 18-month project funded by the European Commission will look at emerging psycho-social problems, new technologies and practical use of health risk assessments. The project will consist of a mapping review of existing literature on psychosocial risks, three regional seminars (Madrid, Vilnius and Berlin) and the designing of a user friendly common health risk assessment tool in the form of a guide and a short video.

5. The Committee will work on a modernisation of administrations in the context of the European Semester and the recent economic crisis in Europe. To this effect, a Draft statement/policy recommendations on the European Semester will be produced.

The full work programme can be accessed here. Further information about the EU’s social dialogue committee ‘Central government administrations’ and CESI’s involvement in it can be accessed here.

Carmen Jaffke from the Luxembourgish CGFP will be a full member in the Board of Administration, Kirsten Lühmann from the German dbb will serve as alternate. The mandates expire in 2018 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 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.

The names of all other elected EWL Board of Administration members will soon be made available on the website of the EWL. Edith Schratzberger Vecsei from the Medical Women’s International Association was elected to succeed Viviane Teitelbaum as President of the EWL. For further information about the EWL, visit http://www.womenlobby.org/.

The recommendations are an outcome of an internal seminar for young CESI affiliates which took place in Brussels on March 3-4 and was co-funded by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ programme. The ‘Recommendations for a boosted participation of young people in civic processes, with a special focus on trade union work’ relate to topics such as:

• establishing more and deeper links between youth work organisations/civil society organisations and young people in order to stimulate their involvement in voluntary work;
• reforming education systems with a view to teaching more civic education;
• having public authorities more visibly award voluntary civic engagement of young people, for instance through certificates and awards;
• putting in place measures that will allow young people to better reconcile job duties and voluntary civic engagements;
• taking measures to reach out more to refugees and migrants for voluntary civic activities; and
• ensuring better framework conditions for youth organisations to pursue youth inclusion activities.

They also specifically focus on ways to engage young people more in trade unionism. They suggest, for instance:

• a better coordination of awareness raising campaigns by trade unions in schools, universities and job-seeker forums;
• a further empowerment young people in internal decision-making processes in trade unions; and
• a more effective legal employment protection for young people engaging in trade union work, especially those in precarious work relationships.

The recommendations can be accessed online through the policy positions section of CESI’s website. They are also discussed in CESI’s internal organs and sent as recommendations for action to all member organisations and affiliates as well as to officials, politicians and decision-makers working on youth policies in the EU institutions.

Klaus Heeger said: “Attracting young affiliates is a challenge that many trade unions face. I am confident that the recommendations worked out by our young members will help us, the trade unionists, be forward-looking organisations with a strong base of young members. I hope that through parliamentarians like Ms Vana, the recommendations will also be considered in future reports of the European Parliament and the Commission and serve as guiding principles for action by politicians and policy makers.”

“It is important to continue helping public administrations in the set-up of awareness-raising and psychosocial risk prevention systems that form part of an overall policy to manage occupational risks and which is integrated into the social dialogue.” This was the message conveyed by the President of the Europe Academy, Emilio Fatovic, in his opening address of the symposium.

Europe Academy President Fatovic: Collective management of psychosocial risks at work vital

Fatovic, an affiliate of CESI’s Italian member organisation Confsal and also a long-standing representative in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), made very clear that it is the task of trade unions and trade union confederations like CESI to collect more evidence about positive and negative consequences of new work rhythms and to lead a discourse on concrete demands and measures. “It is more than ever important that employees are involved in the management of psychosocial risks at work”, Fatovic concluded.

Keynote address by Danish MP Bent Bøgsted

In his keynote address, Bent Bøgsted, Chairman of the Employment Committee of the Danish Parliament, agreed with this notion, stressing that, when properly managed, new work rhythms can bring benefits and win-win situations to both employers and employees. He cited well-regulated telework as a possible field of application.

A welcome speech was also given by Jørgen Jørgensen, Director of CESI’s Danish member organisation FF (Frie Funktionærer), which co-hosted the Europe Academy symposium together with Krifa (Kristelig Fagbevægelse), a Danish affiliate of CESI’s member Eurofedop.

Work-related sick leave still “unacceptably high”

In a presentation on the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020, Zinta Podniece from the European Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion noted that according to the Commission, work-related sick leave, work-related diseases and accidents are still “unacceptably high” and put a “heavy burden” on competitiveness and public social security budgets. “Investment in occupational safety and health contributes to the well-being of workers and is cost-effective. According to recent estimates, investments in this area can produce high ratios of return”, she explained. She added that the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work 2014-2020 and EU funds play a key role in the Commission’s strategy to encourage EU Member States and employers to improve the implementation record of applicable occupational safety and health (OSH) measures. Innovative ICT products and services, provided for through digitalisation, can also help them adapt workplaces and work organisation – including working time, workplace accessibility and workplace interventions targeted at older workers – to the needs of employees, Ms Podniece concluded.

Public sector workers prone to work rhythms that often lead to stress and absenteeism

Referring to preliminary results of Eurofound’s 6th European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), Mathijn Wilkens from Eurofound explained how working time preferences are often not easily adjustable especially in public administrations, how health sector workers are particularly affected by atypical working hours and how many employees in the education sector have to work frequently during their free time. Stress and absenteeism can be a direct outcome of this.

Ongoing research on new working time models and solutions

Two speakers from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health (FIOH) spoke on working hours, health, well-being and participation in working life and on working hours in knowledgede-intenstive work. Mikko Härmä presented a FIOH project on the creation of new working time models (‘WOW-project’), which aims at the development of guidance to trade unions to improve health, well-being and participation in working lives. Annina Ropponen highlighted that modern forms work organisation developed by the project might, for instance, help employees reduce their work-related smartphone use outside regular work hours.

Two case studies on wellbeing and OSH management in the public sector were presented by Barbara de Clippel from the Belgian Federal Public Service Social Security (FPS Social Security) and Mikkel Hundborg from Krifa. While Ms de Clippel outlined the human resources and OSH-strategy of FPS Social Security (‘Attract-Retain-Motivate-Engage’) – which includes a successful emphasis on employee-friendly digital telework – Ms Hundborg explained just how important functioning work-life balance instruments (such as well-regulated telework) are to keep employees motivated.

CESI Secretary General Heeger: Simply ignoring changes is not an option for trade unions

The symposium was wrapped up by a panel consisting of CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger and representatives from member organisations and affiliates: José Fernández Vidal from the Spanish CSI-F, José Razafindranaly from the French FGAF and Rolf Weber from Krifa/Eurofedop. It was commonly agreed that new working rhythms, caused not least by ongoing digitalisation processes, is an evolving reality which trade unions have to engage in if they want them to happen in their favour. “Ignoring digitalisation and the changes it brings in terms of new working rhythms will mean that things will happen without us”, said Mr Heeger, adding that “trade unions must play a central and active role in practically assisting employers and authorities in the setting up of employee-friendly work environments that respond to new working rhythms.”

Further work by CESI on occupational health and safety

A Europe Academy conference in Madrid on October 14 will follow-up on the symposium in Copenhagen, then themed ‘Responsible players in the implementation of the OSH policy in the public sector in Europe: managers, trade unions, safety reps’. Thereafter, a CESI-commissioned study will be published on good practices in health and safety management in the public sector. The findings of the symposiums and the study will be disseminated via the ‘Healthy workplaces campaign‘ of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), where CESI is a partner.

