Strengthening ALMPs and European cooperation: ACTIVER seminar in Romania

The war in Ukraine and the Russian aggressions towards the country take a predominant role in the conclusions that the European Council adopted. “The European Union will stand by Ukraine with steadfast support for as long as it takes“, they state. And while no concrete timetable is given for an accession of Ukraine to the EU, the conclusions emphasise that “Ukraine’s future lies within the European Union.“

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The European Council rightly made clear that war fatigue is no option and Ukraine needs further support. At the same time, leaders understandably could not make a clear commitment about when Ukraine might one day join the EU. Cleary, not only must Ukraine fulfill all Copenhagen criteria, but it is also only practical that the war needs to end before an accession can become a concrete issue. The leaders struck a balance between giving Ukraine a real perspective in the EU while at the same time facing the realities of war in the country and making clear that its economy and institutional architecture do not yet match EU standards.”

Beyond the war in Ukraine, the conclusions of the European Council also focus on the strengthening of the EU’s strategic industrial and technological sovereignty and on its economic competitiveness including skills shortage policies.

Klaus Heeger added: “The EU faces vast challenges across the policy spectrum. While the Covid pandemic paralised the EU over a long period of time, we must make sure that the EU will not be paralysed again by the war in Ukraine and can pursue its internal policy agenda. Inflation and energy prices, industrial competitiveness, fair and effective business taxation, decent work, and of course the mega topic of a fair green-digital twin transition: The EU cannot allow to be in a standstill.”

Full conclusions of the European Council

In view of the immense tragedy brought to the citizens at the Turkish-Syrian frontier region by a devastating earthquake, the Presidium of CESI:

• expresses its deepest condolences to the victims of the earthquake in Turkey and Syria and stands in solidarity with those in need. The devastating impacts, which leave behind thousands of deaths, even more injured, and debris in an already fragile region, should mark the start of a purposeful international cooperation with more mutual support and understanding.
• conveys its deepest respect to the emergency and rescue services at place and to all those citizens and international helping teams that have been helping on the spot, often putting their own lives at risk.
• welcomes the immediate activation of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and calls upon the EU Emergency Response Coordination Centre to act quickly and efficiently.
• calls upon European countries to promptly mobilise their civil protection mechanisms as well.
• encourages CESI’s members and affiliates to offer every possible support to those in distress.
• manifests its full support and gratitude to the frontline worker colleagues who risk their lives trying to save the lives of citizens: rescuers, firefighters, aid workers, and, not least, doctors and nurses.

Access to full resolution as PDF

Dear members, partners, and friends,

The “future of work” is now.

While the distinction “employed vs self-employed” seems to be increasingly blurred, classic inderpendencies and interconnections of the industrial age may not apply anymore. The same goes for the traditional dichotomy “employer-worker” which, in some cases, is being replaced by 3- (or more) party agreements, as for example in the platform economy.

In this regard, we have strongly welcomed the recent adoption of a mandate of the European Parliament to enter into negotiations with the Council of Ministers on a proposal of the European Commission for a directive on improved working conditions in the platform economy.

Reading the text of the proposed directive, we realise how much employment and our (working) needs have changed in large parts of our labour markets. And this new world is complex, full of challenges, uncertainties, and dilemmas.

While flexibility and autonomy at work may increase to benefit both the employer and the worker (e.g. working parents), both may jeopardize the achievements of labour law, occupational safety and health, predictability, and security.

As new forms of employment emerge at increasing speed, we must make sure that they act as a “stepping-stone into standard employment”, rather than a route to the deregulation of our labour markets.

And the proposed directive on platform economy clearly points into the right direction. It is a “nice first serve” to help reset the imbalance of power between platforms and workers.

Aiming to create more legal certainty and homogeneity by presuming that an employment relationship is given under certain circumstances, the directive has also a ‘signal’ effect to the authorities of the Member States, to the platforms themselves, and, of course, to the estimated 5.5 million misclassified platform workers in the EU.

If, in a future directive on the platform economy, we do not deviate from the principle of a legal presumption of an employment relationship and provided that this presumption is not tied to fulfilling so many criteria that it becomes void, we have good chances to see an improvement in the working standards of many platform workers.

