MFF 2028-2034: The EU needs the means to deliver

Kirsten Lühmann, President of CESI’s Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) makes the following declaration to mark International Women’s Day:

“Even in Europe, International Women’s Day is not just an excuse for bleeding heart liberals to pat themselves on the back. Rather, issues remain which we must take seriously: on average, women still earn over 16 per cent less than men, women in top company posts are still, for the most part, in a minority or nowhere to be seen. In their private lives, too, women mostly have significantly more work to do than their male partners.

Alongside the topics it has cited, the new Commission wants in particular to tackle violence against women with a greater resolve as well as fight ‘harmful practices’ – damaging ‘traditional’ practices such as genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour killings. CESI supports the Commission in these goals and also calls upon the Member States to check what else can be done to protect women.

A study carried out in 2014 by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights presented a sobering picture of the situation in which women find themselves in the 28 EU Member States. According to its findings, one in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15, 20 per cent have been stalked and half of all women have been confronted with one or several forms of sexual harassment. Such circumstances are absolutely unacceptable and we cannot put up with them.

Against this backdrop, it is encouraging that the European Commission is clearly giving serious thought to the European Union signing up to the Istanbul Convention (‘European Council Agreement on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence’). Furthermore, the agreement has not yet been signed by all EU Member States and has only been ratified in one third of the States. This urgently needs to change.

EU Commissioner for Equal Opportunities Vĕra Jourová is putting together a new equal opportunities strategy which will be ready by the end of this year. CESI will make its position known on the important issues regarding policies on women and will continue to lobby for more equality of opportunities through its own initiatives and proposals.”

CESI welcomes the growing recognition that economic growth must be dealt together with social matters and the demonstrated will of the European Commission for the EU to “achieve a social AAA”, not least by giving social dialogue a fresh start. As recalled by Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, “there cannot be a well-functioning economy market without a well-functioning social dialogue”.

“Yes, social partners are best placed to suggest and negotiate solutions to current issues, because of their direct link to realities and their closeness to workers in all sectors”, Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of CESI, agreed. “They must therefore be at the forefront and be more involved in European policies, including in addressing the key challenges Europe is facing.”

Yet Klaus Heeger sharply criticised the policy of closed doors: “If the overall aim consist in better associating social partners in EU and national policy making, you better associate them all. Excluding millions of workers neither contributes to the strengthening of the social dimensions nor does it create a climate of trust and partnership. “

President Juncker himself recalled this week the birth of social dialogue thirty years ago and that although so much has changed Val Duchesse must be a source of inspiration for the social dialogue of today.

Referring to that, Klaus Heeger underlined that in order to rediscover the European social dimension, CESI is, today more than ever, called upon and ready to contribute actively to a genuine social dimension.

“All workers count”, CESI Secretary General underlined, “and those who do not recognise that, do strike a blow to that very social dimension they want to establish”.

In the context of growing radicalisation, the Presidium particularly emphasised the crucial role of security forces in protecting citizens, their fundamental rights and democracy.

To safeguard freedoms and values it is essential to protect those who protect, the Presidium concluded.

You can read the Presidium’s communiqué here.

TiSA, not as known as the highly mediatised Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), is one of the largest trade agreement ever negotiated. Formally started in 2013, it is very wide reaching (a priori no sector is excluded except for the core governmental one) and concerns 23 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), including the European Union, representing in total 70% of the world trade in services.

Regarding the fear among many European citizens about the unclear consequences of TiSA on public services and the possibility that it lowers social and labour standards, the debate at CESI intended to clarify the issues at stake. On the one hand, CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger and Social Platform President Heather Roy expressed their respective worries, while on the other, Viviane Reding, as EP rapporteur for TiSA, and Mr. Iruarrizaga in his capacity as chief negotiator of the European Commission underlined that TiSA would neither lead to lower protection levels nor to privatisations of any kind.

According to Viviane Reding, the agreement is unique and very important for Europe. Indeed – if well negotiated – it would be good for European services. However, public services should be excluded because they are “jewels rooted in our DNA” and their protection is a constitutional obligation enshrined in European treaties and protocols.

Heather Roy, representing both users and providers of public services, raised her concerns that public services may be increasingly treated as commodity, and that the quality of services may be suffering from competition. She also stressed the need for clarity and safeguards in the agreement in order to ensure the accessibility of public services for territorial and social cohesion.

Ms. Reding underlined that TiSA as such could and would never contradict EU and national laws. With regards to transparency, she pointed out that almost all documents are now available, except for the council´s mandate. She stressed that full transparency is the best basis for negotiations and all interested parties, including the civil society and the trade unions should have the occasion to share their views.