Further information about this year’s Europe Academy project – including presentations and conference material – can be accessed in the Europe Academy section of CESI’s website.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The project was split in two interlinked seminars taking place in the course of 2016, in Copenhagen and in Madrid, and was synthesised into a study.  

• Copenhagen seminar: 3 June 2016
• Madrid seminar: 14 October 2016
• Brochure Copenhagen seminar: EN/DE/FR
• Brochure Madrid seminar: EN/DE/FR
• Study: EN/DE/FR/ES/IT

The theme of the Europe Academy’s 2016 project was ‘Health and Safety at Work in the Public Sector in Europe: New Challenges’. During a first seminar in Copenhagen, expert speakers from trade unions, politics, think tanks and European institutions discussed on general new challenges for health and safety at work in the public sector in Europe. A second seminar in Madrid addressed the role of managers, trade unions and safety reps as responsible players in the implementation of the occupational safety and health policies in the public sector in Europe. More information about the Copenhagen seminar is available here. A brief report about the Madrid seminar can be accessed here.

Towards the end of the year, was published on best practices in occupational safety and health management in the public sector in Europe. Results were disseminated within the CESI network as well as among European and national level institutions and policy makers and via CESI’s partnership in the ‘Health workplaces campaign’ of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, EU-OSHA.

PRESENTATIONS/SPEECHES :

Copenhagen Seminar, 3 June 2016

• FATOVIC Emilio, 3.6.: FR/IT
• JØRGENSEN Jørgen, 3.6.: EN
• PODNIECE Zinta, 3.6.: EN
• WILKENS Mathijn, 3.6.: EN
• HÄRMÄ Mikko, 3.6.: EN
• ROPPONEN Annina, 3.6.: EN
• DE CLIPPEL Barbara, 3.6.: EN
• HUNDBORG Mikkel, 3.6.: EN
• RAZAFINDRANALY José, 3.6.: EN (Annex) / FR (Annex)

Madrid Seminar, 14 October 2016

• FATOVIC Emilio, 14.10: FR/IT
• FLOCKEN Susan, 14.10: EN
• IRASTORZA Xabier, EU-OSHA, 14.10: ES
• SANCTORUM Brenda, 14.10: EN

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The paper, fully titled ‘Fighting radicalisation: Supporting public sector workers’, is the result of CESI’s long-standing work on how the public sector and its employees can be better equipped and enabled to face rising radicalisation and surging terrorist threats in Europe more effectively. Throughout the last year, CESI held several conferences and meetings on this topic.

Klaus Heeger said: “In the light of recurring terrorist attacks within and outside Europe, the question of how to best fight and prevent terrorism is of crucial importance. It is clear that the public sector and its employees must be at the centre of the debate. As a trade union confederation, CESI represents many public sector employees that get in touch on a daily basis with persons at a potential risk of radicalisation: Teachers in schools, security forces in prisons, police forces in their local communities. They have stressed understaffing and shortcomings with regards to equipment and training for a long time. Our position paper tries to bring this issue to the political agenda.”

CESI’s position paper stresses in particular that:
• the legal protection of security agents must be further improved;
• more training on anti-terrorism is needed for soldiers since they are being increasingly deployed in the fight against terrorism despite this initially not being part of their mission;
• further support and training on the detection of radicalisation is urgently required for the various public sector workers that are in direct contact with individuals at risk of radicalisation – such as teachers or prison guards;
• education should become a social integration channel and a vector for values such as civil rights, democracy, fundamental rights, tolerance and respect. This means that teachers must receive more support from schools – and that schools must receive more support from the state in order to better guide students when shaping ideas and their identity.

The position paper will be made available in the policy positions section of CESI’s website soon.

Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Accessible high quality public services for all play a key role for inclusive societies and social cohesion and justice. It is especially the less advantaged people that need them because they cannot afford private services. Even senior staff of the IMF – in past often a keen supporter of cuts in public budgets – recently concluded that severe cuts in public services bring about prominent costs in terms of increased social and economic inequalities – and that this hurts the level and sustainability of economic growth at large. It is high time that authorities and governments across Europe – including in Belgium – rethink their restrictions on their investments in public services.”

He added: “Cuts in public services in Belgium have been accompanied by cuts in public sector staff, wage freezes and restructuring processes. Employment conditions have in this process deteriorated both financially and in terms of work intensity. This affects all sectors – from transport to healthcare, education and administrations. If public services are to deliver, its employees must be enabled to do quality work. The Belgian, Flemish and Walloon governments and authorities must return to revamped financial resources, higher staff levels and better working conditions in the public sector. CESI fully supports the action taken today by Belgian public sector workers.”

For the reference to the IMF source, follow this link.

The European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI) and the New European Business Confederation (UNITEE) in collaboration with the European Movement International and KYM International invite you to the next CESI@noon event on

‘Labour market integration of refugees – the role of entrepreneurs and trade unions’

Tuesday 14 June 2016 – 1.00-3.00pm – Cocktail lunch from 12pm

CESI (European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions), Avenue de la Joyeuse Entrée 1-5, 1040 Brussels (Metro Schuman)

The event will take place in English

Register for the event here

With a total of 1.3 million asylum applications made in Europe in 2015, the question of how to integrate refugees into the labour market is the challenge for many member states. At the next CESI@noon event, we will be looking at the possible additional ways in which trade unions and entrepreneurs can support and assist refugees.

In the interests of both the refugees and the societies which welcome them, fast labour market integration is key. However, according to recent studies, innovative integration support measures are still lacking – and insufficiently funded. Also, from a trade union perspective, the massive influx of a young labour force may exercise pressure on social and labour protection standards, with the result that the matter of how to best integrate refugees into the labour market is only reluctantly addressed.

Over the course of the event, CESI and UNITEE wish to highlight the potential benefits of various labour market integration measures for refugees, such as mentoring programmes, which may be developed by entrepreneurs and trade unions. Enhancing their role and responsibility may also allow them fully to tap into the potential of refugees as future entrepreneurs, employers, employees and trade union members – not least in order to adapt to future challenges. Possible success stories shall be identified and ultimately explored.

Welcome:

Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI

Discussion with the participation of:

Robert Anderson, Head of Unit, Eurofound
Brando Benifei, Member of the European Parliament
Marie Boscher, Policy Officer, European Commission
Savas Metin, Secretary-General, KYM International
Wolfgang Müller, Managing Director, German Federal Employment Agency
Romain Wolff, Secretary-General, CGFP Luxemburg

Moderation:

Petros Fassoulas, Secretary-General of the European Movement International

Conclusions:

Adem Kumcu, President of UNITEE

As done previously, CESI and UFE, which together represent several hundred thousand employees in tax and customs administrations, met to discuss the recent initiatives of the Commission within this field to set out comprehensive recommendations.

While the organisations welcome President Juncker’s initiative making this fight a priority of the actual European Commission, and presenting over the last year several legislative proposals which are going in the good direction, these only meet half way the expectations and long-standing demands of the trade unions.