In sum, it must be safeguarded that any new directive will ‘bite’, that social security and labour law protection applies (in parts) to all workers, that there is an extensive right to collective bargaining, and – the key to everything when it comes to protection – that effective interest representation and social dialogue are guaranteed.

The active engagement of trade unions is crucial. In this changing landscape, we need strong and adaptable trade unions that will manage to unite workers in new ways of working and give them a voice.

In a recent position paper drafted by CESI’s Working Group on the Future of Work and adopted by CESI’s Presidium, major challenges were identified related to ‘decoupling’ threats with negative impacts stemming from the misuse of contracts, unpaid working time, isolation, and lacking information, consultation and participation, career rights, transparency, and precariousness.

So, it is also our job to ‘recouple’ workers.

And this is why we must modernise our structures and approaches. We must understand the ‘spirit’ of persons involved in the new forms of work, and we must improve our digital tools and become more attractive to young persons and workers. And, above all, we must seize any political, societal, and legislative momentum.

In the coming months, CESI will continue to discuss the role of trade unions in this new world of work.

And your active participation will be more than welcome!

Because all workers count.

The affiliated union participants, professional firefighters from Germany and France, sought to shed light in particular on the growing need for an improved European coordination in natural crisis management and support, as well as on related professional challenges of firefighters in terms of training, equipment, working conditions – and not least recognition of their work.

Through a series of meetings with Members of the European Parliament, members of the cabinets of the European Commissioners for the Green Deal (Frans Timmermans), the Environment (Virginijus Sinkevičius) and Crisis Management (Janez Lenarčič) as well as the Director of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), they outlined the daily challenges that firefighters and rescue service staff are confronted with: insufficient and outdated equipment, dissatisfying working conditions, high exposure to risks, and increasing needs for cross border cooperation and support.

In an exchange with Pierre Joassart, the legal representative of Rudy Matzak in the famous ‘Matzak’ case on the classification of on-call time as working time, recent EU and national rulings on the constitution of working time and their impacts on firefighters were given detailed and precise examination.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Wildfires in the EU are increasing in scope, frequency, and intensity. For 2022, statistics show a 30% increase in the burnt area over the previous worst year recorded, 2017, and a more than 170% increase over the average burnt area since EU-level recording started in 2006. Despite being tasked with fundamental emergencies, lifesaving and protection duties, firefighters face hardest working conditions, 24-hour shifts and poor remuneration. In the aftermath of the record-breaking forest fire year 2022, our message is clear: We need more investments in firefighting, more cross border cooperation, and more EU. And we need fair and decent employment and working conditions.”

He added: “Most shockingly, firefighters are increasingly victims of harassment and violence during crisis and rescue operations. We need more awareness, more recognition, more valorisation in society about the life-saving and helping role that firefighers have and the instrumental service they bring to all citizens and the environment. Where necessary, we also need to step up efforts to protect firefighters better from assaults. The experiences, demands, interests and safety of firefighters must be at the core of any measure aiming at improving and strengthening civil protection schemes. And although firefighting is above all a national competence, more coordination, cooperation and support at EU level is also required – not least due to the catastrophic trans-national impacts of climate change on response needs.”

In a common statement, the participants strongly condemned the increase of harassment and violence against firefighters. The full statement is available here.

The mandate, as adopted by the plenary, further strengthens the European Commission’s initial proposal for a directive from December 2021. Improving the working conditions of persons working in the platform economy has been a top priority for the European Parliament since early 2021 when it adopted an own-initiative report on the topic.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We need an economy that works for the people, not the other way around. Those in platforms in need of protection must also benefit from labour law and social security. Following the proposal for a directive of the European Commission, today’s positive vote of the Parliament on a strong mandate to enter into interinstitutional negotiations is a further step in the right direction. The text seeks to ensure that those in de facto standard employment relationships in platforms will also be legally classified in this way.”

He added: “Many platforms refuse to acknowledge de facto dependent platform workers as employees and, therefore, as eligible to benefit from labour law and social security. This will no longer be possible if the report is turned in a directive.”