According to Ignacio Iruarrizaga, TiSA chief negotiator of the European Commission, the agreement is “an area where there is to win”, as the agreement, similar to the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiated 20 years ago, comprises several restrictions to protect public services. “Public services are not sold out in any way, the provision of public services remains fully in the hands of local, regional and national governments.”

Klaus Heeger, Secretary General of the CESI, highlighted the importance of social and labour standards to prevent social dumping. Referring to the potential threat TiSA may have on public services, he highlighted that free trade -as consequence of freedom and democracy- is basically good, but that trade deals de facto often lead to liberalisation and privatisation, which puts them per se in a strained relationship to public services. Great care is therefore needed and it is essential to make sure that public services of general interest are safe and unequivocally excluded from the scope of the agreement.

To conclude, the participants agreed on the necessity to clarity the scope of the agreement. Politicians, the civil society, trade unions and the media should therefore reach consensus on a service trade agreement which would leave protection standards and public services untouched.

All participants therefore highlighted the fact, that a general exemption clause for public services would represent a major step forward in establishing trust and support for the agreement.

During the meeting, which has been opened by CESI president Romain Wolff, the participants discussed the institutional and political developments on the European level due to the election of the European parliament, the appointment of a new European Commission, current developments such as the Ukraine crisis or the terrorist attacks in Paris. In respect to the latter, the Secretary General of CESI’s French member organisation Alliance Police Nationale Jean-Claude Delage thanked the other organisations and the CESI Secretariat for their moral support.

Regarding the new set-up of the European institutions, the commitment of European Commission president Juncker for an enhanced social dialogue revived hope and expectations of the participants who have seen how social dialogue in the member states has suffered during the crisis. For this purpose, Stefano Martinelli, European Commission expert for the European Social Dialogue committees for Local and Regional Administrations as well as Central Administrations, talked about the important issues for the European Social Dialogue in 2015.

According to Martinelli, the European Commission intends to more actively include the European Social partners when defining priorities and methods of the future European Social Dialogue. Amongst the concrete measures foreseen are a better involvement of social partners in the economic governance and in the European policy making. Also, he showed himself aware of the fact that CESI – as consequence of the representativeness study for local and regional administrations – aims at fully joining the respective European Social Dialogue committee.

Concerning the Trade Councils and Commissions, CESI’s Secretary General Klaus Heeger and Director Bert Van Caelenberg presented the outcome of the work of the last years and presented a positive mid-term review of the actions taken during the 2 years after the last congress. Heeger called upon the Trade Council presidents to show more initiative and to take over more responsibilities concerning the organisation, execution and follow up of the committees’ work in order to make them even more performant.

The Secretariat furthermore presented the work programme of the European Commission which will serve – although not exclusively – as a guideline for CESI’s actions. The investment package, the Europe 2020 mid-term review or mobility of workers etc. are of high interest for CESI. But also other topics, such as TiSA, social investment etc. stay of utmost importance. The Commission and Trade Council presidents afterwards pointed out their priorities for the upcoming year, which represent a wide variety of topics (such as trade union pluralism, women in management positions or violence against employees in public services) that will be discussed and followed up during and after the committees’ meetings.

The president of the CESI Europe Academy Emilio Fatovic presented this year’s project on information and consultation of workers, the outcome of which should contribute to better management and anticipation of restructuring in the public sector. The corresponding seminar is going to take place in Dublin on 24-26 June 2015.

“First and foremost, we wish to express our condolences to the victims and their relatives”, stated CESI President Wolff. “However, beyond the human tragedy this event has caused, the impact of this attack is practically impossible to measure. The Republic of France and the entire democratic world has been shaken at its very foundations. Now, we must use all our strength to fight for the maintenance of our values of freedom.”

Secretary General Heeger pointed to the specific meaning of this event for trade unions: “Special protection must also be provided to those whose role it is to defend our freedom and democracy. Of course, this includes above all the press, in its role as the personification of a pluralistic society and freedom of opinion. However, security forces and law enforcement bodies must also be supported without reservations in their fight against terrorism”.

According to Heeger, the challenges for security forces and law enforcement bodies are tremendous: fighting radicalised anti-democratic forces while at the same time resisting populist, xenophobic and racist movements in society demands unconditional belief in and commitment to our fundamental values. And not least full support from society.

If this balance is not achieved at the end of the day, the ones who want to remove our model based on values of freedom will have won, the President and the Secretary General warned.

About the symposium

Through the expertise in CESI’s Central Administration Trade Council, the second project for 2014 will focus on the role of tax administrations throughout the economic and financial crisis in Europe. CESI works hard to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and the improvement of services provided to citizens through tax administrations, as well as improving working conditions in the sector. During the crisis however, what role has there been for taxation in Europe? What impact has the crisis had?