For instance, on transparency, which is a key element, the latest proposal on public country-by-country reporting is a good step forward, however the limited scope to corporate within the EU and with an annual revenue above 750 million euros (i.e. only 10% of the multinationals) is considered too restricted to have a real impact. Moreover, in order to facilitate this exchange of information, thus the work of tax professionals, CESI and UFE are of course in favour of the creation of Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN) which have been proposed by the Commission three years ago but are not yet established in the direct taxation area.

On the Anti-Tax Avoidance Plan, while some proposals, such as the introduction of general anti-abuse rules in double taxation treaties (DTC) and a new common list of tax havens outside the EU are positive, others, such as the interest limitation and controlled foreign company rules (CFC) are weaker than those of the OECD and seem insufficient to eliminate rulings, patent boxes, hybrid mismatches, etc.

On this occasion, CESI and UFE wish to reiterate the importance and urgency to relaunch the CCCTB allowing fair taxation and competition at the EU level. While the organisations understand the political difficulties to reach an agreement and the envisaged progressive approach of the Commission (CCTB), the consolidation part remains crucial.

The trade unions also stress the fact that the fight against tax fraud and tax evasion cannot be effective without real administrative penalties, enquiries and the protection of whistle-blowers who have proven their efficiency in revealing tax scandals.

Finally, and most importantly, the trade unions highlight once again the urgent need to invest in tax and customs administrations which, with the necessary means and staffs, can contribute to increase the revenue in the member states by reducing tax fraud and tax evasion. Investments in tax collecting rather than budget cuts are needed now more than ever.

CESI and UFE believe that with a corresponding political determination the EU can actually decrease tax fraud and tax evasion. Both organisations therefore hope that these proposals are just the beginning of fair taxation and that future measures will pick up from there and be more ambitious.

The full position will be made available in the policy positions section of CESI’s website once the position has been adopted by CESI’s Presidium. For more information please contact Agathe Smyth, Policy adviser, [email protected].

Klára Fóti from Eurofound, delivered a presentation on consequences of intra-EU mobility on social security systems and public services. She noted in particular that unmet needs of mobile EU citizens in their host countries are mainly found in areas like language services and information on rights. More training for staff in service providers on the rules and regulations applicable to EU mobile citizens would have a significant positive impact on labour market and social integration as well as on destitution, she stressed.

The Trade Council members also held a debate on the impacts of digitalisation on employment relationships and trade unionism in public administrations. There was a general agreement that digitalisation should not be considered a threat per se but that, if properly shaped and regulated, digitalisation can lead to win-win situations for both employees and employers. It was highlighted that financial savings, achieved by productivity gains through digitalisation, should be shared with employees in one way or the other. It was also suggested that the concept of working time should be revisited if workers achieve productivity gains in the context of digitisation processes.

A discussion ensued about the influences of continued cuts in public budgets on the functioning of and work in public administrations. An appeal was adopted which calls on the EU institutions to remind the EU Member States that public administrations need to have the necessary means and resources to deliver appropriate services to citizens and businesses and that they cannot function properly if their employees continue to be subject to wage freezes and increased work intensities. The appeal still needs to be adopted by the CESI Presidium. Following its adoption the appeal will be published in the policy positions section of CESI’s website.

At the end of the meeting, a joint position by CESI and the Union of Finance Personnel in Europe (UFE) on the European Commission’s fight against tax fraud and tax avoidance and the role of tax administrators therein was adopted. The position still needs to be confirmed by the CESI Presidium in June (see separate press release).

The European Youth Event, which takes place every two years, was hosted by the European Parliament and was attended by 7,000 young people aged 16 to 30. Under the theme “Together we can make a change” the EYE saw debates and workshops with Members of the European Parliament and other political decision-makers and opinion-builders.

CESI Youth booth on benefits of trade unions for young people

The CESI Youth ran a booth where EYE participants could share their ideas on how trade unions can be most useful for young people. EYE participants could leave their thoughts on posters, and it appeared that young people put their hopes in trade unions especially when it comes to ensuring decent wages for everyone, advancing on equal pay for equal work, and eliminating social dumping. It became evident that young people also expect trade unions to be active in terms of engagement for civic participation and pluralist democracy beyond Europe’s borders.

CESI Youth-hosted workshop on youth migration

The delegation of the CESI Youth also organised a workshop entitled ‘Are refugees welcome?’ together with the Deutscher Bundesjugendring, where two refugees, Jihad Suliman and Sarah Mardini, reported about their way from Syria to Germany and their new life in Europe. Their stories were exemplary in highlighting problems and challenges that Europe (still) faces when it comes to legal entry possibilities for refugees, the processing of asylum procedures and the recognition of professional qualifications and study diplomas. The event also featured the participation of MEP Julie Ward (S&D, UK), who reported about her activities in favour of a positive reception of refugees in Europe. The workshop attracted more than 200 participants, entirely filling a committee room in the European Parliamentand making the event a great success.

CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski speaks in the hemicycle on labour market integration of young migrants

CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski later spoke as a panelist at a debate on the social and labour market integration of migrants and refugees in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in front of 800 young EYE participants. As a trade union representative, Matthäus’s statements in favour of a facilitated recognition of qualifications for migrants were welcome by the audience with applause.

Finally a deal! This was the bottom line expressed by EU leaders on the agreement found at the EU-Turkey summit with the Turkish delegation headed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu.

A deal …

It was decided, most notably, that:
• all new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands as of 20 March 2016 will be returned to Turkey and that for every Syrian being returned to Turkey from the Greek islands, another Syrian will be resettled to the EU;
• Turkey will take any necessary measures to prevent new sea or land routes for irregular migration opening from Turkey to the EU;
• the fulfilment of the Turkish visa liberalisation roadmap will be accelerated with a view to lifting the visa requirements for Turkish citizens at the latest by the end of June 2016; and that
• the Turkish EU accession process will be re-energised.

… But many questions arise

As a first reaction, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger stated that “The EU-Turkey migration deal may be the best outcome of the negotiations, but whether it will bring the refugee smuggler’s business to an end and provide clear rules for legal entry into the EU remains very unclear. Many questions also remain with regard to the notion of safe third country, the ability to implement this agreement and the ambiguity that surrounds the resettlement procedure and burden sharing.”

“If Turkey is declared a safe third country and migrants are brought back to the country, Turkey must identify fully with the Geneva Convention. Moreover, the EU must ensure that Turkey honours core human rights and that migrants in the country will be effectively protected in accordance with international asylum standards.”

He concluded: “Another point to bring into the equation when safeguarding human rights is that the EU is in fact not as weak as it often believes it is. Recently, Turkey has become increasingly unpopular with Russia and more and more isolated in the Middle East region both politically and economically. The EU needs Turkey just as much as Turkey needs the EU. The EU should be aware of this when trying to push the Turkish government to respect core human rights and protect refugees adequately.”

The CESI Youth decided to propose Sophie Hellmayr from CESI’s Austrian member organisation GÖD to head the CESI Youth as Vice Youth Representative together with CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski from CESI’s German affiliate dbb. So far, the CESI Youth has not had a Vice Youth Representative and has been run, with support from the CESI General Secretariat, by Matthäus alone. The nomination of Sophie Hellmayr still has to be approved of by the competent CESI organs.

The CESI Youth also discussed on draft statutes. Founded in 2013 with a mandate from the CESI leadership, the CESI Youth still has to be given its own statutes. They are planned to be adopted by the CESI Youth and CESI’s decision-making organs in late 2016 or 2017.