Klaus Heeger concluded: “We hope that the mandate of the European Parliament will increase the pressure on the Council to also adopt, as soon as possible, an ambitious general approach, so that a strong new directive will soon become reality. As new forms of employment evole and fragmentise at increasing speeds, framework conditions and the rules of the game for decent work must be clear from the start in every economic sector – and in the platform economy we are already late.”

CESI, the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, brings together more than 40 national trade union organisations from across Europe, with a total of more than 5 million affiliates. CESI represents the interest predominately of civil servants and personnel in the different fields of local, regional, national and European administrations and public services. UFE, the Union of Finance Personnel in Europe, represents the interests of national tax and customs administration unions at the European level, uniting more than 400.000 affiliates from over 20 European countries.

In their joint statement, both note that a lack of a common corporate tax system in the EU is a burden for both multinational companies and Member States’ tax administrations. More specifically, they stress:

• The existence of different tax systems and a lack of interfaces renders administrative cooperation between Member States difficult. In addition, declarations of cross-border companies are subject to a higher susceptibility to error if they are submitted under different tax systems. Currently, this ties personnel and resources – which are finite, especially in times of a progressive shortages of skilled workers.This problem could be effectively tackled with a uniform or harmonised corporate tax system within the EU.
• Limiting a new corporate tax system exclusively to multinational enterprises (MNEs) with a consolidated turnover of EUR 750 million, as envisaged by policy-makers, would not lead to a desired standardisation and thus to simplification, as too many companies would be left out to bring about a real change. Rather, this limit is arbitrary and susceptible to fraud. A holistic approach is therefore needed, including both large enterprises and transnational small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
• To date, International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) have been used to calculate a common tax base. However, the disclosures made by companies in this way are of different quality, which is not least due to the complexity of the IFRSs (frequent changes and increasing disclosure requirements). By contrast, uniform EU minimum corporate tax standards can effectively help avoid tax competition. Although the establishment of such a system would mean an additional one-off increase in administration burden, it would bring about a harmonisation of national laws and thus ensure greater tax justice. An example of a successful implementation of European standards is the EU’s VAT Directive of 2006.
• The main objective of BEFIT must be to reduce compliance and administrative costs for both taxpayers and Member States. To this end, improved cooperation between relevant authorities is urgently needed. On the one hand, this can be achieved by harmonising corporate tax systems, but on the other hand, common interfaces are needed to improve administrative cooperation. Only in this way can data and circumstances be swiftly, effectively and efficiently checked.The establishment and maintenance of common interfaces for administrative cooperation should take place at the EU level. This requires uniform standards, financial resources and personnel.

The full statement, as submitted in the context of the European Commission’s consultation, is available here.

According to a Communication published earlier today, the European Commission plans, most notably:

• to further foster regular cross-sector tripartite exchanges with the Council of Ministers’ consultative Employment Committee (EMCO) and Social Protection Committee (SPC).
• to expand EU cross-sector Social Dialogue Committee meetings on labour market-relevant topics such as skills shortages or just transitions.
• to specifically consult cross-sector social partners on their policy priorities before the European Commission’s annual work programmes are being drawn up.
• to concentrate mandatory policy consultations prescribed by the EU Treaties even more in cross-sector social partner structures, at the expense of independent sectoral social partners.
• provide further funding “to improve awareness of EU policies and labour market institutions” among social partner member organisations.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger noted: “The European cross-sector social partners and their national members are already supported and consulted in almost countless fora, including the European Semester, the Triparte Social Summits, the Macroeconomic Dialogue and so-called Dedicated Hearings. They are also already heard in the Social Dialogue Committee, EMCO and SPC. Rather than focussing even more on cross-sector social partners, a better inclusion of independent sectoral social partners and their national members could actually bring added value to policy making and social dialogue.”

He added: “We welcome announced plans to review the methodology of representativeness studies, which is in several ways biased towards established, majoritarian social partner organisations and does not give equal scope to further or new actors in economic sectors. A new approach could pave the way to more refined conclusions of studies and ensure that their findings will also be reflected in the composition and representativeness of committees.”