The results of the project, gathered in part from the seminar taking place in Brussels from 9-10 October 2014, will be disseminated to taxation human resource managers throughout Europe.

The brochures for the October 2014 seminar can be read in English, French and German.

Synthesis: FR / EN / DE / ES / IT

Presentations/Speeches:

– Emilo FATOVIC, 09.10.2014 (FR)

– François GORIS, 09.10.2014 (NL)

– Jonathan LEIGH PEMBERTON (BEPS Action Plan), 09.10.2014 (EN)

– Donato RAPONI, 09.10.2014 (EN)

– Jonathan LEIGH PEMBERTON (Tax Administration 2013),09.10.2014 (EN)

– Jan NØRNER, 09.10.2014 (EN)

– Fernand MULLER, 09.10.2014 (FR)

– Nancy PEETERS, 09.10.2014 (EN)

– Dirk DIERICKX, 09.10.2014 (EN)

– Tracy KAYE, 10.10.2014 (EN)

– Romain WOLFF (FR)

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ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

“This digital revolution is drastically changing the world. Public administrations are keeping up with the trend by constantly adapting their online service supply in order to stay in close touch with the users.”

Emilio Fatovic, President of Europe Academy

By engaging  CESI’s Trade Councils for Security, Health and Education, the seminar covered new technologies in Europe’s public sector. The seminar took place in Tallinn, Estonia from 26-27 June 2014. An advanced country in terms of new technologies with 78% of the population using the internet and 75% households with internet access, Estonia provided the ideal backdrop for debate. With the Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs and Communication, Urve Palo, opening the seminar, the e-State in Estonia gave an insight into how new technologies can be used in the public sector.

The project aimed to uncover best practices in these new developments and allowed members to share their experiences of the changes that have occurred for public sector workers as a result of new technologies. A booklet to exchange best practices and a charter of recommendations will soon be published.

The Symposium’s Programme and Speakers’ List can be read in EN, FR and DE.

FINAL BROCHURE with a Charter of principles for the participative and responsible inclusion of workers in the set-up and use of ICT in the public sector in Europe: EN, DE, FR, ES, IT

PRESENTATIONS/SPEECHES

Emilio Fatovic, Europe Academy President, Opening address

Franco Accordino, European Commission on Connecting people to policy making: the Futurium experiment

Françoise Berthoud, Directrice du Groupement EcoInfo on Are dematerialising procedures always a good thing?

Miquel Estapé, Open Administration of Catalonia Consortium on Open Administration for Businesses in Catalonia

Carlos Fernandez Guerra,  Responsible for social media for the Spanish National Police on Servicio público 2.0

Elisabeth Grosdhomme Lulin, Director General, Paradigmes et caetera on Web 2.0: The users contribute to the improvement of public services

Ralf Martin, Project Manager,  Central Data Processing of financial management Koblenz on The European IT skills passport

Arthur Mickoleit, OECD on Digital Government: OECD policy recommendation and the role of social media

Sergejus Muravjovas, Executive Director, Transparency International Lithuania on Action Tank’s Perspective on New Technologies

Rauna Nerelli, Ministry of Justice, Finland on e-participation and transparency in the decision making process

Robbie Parish, Scottish Government on Digital Scotland

Elena Vio, Arsenàl.IT Veneto’s Research Centre for eHealth Innovation on Example of the way new technology is used in the field of health

Ioannis Yallouros, European Disability Forum, Executive Committee Member, Use of ICT for a better service for users with a disability

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The relevant part in the INTA committee report calls on the TTIP negotiators and the European Commission in particular “to build on the joint statement [of the 20th of March by Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and US Trade Representative Michael Froman regarding the exclusion of public services in EU and US trade agreements] reflecting the negotiators’ clear commitment to exclude current and future Services of General Interest as well as Services of General Economic Interest from the scope of application of TTIP, (including but not limited to water, health, social services, social security systems and education), to ensure that national and if applicable local authorities retain the full right to introduce, adopt, maintain or repeal any measures with regards to the commissioning, organisation, funding and provision of public services as provided in the Treaties as well as in the EU’s negotiating mandate; this exclusion should apply irrespective of how the services are provided and funded.”

As a European trade union federation representing several million public sector workers in many European countries, CESI has for long worked for a full exclusion of public services from forthcoming trade agreements such as TTIP. Together with the Social Platform, it launched an initiative to insert a ‘Gold standard clause’ in these agreements to fully and unrestrictedly protect public services from any further open market pressures.

In this context, CESI’s Secretary General Klaus Heeger welcomed today’s INTA committee vote to recommend to exclude public services from TTIP: “I am glad that the efforts we put into our gold standard clause initiative yield results. The clause on public services in the INTA committee report reflects much of what such a gold standard clause could look like. I am confident that the plenary follow the INTA committee vote on this. Then, it will be hard for the Commission to not respect the European Parliament’s preference on public services in its TTIP negotiations. After all, parliament will have the last word when it comes to approving TTIP on behalf of the EU.”