In terms of policies, the CESI Youth discussed and adopted a draft position paper entitled ‘For the successful reception and integration of young migrants’, which puts a focus the role of the public sector and its employees in the effective management of youth migration. Core propositions and demands brought forward in the paper include following:

• Integration in the education systems is fundamental to acquire the capacities to integrate into the labour market. The possibility of accessing training in the migrants’ host countries therefore plays a decisive role in this context, especially for young migrants.
• The delicate situation during the transition to adulthood when turning 18 and, therefore, losing special support entitled to minors, has to be well planned for young refugees in order to avoid disorientation and a complete loss of autonomy.
• Formal education should be a space where social ideas and values are taught, and where young people first receive a solid human rights education. This would foster a positive image of cultural diversity.
• Allocating special support to the search of family members of unaccompanied minor and young migrants is vital to safeguard minors and their fundamental rights.

The paper, which is a CESI Youth position and does not necessarily reflect the position of CESI, will be made available in the policy positions section of CESI’s website.

The hearing was convened at the initiative of the Committee of the Regions’ Secretariat and Yoomi Renström, Swedish member of the Committee of the Regions in the PES group and rapporteur for an opinion on the recent proposal by the European Commission on a targeted revision of the EU’s posting of workers directive.

The hearing was attended by representatives from social partners concerned with posting of workers. The objective was to assess to what extent the European Commission’s proposal is useful to advance occupational non-discrimination between posted and ‘native’ workers.

Commission proposal can lead to some upward social convergence

During his intervention, Mr Heeger welcomed in particular that the Commission’s proposal foresees a time limit set to the maximum duration of posting, even if the suggestion to set the time limit to 2 years is too long. The currently applicable directive does not include specifications in this regard, which opens the door to abusive unlimited posting of workers by employers.

In principle, Mr Heeger also welcomed efforts by the Commission to make posting rules binding for temporary agency workers and to take remuneration as a benchmark to achieve equal pay for equal work for posted workers. The current directive refers merely to ‘minimum rates of pay’ which are applicable to posted workers. This is not as encompassing as referring to remuneration, which includes further worker benefits depending on applicable collective agreements – and which is therefore a more effective concept to achieve true equal pay for equal work. However, Mr Heeger also stressed that practical questions remain. The Commission suggests to only take universally applicable collective agreements into consideration when determining remuneration components and levels. This is problematic given that these do not exist in all Member States and that sectoral agreements are sometimes more relevant than certain universally applicable ones.

Representatives from the employers were mostly against the Commission’s proposal, saying that existing rules should be properly enforced before revising them.

Expressing his confidence that the Commission’s proposal can lead to some upward social convergence in the EU, Mr Heeger said that the Commission should not give in to calls by a number of Member States and corporate lobby groups to withdraw the proposal.

During its meeting, the Trade Council adopted resolutions on topics including ‘Impacts of digitalisation on working conditions and employment’ and ‘Increasing flexibilisation of working time’.

Flexibilisation of working time not at the expense of worse work-life balance

The resolution on flexibilisation of working time welcomes increased flexibilisation in principle but requests that this must not happen to the disadvantage of workers. To this end, it advocates a better involvement of employees in the drawing up of duty rosters. Otherwise, it states, flexibilistation of working time cannot be reconciled with objectives to achieve a better work-life balance for employees.

Equip workers to face digitalisation

The position on impacts of digitalisation on working conditions and employment notes in particular that:
• new forms of employment that have risen due to digitalisation (such as telework or crowdsourcing) must be regulated so that they will not lead to precarious employment relationships;
• further frameworks must be established to provide for an adequate training of workers in digital forms of work;
• gains through digitalisation in terms of profits should not come to the exclusive benefit of the employer but should be shared with the workforce; and that
• time savings by employees due to digitalisation should lead to traditional models of working time being re-considered.

Social dialogue and trade unionism in Albania: Prospects and challenges

The Trade Council meeting took place in the framework of a conference on the functioning of social dialogue and trade unionism in Albania, moderated by Ylli Ballta, Head of the Albanian post trade union FSPT (a member of CESI’s member organisation Eurofedop). Together with the General Director of the Albanian Post Mailind Lazimi, representatives of the Albanian ministers for innovation, social welfare and economic development, and further professionals and experts in industrial relations in Albania, the Trade Council members exchanged about challenges that trade unionists in the country face in making their voice heard through social dialogue.

Keynote debates circled around the following topics:
• The deployment of armed forces to solve the refugee crisis and to fight terrorism;
• Labour rights, gender equality and rights of association in the armed forces; and
• European Defence – quo vadis: Sovereignty, cooperation or integration?

A major challenge: Army personnel performing atypical tasks in migration management and anti-terrorism

The deliberation on ‘Deployment of armed forces to solve the refugee crisis and to fight terrorism’ was informed by Thomas Sohst, President of the Trade council and affiliate of CESI’s member organisation ‘Deutscher Bundeswehrverband’ (DBwV; the German armed forces association). The deployment of armed forces to manage migration flows at the EU’s external borders and to help the police fight terrorist threats internally has been a topic of growing concern for the Trade council. Army personnel often feel ill-placed and ill-equipped to perform atypical tasks like these.

For better working conditions: A right to association for army personnel in all EU Member States

Johan Vermeire, the Permanent representative to the Council of Europe of CESI’s member organisation Eurofedop, spoke on recent developments in ‘Labour rights, gender equality and rights of association in the armed forces’. The improvement of the working and living conditions as well as of fundamental (social) rights of the personnel in the armed forces in Europe is one of the central aims of CESI’s Trade council ‘Defence’. The Trade council considers that achieving a proper right to association and to form trade unions in the defence sector is an important objective to be realised to this end. Currently, not all Member States grant this right.

Security for Europe through a Defence Strategy that takes into account the needs of army personnel

Gerrit Schlomach, Political advisor to the MEP and defence policy expert Michael Gahler (EPP, DE), intervened on the topic ‘European Defence – quo vadis: Sovereignty, cooperation or integration?’ During the discussion that followed, it emerged that an encompassing European Defence Strategy is sorely needed to ensure the EU’s security. It was stressed that in order to be successful, such a strategy must be flanked by well-equipped armed forces in terms of manpower and resources.

The objective of the Commission is to “facilitate the provision of services across borders within a climate of fair competition and respect for the rights of posted workers, who are employed in one Member State and sent to work temporarily in another by their employer.”

Proposed changes in remuneration, rules for temporary work and long-term posting

According to the Commission:
• Posted workers should be subject to equal pay and working conditions as local workers. All rules on remuneration applied generally to local workers should also have to be granted to posted workers;
• National rules on temporary agency work should apply when agencies established abroad post workers; and
• If the duration of posting exceeds 24 months, the labour law conditions of the host Member States should have to be applied, where this is favourable to the posted worker.

Posted workers not to be at par with ‘domestic’ workers

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We have waited a long time for this proposal but have been partially disappointed. It is a right decision to suggest that national rules on temporary agency work should apply when agencies established abroad post workers. However, all labour law conditions of host Member States shall only apply to posted workers after 2 years. The length of this threshold is not acceptable especially since very few workers are posted for such long times. Not many workers would feel any improvements. There is also no real suggestion on how to avoid letter-box companies and systematic exchanges of posted workers by their employers to circumvent thresholds.”