Klaus Heeger concluded: “We appreciate a commitment by the European Commission to help increase the representativeness of sectoral social dialogue committees. The Commission rightly notes that an increased representativeness in a social dialogue committee equals an increased legitimacy of that committee. However, here, as financier and organiser of the European social dialogue, clear moves are required from the side of the European Commission where established sectoral social partners block the entry of other representative union organisations for purely vested interests.”

“Taxes, taxes, taxes – all the rest is bullshit”, Dutch historian Rutger Bregman said in a Davos panel in 2019, when asked for an effective recipe to combat poverty and inequality. And the 2023 Oxfam report “Survival of the Richest”, published on the occasion of the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) today, bemoans that “extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in 25 years”.

The WEF itself, in its 2023 Global Risks Report, concludes that we are facing “a particularly disruptive period in human history. The return to a ‘new normal’ following the COVID-19 pandemic was quickly disrupted by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, ushering in a fresh series of crises in food and energy – triggering problems that decades of progress had sought to solve”.

Yes, the world is on the threshold of a very risky new era. After years of shattering changes, humanity is looking for normality and stability, for stronger safety nets – to overcome difficulties, to tackle transitions, to create more social justice – and not least military safety.

With the motto “Safer, Greener, Freer”, the new Swedish Presidency of the Council of Ministers puts the environment and safety at the core of its priorities for its term during the first half of 2023. Security, competitiveness, green and energy transitions, democratic values and the rule of law will be key policy areas of the EU Presidency for this semester, with the aim to support the EU economic model for long-term sustainable growth.

In the same vein, the work programme of the European Commission for 2023 sets out the next steps towards a sustainable recovery from the recent crises and presents legislative proposals that will allow the EU to implement the Green Deal, enhance its digital transformation, create a more attractive investment environment, strengthen its voice in the world and protect the rule of law and democracy.

In terms of social policy and employment, unfortunately, neither the European Commission nor the Swedish Council Presidency foresee any new major initiative.

As such, CESI has the responsibility to do everything possible to flag the importance of social cohesion and workers’ needs and demands on the top of Europe’s political agenda. For 2023, our focus will lie on the promotion of decent working conditions, safety at work, socially friendly transitions, the skilling of workforces, strong public services, young trade union talents, social public procurement, and not least the defense of what we call ‘freedom’ – something we need to strongly revalue since February 24^th, 2022.

All the best to you, to all of us, for this new challenging year!

The European Commission considers that a new European Disability Card could promote persons with disabilities’ right to free movement and residence across the EU by facilitating the mutual recognition of disability status for card holders within the EU.

CESI welcomes this initiative but notes that where disabled persons move for work to another Member State, the Card should not miss to provide also a seamless provision and continuation of disability-related social benefits of the ‘old’ Member State until the disability recognition process (including the setting of benefits) in the ‘new’ Member State has been completed. CESI Secretary Klaus Heeger said: “Disabled persons should not fear to lose benefits in a transition phase of moving from one to another Member State for work. Having a guaranteed continuation of financial assistance in transition phases might actually encourage disabled persons, including those severely disabled, to make benefits of employment opportunities that the EU single market offers. This would constitute an important step towards equal opportunities for all parts of the population, as laid also out by principle 3 of the European Pillar of Social Rights on equal opportunities.”

Moreover, CESI encourages the European Commission to propose a binding policy tool to introduce a new European Disability Card – a Directive or Regulation rather than a Recommendation. Klaus Heeger stressed: “Practical experience has shown that a non-binding Recommendation would not provide for an adequate and comparable implementation and enforcement mechanism of a new European Disability Card, especially where there is no incentivising EU-funding attached to it.”

CESI full position, issued as part of a consultation by the European Commission on the subject matter, is available here.

The economic crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have impressively (and painfully) demonstrated how decisive a strong European Union is and how public services are needed through a stronger European dimension.

The European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI), an independent confederation of 40 trade union organisations from 20 European countries and 4 European trade union organisations, with a total of more than 5 million individual members, advocates improved employment conditions for workers in Europe and a strong social dimension in the EU. CESI’s particular strength lies in the public sector.

Most of CESI’s affiliates are employed in the fields of healthcare, central, regional and local administration, security and justice, education, training and research, postal services and telecommunications, defence and transportation.