The plenary vote on the INTA committee report is scheduled to take place on June 10.

ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

• Lyon, 27-28 June 2013
• Programme and Speakers : EN / FR /  DE
• Brochure on the “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice” for security and justice workers EN / FR / DE / IT / ES
• Post-Stockholm Resolution : EN / FR / DE / IT / ES / NL

PRESENTATIONS/SPEECHES:

• BLEY Guy (FR)
• BÖHM Klaus Michael (DE)
• DICKSON David (EN)
• GINDENSPERGER Anne/ULMER Alexander (FR)
• JANSSENS Liesbeth (EN)
• MARION William (FR)
• PEUCH Eric (FR)
• PROUVEUR Renaud (EN)
• QUILLÉ Michel (FR)
• STESSENS Guy (EN)
• VAN DE RIJT Wouter (FR)
• VAN HEEL Duco (EN)

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ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

• Hamburg, 10-11 October 2013
• Synthesis: EN / FR / DE / ES / IT
• Brochures : EN / FR / DE

PRESENTATIONS/SPEECHES:

• FATOVIC Emilio, 10.10 (IT)
• SCHOLZ Olaf, 10.10 (EN)
• HUERTA MELCHOR Oscar, 10.10 (EN)
• PÉREZ Javier J., 10.10 (EN)
• VAN MULLIGEN Dirk, 10.10 (EN)
• PAOLILLO Manuel, 10.10 (EN)
• LUCKS Christoph, 10.10 (DE)
• SOOD Krishan, 10.10 (EN)
• REYES DIEZ Esther, 11.10 (ES)
• MORALEDA ALDEA Santiago, 11.10 (EN)
• SAUER-SCHNIEBER Andrea, 11.10 (DE)
• KAMOUCHE Hakim, 11.10 (FR)
• PRINCE Sophie, 11.10 (FR)
• DRUART Jacques, 11.10 (EN)

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ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

• Warsaw, 11-12 October 2012
• Brochure: EN / FR / DE
• Study (short) : EN /  FR / DE / ES / IT
• Study (complete) : EN

PRESENTATIONS/SPEECHES:

• BONI Michal, 11.10 (PL)
• BAUBY Pierre, 11.10 (FR)
• RODRIGUES Stéphane, 11.10 (FR)
• REDLICH Matthias, 11.10 (EN)
• BURNETT Susan, 11.10 (EN)
• CLEUTINX Christian, 11.10 (EN)
• CHIRU Epsică, 11.10 (EN)
• EUSTHATOPOULOS Yannis, 11.10 (FR)
• BROLIS Mauro, 11.10 (IT)
• SIIKAVIRTA Kristian, 12.10 (EN)
• WEBER Harald, 12.10 (EN)
• RUANO José-Manuel, 12.10 (FR)
• JOKIVUORI Pertti, 12.10 (EN)
• DAVIES Jim, 12.10 (EN)
• DE CONINCK Hans, 12.10 (EN)
• WOLFF Romain, 12.10 (FR)

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ABOUT THE SYMPOSIUM

• Luxembourg, 28-29 June 2012
• Brochure : EN / FR / DE
• Final Brochure :  EN / FR / DE / ES / IT

PRESENTATIONS/SPEECHES:

• BOSSAERT Danielle, 28.06 (EN)
  Administrative Cooperation in the EU Member States: Towards a Common European Administrative Space?
• GENGLER Claude, 29.06 (FR)
  Une coopération transfrontalière basée sur l’échange de «bonnes pratiques»: le réseau GEPACO
• GLOSS Wilhelm, 29.06 (DE)
  Conclusions
• GRION Milena, 29.06 (EN)
  EL4PA: Euro Learning for Public Adminstration – Training in the field of cross-border cooperation
• GUILLERMO RAMIREZ Martín, 28.06 (EN)
  Taking stock of Cross-Border-Cooperation in Europe – The Association of European Border Regions
• HALINK Ruud, 29.06 (FR)
  Coopération européenne pour les langues voisines
• HALSDORF Jean-Marie, 28.06. (FR)
  Discours du Ministre
• LIRÓN LAGO Juan José, 29.06 (EN)
  The “Galicia – North of Portugal” Euroregion
• MÜLLER Christian, 28.06 (EN)
  The Internal Market Information System
• REUTER Erny, 28.06 (FR/DE)
  Allocution
• SINNER Jean-Claude, 28.06 (FR)
  Les programmes européens: soutien à la coopération transfrontalière et transnationale
• WOLFF Romain, 28.06. (FR)
  Intervention sur la coopération fiscale

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