May 9 1950 marks the day of Robert Schuman’s historic declaration where he set out his ideas for a new form of political cooperation in Europe. What thereafter became the European Union has advanced much since then and can today celebrate peace and relative liberty, stability and prosperity. However, things are far from perfect and the protection of European citizens, workers and institutions is a continuous task which has become more acute during recent years.

Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Peace in Europe since World War Two is an enormous achievement and the EU has played an important role in this. However, liberal democracy has recently been put at risk especially in several Eastern European Member States. Moreover, Europe has not yet recovered from the recent crisis and social divergences have been increasing sharply for several years. And decent working conditions and equitable labour rights are no reality for many European citizens. As the world is moving towards more globalised and digitilised forms of work, the employment landscape changes. EU and national-level regulations and laws are lagging behind as workers are being dealt with in arbitrary manners and are forced to engage in precarious work relationships in the absence of robust legal and social protection.”

Mr Heeger added: “Solidarity, the EU’s bedrock of success, is at risk on multiple levels. There is a real possibility that the majority of British citizens will in June say ‘We are better off without the EU’. True financial solidarity for Greece and its citizens has not come a long way since the crisis started. Plus, the current refugee crisis is creating a rift between Member States. Today it is more significant than ever to remember that in times of hardship Member States are stronger united. Border checks are being erected between nations that once pledged solidarity to each other. The raise of radical elements and terrorist threats in society is another major threat to the stability of Europe. However we can still learn from Robert Schuman’s words: ‘World peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it.’”

“2016 must be a better year for gender equality in Europe than 2015. 2015 was, in fact, a year of stagnation – at best! The year started off with the withdrawal by the European Commission of its proposal for a revised EU maternity directive. After national ministers in the Council had continued to simply block negotiations with the EU’s second co-legislator, the European Parliament, the European Commission saw no reason to uphold its proposal.

National ministers in the Council also acted infamously with regards to a second landmark file, the Women-on-boards directive proposal by the European Commission, which looks at ways to achieve a more balanced representation of men and women among non-executive directors of companies listed on stock exchanges. Even though the proposal dates back to as long ago as 2012, and even though the European Parliament already adopted its position in 2013 and was ready to engage in negotiations, ministers in the Council failed in December 2015 – again – to agree on a common internal position. The file is pending to the day.

Not only the Council disappointed me in 2015 – also the European Commission failed to identify with strong pro-gender equality politics. The EU Gender Equality Strategy 2010-2015, which laid out action priorities to achieve gender equality in pay, decision-making and other aspects across Europe, ran out on December 31. However, despite engaged and widespread support by the European Parliament, organised civil society groups and trade unions – including CESI – and even by the governments of most EU Member States, the Commission did not propose a successor strategy. What has been left to work with as of 2016 is a low-level ‘Commission staff working document on a Strategic engagement for gender equality 2016-2019’ – a document with a political weight nowhere near a Strategy.

Especially in light of recent set-backs, it is vital to continue pushing for better gender equality policies and politics in Europe. The Commission recently issued a roadmap on an overarching initiative on work-life balance which looks at how working families and carers can be better supported in their efforts to combine work and domestic responsibilities. Of course, this initiative is of interest especially for women. After all, it has been mostly women that raise children and care for older family members – often at the expense of their careers and salary and pension levels. While consultations with the organised civil society and social partners are still ongoing, we therefore need to make sure that this initiative will yield hard legislative proposals by the Commission that grant adequate parental and carer’s leave rights especially for women.

In this context I join the UN in calling on the EU institutions and the governments of the EU Member States to live up to the UN’s theme of the 2016 International Women’s Day: “Step it up for gender equality!”

Press release as pdf

This is the result of a selection procedure by the European Commission following an open call for applications for non-government members.

The Platform for Tax Good Governance is an expert advisory group to assist the Commission in developing initiatives to promote good governance in tax matters in third countries, to tackle aggressive tax planning and to identify and address double taxation. It brings together expert representatives from business, tax professional and civil society organisations and enables a structured dialogue and exchange of expertise which can feed into a more coordinated and effective EU approach against tax evasion and avoidance.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “As a trade union confederation representing numerous national-level tax administrations’ trade unions, CESI has a keen interest to facilitate transparent tax systems in which tax evasion has no place and tax administrators can effectively perform their duty – collecting all due taxes. I am glad CESI can continue to bring its sector-specific expertise to the Platform.”

Further information about the Platform is available on the European Commission’s website.

Dirk Richter from the German Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit) intervened as a guest speaker on the implications that the recent rise in the number of refugees coming to Germany has had on the work of the Agency and its staff members.

Refugee integration has far-reaching consequences for public administration staff

He said that the increase of refugees and asylum seekers has been a challenge for the Agency especially because of increased workloads and additional burdens for staff members. He noted that 3600 new positions were created especially in the fields of career advising, job placement and asylum case processing to order to cope with the increase of refugees and asylum seekers. He added that investments are needed to further train Agency staff in new competences they need, such as giving support to traumatised refugees.

Extensions of working lives can bring opportunities and challenges

Philippe Seidel, policy officer at the AGE Platform, held an expert presentation on challenges and chances that longer working lives can bring to older workers. He noted that employees’ work-life balance and longer working lives and intergenerational knowledge transfers in companies may be squared effectively and efficiently by means of partial retirement schemes. He noted however that partial retirements can involve downsides, too: Too many schemes currently do not sufficiently reach low-skilled workers and/or are likely to lead to a precarisation of older people’s work.

Unknown too often: the EU-wide emergency number 112 for medical assistance, the police and fire brigade

Benoît Vivier from the European Emergency Number Association (EENA) spoke on the functioning of the European Emergency Number 112 which, free of charge and on a 24/7 basis, connects anywhere in Europe automatically to a directory for medical assistance, the fire brigade and the police. He reported that the number 112 is only known by 27% of the EU’s population, which represents a great obstacle to making it work in practice. A discussion was held on whether awareness raising can be promoted by trade unions too.

Privatisations in water supply often yield negative results

Finally, Peter de Paepe from De Watergroep delivered a keynote presentation on problems related to privatisations of water supply providers. Making references to cases where privatisations yielded negative results in terms of service provision and working conditions, he underscored the importance of pushing the European Commission to acknowledge that only public water supply can guarantee a functioning right to water and sanitation for citizens.

The main objective of the hearing was to present and discuss the European Semester Alliance’s assessment of the European Semester’s 2016 Annual Growth Survey and its report of the European Semester’s 2015 Country-specific recommendations. Formally themed ‘The Annual Growth Survey behind, the European Semester ahead: What proposals to make Europe 2020 more social, democratic and sustainable?’, the hearing saw interventions by the hosting MEPs Marian Harkin (ALDE) and Sergio Gutiérrez-Prieto (S&D) as well as their colleagues Sofia Ribeiro (EPP), Gabriele Zimmer (GUE/NGL), Jean Lambert (Greens/EFA) and Enrique Calvet Chambon (ALDE). Massimo Suardi, Deputy head of Commissioner Dombrovskis’ cabinet, spoke on behalf of the European Commission.