With this action, CESI wants to contribute to raising citizens’ awareness of the role and democratic values of the European Union by engaging with workers in selected countries to foster debates about democratic participation in the European elections 2024. The specific objectives are to build capacity activities and play an active role in the communication around the European elections and in mobilising others to vote taking.

According to a proposal for a decision issued by the European Commission, the European Year of Skills 2023 should give a fresh impetus to lifelong learning and be implemented as a year of awareness-raising and action-setting in cooperation with the European Parliament, Member States, social partners, public and private employment services, chambers of commerce and industry, education and training providers, and workers and companies all together.

CESI welcomes the overall objective of the European Year to promote a mindset of reskilling and upskilling, as outlined in the proposal for a decision, but regrets an exclusive focus on “boosting the competitiveness of European companies, in particular small and medium-sized enterprises”.

Next to the private sector, the public sector, in particular public services and administrations, also face serious and increasing staff and skills shortages and often find themselves unable to compete for skills and talent with the private sector.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Before adopting the proposal, the European Parliament and Council should amend it to bring in a clear skills perspective for the public sector.”

CESI also approves of the horizontal approach taken by the proposal that nobody must be left behind in green-digital transitions and all should benefit from more effective and inclusive investment into training and upskilling, job-to-job transitions and active ageing. CESI particularly welcomes a focus on active labour market policies – which skills policy are a core component of – and an emphasis on a comprehensive implementation of the recent Council Recommendation on Effective Active Support to Employment (EASE).

However, CESI disapproves of singling out, in Article 2(3), an incomplete set of selected vulnerable groups that need a specific focus.

Klaus Heeger added: “The European Parliament and Council should amend the proposal to ensure that the European Year of Skills will not discriminate between groups of vulnerable persons, and span, next to women and NEETs, also to the disabled, migrant workers, older workers and workers from ethnic minorities that often find themselves less able to access and remain in labour markets.”

CESI agrees with the commitment stated in Article 2(2) of the proposal to involve social partners in the shaping, design, roll-out and implementation of the Year of Skills, but regrets that the process leading to the European Commission’s proposal has been ad-hoc, untransparent, unannounced and of top-down nature from policy making.

Klaus Heeger concluded: “Skills shortage has been a long-standing challenge in Europe, and it is disappointing that the Year was announced by European Commission President von der Leyen unexpectedly in September, to be followed by a legislative proposal for the Year by the European Commission only four weeks after. Social partners and other interested stakeholders had no opportunity to prepare for input, ideas and suggestions before the announcement earlier during the year, and in late September and early October time was short to engage meaningfully. Moreover, there was no formal ex-ante consultation process. CESI suggests that future Years should be set in a more timely, inclusive and transparent manner and urges the EU institutions to ensure meaningful and level-playing-field engagement of social partners and other stakeholders in the roll-out of the Year in 2023.”

As part of the European Year of Skills in 2023, CESI pledges to contribute to it in joint social partner activities as well as through own actions that aim to raise awareness about the Year among members and affiliates as well as bring their related interests and issues to the attention of the public and policy makers in particular.

CESI suggests that the European Commission, as initiator and coordinator of the Year, should make dedicated funding available for European social partners to carry out actions under the Year, with transparent and equal access for all recognised social partners, sectoral and horizontal ones alike.

CESI full position the governance and roll-out of the European Year of Skills is available here.

“In the wake of the recent alleged corruption scandal at the heart of the European Union, the Presidium of CESI asks for a better regulation of lobbying and for clear rules that will ensure independence of individuals and organisations.

The so-called ‘Qatar-gate’ should be a wake-up call for all actors involved in EU politics and interest representation.