A hearing on the European Semester at a timely moment

The hearing took place at a timely moment, with deliberations on the 2016 European Semester process having recently begun to unfold: The European Commission published the Annual Growth Survey 2016 towards the end of last year and the European Parliament finalised its own-initiative report on employment and social aspects in the Annual Growth Survey 2016 just two weeks ago.

CESI: European Semester focus on quality jobs is still lacking

While speakers representing other European Semester Alliance members intervened on environmental (Green Budget Europe), social (Age Platform) and gender equality-related (European Women’s Lobby) merits and shortcomings in the European Semester, CESI Policy Advisor Hendrik Meerkamp presented a trade unionist perspective, highlighting in particular that an overarching focus on job creation and quality work is still missing.

The programme of the hearing can be accessed here. The European Semester Alliance’s slide presentation is available here.

The European Semester Alliance is a broad coalition bringing together 14 major European civil society organisations and trade unions, representing thousands of member organisations on the ground at European, national and local levels in the European Union. The European Semester Alliance aims to support progress towards a more democratic, social and sustainable Europe 2020 Strategy, through strengthening civil dialogue engagement in the European Semester at national and EU levels. Visit the European Semester Alliance’s website for further information. As a member of the European Semester Alliance, CESI works to stress the importance of worker rights and the role that strong public services (and hence the several million public sector workers it represents) play in providing services that are crucial for the state to function and for the societies to prosper.

Mr Heeger said: “Decent working conditions and fair worker rights are still far away for many citizens across Europe. I welcome very much the new narrative on a more social EU that was picked up by European Commission President Juncker. The Pillar of social rights which he proposed earlier this year is a useful tool to work towards fairer working conditions, sufficient social protection and effective access to the labour markets. However, the pillar outline issued by the Commission has made few references to implementation tools. While it refers to the pillar vaguely as a ‘reference framework’ and ‘compass’ to promote reforms for more social justice in the Member States, we must make sure that the pillar will have teeth when it comes to implementation and enforcement. The Pillar will need to be measured against results on the ground. We must move from words to deeds.”

He added: “Globalisation and digitalisation have led to an increasing fragmentation of labour markets in space and in time. Atypical and precarious forms of employment are on the rise, and many of them remain unregulated. This leaves a legal vacuum for abuse and exploitation by employers. The EU urgently needs to address working conditions and worker rights in new forms of employment.”

The theme set by the ILO for this year’s Day is ‘Workplace stress: It’s time to lift the burden’.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Stress-related health and safety issues are more widespread than commonly believed. Apart from the many workers which are still threatened by occupational accidents, there is an increasing number of people facing health problems because of stress at work. This can be caused by discrimination, violence, rising work intensities and increased job insecurities. According to EU-OSHA, 50% of workers in Europe feel they are considerably stressed at the workplace and 80% of managers say they are aware of the problem, but only 30% of companies take measures about it.“

Mr Heeger added: “Health problems caused by stress at work are especially prevalent among white collar workers and public sector employees. Eurofound research showed that the public sector has recently been especially affected by restructuring and budget cuts and that this has had negative implications on stress levels among staff members. Eurofound also established that workers in the service sectors experience violence and harassment in the workplace more often than those from other sectors. Educators teaching students, nurses working with patients and public administration workers serving citizens are often particularly affected. This has a real impact on their health, well-being and productivity and may in severe cases lead to absenteeism or even require early retirement.”

As a trade union confederation representing public sector trade unions from across Europe, CESI has made occupational health and safety in public services a work priority. Having been a partner in EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaigns since 2012, CESI is this year running a major capacity building project on health and safety in public services in Europe. High level member seminars with expert participation will take place on ‘New work rhythm and their impacts on health and safety’ in June in Copenhagen and on ‘Responsible players in the implementation of the health and safety policy in the public sector in Europe’ in October in Madrid. Moreover, a study has been commissioned on best practices in health and safety management in public services in Europe.

The agreement foresees mutual collaboration between the SAE and CNV-Connectief and the dbb respectively when it comes to support measures for mobile workers in the healthcare sector in Spain and the Netherlands / Germany.

CESI’s third and fourth deal on fair labour mobility in the healthcare sector

The agreements respond to increasing levels of social and occupation-related abuses of mobile workers by employers. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “One of the particular complexities that many mobile workers face is a lack of information about the social and labour right conditions they enjoy in their host country. Employers often exploit this unawareness.”

The agreements follow two previous deals struck by CESI between its Spanish member organisation SATSE and the dbb. Klaus Heeger added: “I am more than happy that we managed to conclude two further collaboration agreements for a fair mobility of healthcare workers. We now have to implement the new agreements together with our partners.”

Discussions on m-health, access to healthcare and working time for carers

At the Trade council meeting, further deliberations and presentations were held on a variety of subjects related to the needs of employees in the healthcare sector.

Pēteris Zilgalvis, Head of Unit ‘Health and Well Being’ in the European Commission’s DG CNECT, updated the Trade council members on the most recent developments regarding the Commission’s Green paper on m-health.

Claire Mock-Muñoz de Luna from the Danish Research Centre for Migration, Ethnicity and Health (MESU) spoke about the training that the Migrant and Ethnic Minorities Training Packages project delivered between 2014 and 2016 for health professionals with the aim to improve access and the quality of health services for migrants and ethnic minorities. She brought to the attention of the Trade council the gap that often exists between legal entitlements to health services on paper and access to them in practice.

Trade council President Esther Reyes Diez informed about the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) judgment of September 2016 in case C-266/14 in which it was ruled that where workers do not have a fixed or habitual place of work, the time spent travelling each day between home and the first and last customers constitutes working time within the meaning of the EU working time directive. Ms Reyes Diez stressed that this judgment may have positive consequences for many healthcare professionals that need to travel to patients over longer distances but are not paid during this time.

Finally, Francisco Toquero from CESI’s Spanish member organisation CSI-F gave a presentation on the consequences the recent economic crisis has had on the health and safety of health professionals in Spain. He reported that work intensity and job precariousness has increased markedly for many employees as a result of the crisis.

Most notably, the Presidium confirmed that the Congress will be held under the theme of three interrelated main motions.

Congress main motions on impacts of digitalisation, the role of public services and on the future of EU integration

A topical motion entitled ‘Digitalisation: Finding the balance’ will lay out CESI’s position on the impacts of ongoing and increasing digitalisation on the different forms of employment and on the working conditions of employees. The motion will also outline CESI’s view on how to address possible negative consequences of digitalisation on the work of trade unions, trade union membership and collective bargaining.

A motion on ‘Public services: Delivering results’ will make a case for well-equipped and well-resourced public administrations as a tool to provide public services in sufficient quantity and quality. The motion will argue that this is vital in order to manage key societal challenges of the future such as achieving a higher degree of social justice and effective internal security.

Finally, a motion entitled ‘The future of Europe: Investing in people’ will set out CESI’s vision of how important European challenges can be addressed, in particular in the field of employment and social affairs. Aspects that the motion will follow-up on include minimum social standards, gender equality, minimum wages, education and training, health, and the integration of migrants and the less advantaged.

New position papers on migration management and the prevention of radicalisation and terrorism adopted

The Presidium also held discussions about recent EU level developments in employment and social affairs such as the forthcoming European pillar of social rights and debated about developments in EU Member States related to pension systems, intergenerational justice and collective bargaining.

Thematic position papers on migration management and on the prevention of radicalisation and terrorism were adopted. Both will be made available in the policy positions section of CESI’s website.

The next meeting of the Presidium will be on June 21 in Brussels. Planning for the Congress will in the meanwhile be ongoing within in the CESI General Secretariat.

As a European trade union confederation representing primarily public sector workers, CESI has attached great importance to both topics. CESI has for a long time worked on solutions to address rising radicalist threats and to manage migration and integrate migrants successfully. Its members, be it from the education, justice or security sectors, have for long brought the problem of rising radicalist tendencies in European societies to the public attention. Working at the forefront with incoming migrants and refugees, CESI affiliates have recently also stressed that investments in migration management and the integration of migrants are urgently needed if major societal costs are to be avoided in the longer term. CESI and its members have and will continue to contribute to finding holistic and cross-sector solutions.

Migration management: Better support for public sector workers needed

The position paper on migration management and the integration of migrants outlines CESI’s view on how public sector workers could be better supported to efficiently receive and effectively integrate incoming migrants.

Above all, the position stresses that sufficient personnel and investment should be urgently allocated to central and local administrations as well as to the health and education sectors in order to deal with additional workloads resulting from the arrival and integration of numerous migrants.

It also underlines the importance of ensuring access to training courses and resources for staff members in order to give them the capacities necessary to deal with the challenges involved in the reception and integration of migrants.

Prevention of radicalisation and terrorism: Public services need more resources

The position on the prevention of radicalisation and terrorism notes that public services need more resources in order to act more effectively – in particular with regards to the justice sector (prison administrations), social, education and healthcare services, and the justice sector.

The text notes above all that:
• CESI supports moves towards the improvement of the legal protection of security agents;
• soldiers are increasingly being deployed in the fight against terrorism despite the fact that this was not initially part of their mission, which makes it necessary to provide them with additional tailored training;
• further support and training is urgently required for the various other public sector workers who are in direct contact with individuals at risk of being radicalised;
• education should become a social integration channel and a vector for values such as civil rights, democracy, fundamental rights, tolerance and respect, which means that teachers must receive more support from schools – and that schools must receive more support from the state in order to better guide students when shaping ideas and their identity; and that
• there is a need to strengthen and support penitentiary personnel, namely by training them to better understand and detect the signs of radicalisation as well as respond to such situations.

Both position papers will be made available in the policy positions section of CESI’s website.

As a European trade union confederation representing several national tax administration trade unions, CESI in principle welcomes the Commission’s proposal as a step towards less tax avoidance. It goes beyond action 13 of the OECD’s base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) plan in that it requests multinationals in the EU to make information public on where they make profits and where they pay taxes (‘country-by-country reporting’ – CBCR). CESI has for long advocated more transparency requirements in this area in order to help overwhelmed tax administrations perform their role: collecting taxes.

Nonetheless, despite the recent Panama Papers, which after LuxLeaks and SwissLeaks once again revealed the enormous scale of tax avoidance in Europe and beyond, the Commission’s proposal falls short of CESI’s expectations in a number of important aspects and appears, in sum, insufficient to bring down all tax avoidance practices for good.

Shortcomings in the proposal

First, the scope of application of the proposed transparency requirements is in CESI’s view too narrow as it only concerns firms operating within the EU. Companies outside the EU would only have to publish an aggregate figure of total taxes paid outside the EU. This will not help identify money being transferred to tax havens outside the EU, such as Panama, although most of the world’s tax havens are actually not in Europe. The proposal will incentivise multinationals to move their tax activities to countries not covered by strict transparency obligations. To be effective, these should be extended to ALL countries.

Second, the reporting threshold is too high. The proposal’s transparency requirements target only multinationals with an annual turnover of at least €750 million. This means that only a small minority of multinationals will actually be concerned. CESI calls to extent the scope of the Commission’s proposal to all multinationals as defined in the EU’s Accounting Directive.

The EU can do more

CESI believes that the EU can help bring the solution to the global problem of tax avoidance. However, objectives must be more ambitious and include full public CBCR obligations (as called for by the European Parliament in the context of the Shareholder rights directive) coupled with effective enquiries, penalties and broad blacklists.

To reinforce its voice towards the Commission, CESI recently also co-signed a joint letter of 46 trade unions and civil society organisations to Commission President Juncker, asking to finally take action on an effective disclosure of tax information by multinational corporations. The same was asked for by CESI in its response to a consultation by the Commission on corporate tax transparency in September last year.

Youri Devuyst, Policy officer in the European Commission’s DG for Education and culture (EAC), gave a kick-off speech on how the EU can support teachers in their role as educators that want to help achieve the objectives laid down the Paris Declaration – an EU level roadmap for tolerance and non-discrimination put down in the immediate aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks and as a tool to bring down and prevent radicalisation in the future.

Preventing radicatilisation requires more civic education – and simultaneous support for teachers

Mr Devuyst stressed that the Commission intends to take on a responsible role when it comes to the promotion of civic education, training in media literacy and the teaching of common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination. Underscoring the role of the Commission as a facilitator of an effective exchange of existing information as an implementation vehicle in this regard, he noted that more can be done to ensure that best practices (such as those outlined recently by the in the Network of experts on social aspects of education and training) actually arrive at the teachers and in the classrooms.

Noting that civic education plays a vital role in the socialisation of citizens, Trade council members highlighted that in their view education systems should not only be exclusively tailored to teach the technical skills allegedly needed on the labour markets. In this regard, they welcomed the Commission’s stated focus on civic education to prevent radicalisation.

Confsalform’s Scholarjobs project: A best practice employability programme

The Trade council also discussed an employability programme of CESI’s Italian member organisation Confsalform: The Scholarsjob project, which aims to provide dual apprenticeships for students from the age of 15 independently of their study programme. Salvatore Piroscia from Confsalform presented project as a best practice example where students develop skills to analyse, evaluate and improve company profiles in social media networks. Mr Piroscia reported that the project has been a success so far, having involved around 1000 students and delivered training for 200 teachers. He announced that Confsalform is now looking to collaborate with partners from other EU Member States to give a European dimension to the project and carry it beyond Italy.

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.

Launch of the campaign on April 14

The 2016-17 campaign on ‘Healthy workplaces for all ages’ will be formally launched on April 14 – a press conference in Brussels will be open to the public. The campaign aims to help employers address the challenges of an ageing workforce and raise awareness of the importance of sustainable work throughout employees’ working lives.

The specific objectives are:
• to promote sustainable work and healthy ageing from the start of the working life;
•to prevent health problems throughout the working life;
• to provide ways for employers and workers to manage occupational safety and health in the context of an ageing workforce; and to
• to encourage the exchange of information and good practice.

Occupational health and safety at work a priority at CESI

CESI Secretary General said: “This EU‐OSHA Healthy workplaces campaign addresses one of CESI’s core priorities. As a trade union confederation, CESI has for long worked to promote adequate health and safety measures for all workers, be they young, mid‐aged or of older age. At CESI, we believe that effective occupational health and safety must be ensured without gaps throughout the entire work life cycle of employees ‐ When there is a gap, this will likely have negative implications for individual workers at present and in the future too.”

CESI’s involvement in the campaign will be explained in detail in a dedicated website section as well as on the official homepage of the Healthy workplaces campaign.

The letter can be accessed here in pdf-format.

CESI President Romain Wolff: EU action on tax justice has fallen short of expectations

CESI President Romain Wolff said: “The Commission’s recent much-advertised Anti-Tax Avoidance Package on country-by-country reporting (CBCR) obligation fell short of expectations. We call for a public disclosure of CBCR-related information and not only of aggregated data outside the EU. CESI believes that this is needed not only to support overwhelmed tax administrations in performing their role and function but also to allow a much needed democratic control of tax practices. Moreover, there is an urgent need of a less restrictive CBCR financial threshold as for now only multinationals with a turnover above 750 million euros would be concerned. CBCR should cover all large companies as defined in the EU’s Accounting Directive.”

As a European trade union confederation representing several national tax administration trade unions, CESI has for a long time called for more investments in the personnel and resources of tax administrations, more investigation in dubious tax practices and a better protection of whistle blowers that want to disclose tax-related information to public administrations.

Romain Wolff said: “The Panama Papers reveal the enormous and scandalous extent and scale of tax avoidance practices by a wide range of well-off and privileged individuals. After LuxLeaks, SwissLeaks and other previous revelations, we are starting to get used to tax scandals. The Panama Papers underline once again the urgency of taking concrete and effective action in the field of taxation. Tax havens must be included in a global strategy for tax justice.”

Wolff: “Wealth must be taxed appropriately and everyone must pay his of her fair tax share”

He added: “Wealth must be taxed appropriately and everyone must pay his or her fair tax share. Tax avoidance does not only make rich persons richer but also makes a fool of those citizens that naturally pay all their taxes in their home country. Morally speaking, tax avoidance is also stealing money from the provision of public services by the state which the less privileged need so much.” EU Member States which do not prevent tax avoidance effectively are ever more deprived of fiscal resources and increasingly turn to austerity politics, hurting the society at large.

Romain Wolff stated: “At CESI, we hope that the Panama Papers will, even more than was the case with Luxleaks or Swissleaks, lead to public pressure on politicians and push the European Commission and EU Member States to take appropriate measures to effectively put an end to any dubious tax practices. Commission President Juncker said he made the fight against tax avoidance a priority of the Commission. It is high time to deliver.”

CESI’s work for tax justice

As a European trade union confederation representing several national tax administration trade unions, CESI has for a long time called for more investments in the personnel and resources of tax administrations, more investigation in dubious tax practices and a better protection of whistle blowers that want to disclose tax-related information to public administrations.

Making reference to today’s terrorist attacks in Brussels and the recent bombings in Ankara and Istanbul, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We at CESI are shocked about today’s horrendous terrorist attacks in Brussels and the brutal bombings in Ankara and Istanbul last week. At least 21 persons seem to have been killed in Brussels and at least 37 in Ankara and 5 in Istanbul. Many more were injured. What distresses me most is that, just like in previous attacks – Paris, Madrid, London or Copenhagen – peaceful civilians were the ones hit as random targets. This cannot be accepted.”

Mr Heeger added: “As a European trade union confederation representing primarily public sector workers, CESI has for a long time worked on solutions to address rising radicalist threats. Our members, be it from the education, justice or security sectors, have for long brought the problem of rising radicalist tendencies in European societies to the public attention. CESI has and will continue to contribute to finding a holistic and cross-sector approach to counter radicalisation in a sustainable and effective way.”

CESI has held several events and conferences on the challenge of radicalisation in the recent past. Its internal sector-specific trade councils – especially those on security policy and education policy – have deliberated and formally positioned themselves already on several occasions.

Mr Heeger concluded: “Brutal and coward attacks on civilians cannot be tolerated. Faced with imminent violent threats, the public authorities and the judiciary must be able to crack down on violence and ensure public order, security and freedom for all. Terrorism shall never win. Never. Ever.”

Debates during the meeting were held on a number topics that touch on the daily work of employees in the security sector, including related to Schengen, Europol, terrorism and radicalisation.

Keynote presentations by policy experts and professionals

Oliver Seiffarth from the Border management and Schengen unit of the European Commission’s DG HOME delivered a keynote address on the substantial challenges that FRONTEX staff as well as national police forces and custom officers face in managing migration and in keeping the Schengen system functioning.

Christian Moos, member of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and chairman of the EESC study group on control of the acquisition and possession of weapons in the EU, gave a presentation on the problems which a widespread possession of firearms poses for public security. Mr Moos, who is also a Trade council member for CESI’s member organisation dbb (the German civil service federation), highlighted the problematic implications that firearm possession by citizens has on the efforts of police and security forces to maintain public order.

This was complemented by an interventions by:
• Hermann Benker, Vice-president of the Trade council and affiliate of the dbb, who spoke on ‘The fight against terrorism and radicalisation in a different context: New forms of criminality linked to migration and refugee issues’;
• Stéphanie la Rosa, Vice-president of the Trade council and representative of CESI’s member organisation Alliance Police national (the French police union), who made an intervention on the need for better protective equipment for security forces; and
• Gerrit van de Kamp, President of the Trade council and affiliate of CESI’s member organisation Eurofedop, who spoke on a right to self-defence for police staff members and security forces. He noted that threats towards them are increasing and that this necessitates a better protection as well as a legitimate self-defence in certain situations.

Wil van Gemert, Deputy director of Europol, Operations department, also informed the Trade council members of new Europol capacities and work on cooperation with national police forces.

The challenges which were deliberated on concerned:
• reducing violence against prison employees;
• addressing the right to strike of justice employees; and
• dealing with impacts of refugee immigration on penitentiary systems.

A growing concern: Violence against prison employees

Touria Lebbad, CESI policy advisor for justice policy, delivered a keynote presentation on the increasing incidence of violence against prison employees. She reported that in some cases rioting in prisons has increased by more than 70% during the last three years and that in some places serious attacks on prison employees have recently increased by almost 50%.
She noted that this development can be attributed to at least two factors: First, statistics show that overcrowding and staff shortage in prisons is still a major problem in many EU Member States. As the staff-to-prisoner ratio remains too low, prison staff members can hardly keep prisons a calm place. Second, the retirement age for justice employees has been continuously raised in many EU Member States, and older workers have more so than younger ones difficulties in fighting off violent younger offenders. Raising awareness of increasing violence against prison employees will remain a key priority of the Trade council.

Still an issue: The right to strike of justice employees

Mark Freeman, a justice expert, presented a case study of the right to strike of justice employees in the UK. The case study was discussed by the Trade council members against the backdrop of the situation of the right to strike of justice employees in the different EU Member States. It emerged that there are still problems with it in several Member States. The Trade council will continue to work on this topic.

An emerging challenge: Impacts of refugee immigration on penitentiary systems

Franz-Josef Schäfer, Vice-president of the Trade council and affiliate of CESI’s member organisation dbb (the German civil service federation), introduced a debate on the impacts of increasing refugee immigration on penitentiary systems. This related in particular to an increasing level of foreigners in prisons, which becomes more elevated as the share of foreigners in a country increases too. Trade council members noted that prison administrations need to better adapt, equip and train their staff members especially in terms of necessary linguistic and cultural skills. Foreigners in prisons give rise to specific requirements for prison staff members and the prison managers, it was concluded.