With full respect to the presumption of innocence and without prejudice to how the scandal will unfold in the coming months, the Presidium of CESI:

• recognises the efforts of the Belgian authorities to enforce the law impartially irrespective of the suspects’ high profile and calls upon Member States to invest in well-functioning control authorities, as well as in their judicial systems, and support their staff to properly carry out their duty and combat corruption;
• calls upon the European Union to establish tighter rules on lobbying and enhance the bodies monitoring transparency of EU politicians and civil servants. CESI supports the creation of an independent oversight body, a so-called EU ethics body, that covers all EU Institutions, and proposes an enhanced role for the European Ombudsman which will give its recommendations binding force. Furthermore, CESI believes that the EU Transparency Register must become a legally binding requirement for anyone wishing to meet with EU decision-makers, including representatives of third countries;
• expresses nevertheless its trust in the Institutions of the European Union and, particularly, the European Parliament, which remains one of the most transparent parliaments in the world;
• highlights the importance of political and financial independence both in terms of politics and trade unionism, particularly in periods when trust levels of citizens and workers are at their lowest. Since its creation in 1990, CESI has been the voice of trade union independence and pluralism in Europe, considering these values as core components of freedom and democracy. Through its work and dedication, CESI has proved that independent unionism can be both effective and rewarding.

CESI and its members are ready to cooperate with the EU and other key stakeholders to create an improved political and legal framework that will guarantee transparency and fairness.”

Full resolution in PDF format

General and specific objectives

The economic crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have impressively (and painfully) demonstrated how decisive a strong European Union is and how public services are needed through a stronger European dimension.

Within the Eurobarometer 96, worrying trends are rising in big and funding members of the European Union: lowest turnout rates in European elections, rise in Euroscepticism, less confidence in the EU, lower trust in the EU Institutions, citizens feeling not well informed about European matters. In the EB96 the trust index for three institutions (European Parliament, European Commission and European Council) has worsened compared to spring 2021.

The proportion of Europeans who believe that things are going in the wrong direction in the European Union outnumbers the proportion with an optimistic view. A majority of Europeans (52%) believe that their voice does not count in the European Union. The view, within the EB96, is that personal interests are taken into account at the level of the European Union remains the minority opinion in the non-euro area countries (47% vs 49%). As regards the euro area, despite a small increase (+2), respondents who believe that their voice counts in the EU remain a minority in this group of countries: 44% who “agree” vs 52% who “disagree”.

CESI wants to contribute to raising citizens’ awareness of the role and democratic values of the European Union by engaging with workers in selected countries to foster debates about democratic participation in the European elections 2024. The specific objectives are to build capacity activities and play an active role in the communication around the European elections and in mobilising others to vote taking also into consideration the trends in the last EB96 survey of winter 2021-2022 commissioned by the European Parliament.

Description of the action

The project will maintain political pluralism and engage with citizens and workers for the upcoming European elections 2024 and develop capacity-building activities mobilising the national networks to vote. The action will deliver:

1) Talks online with MEPs and EP experts

A series of interviews or joint conversations with MEP and/or EP experts shared on social media to inform and engage with the general public in different languages. The topics of the interview/discussion will be on the importance of voting during the European elections 2024, EP’s priorities on employment connected to digital and green transitions, trends emerging within the Eurobarometer and promotion of the together.eu platform.

2) Online trainings of change-makers on EU elections

Two online training sessions of 50 participants/ change-makers to equip with the best knowledge on the latest European trends and opinions, European Parliament communication services for civil society organisations (toghether.eu platform and useful communication tools), techniques to foster debates at local level about democratic participation and mobilising the workers to vote during the European elections 2024.

3) Information and engagement of workers at the national level

16 hybrid events organised at the national level in selected member States with the trained change-makers, workers representatives, youth representatives, affiliates of the trade unions, associated partners and citizens from the selected country.

• The first round of hybrid training events will be organized by CESI Project Team and the change-makers in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain (in EN and national language) for CESI Member Organisations and their affiliates to stress the importance and impact of the European legislation at the national level, address the specific issues that are highlighted in the Eurobarometer for the hosting Country, promote the eu platform, share useful tools developed by the EP DG Comm and mobilise the participants and their networks for the European elections in 2024.

• The second round of online information and engaging events closer to the European elections in 2024, will be organised by CESI Project Team and the change-makers in France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Spain (in EN and national language) and extensively shared on different platforms to maximise the participation and engagement in that country. The topics of the events will mostly concentrate on the mobilisation to go voting, share activities of the community eu and start the national social media campaign. CESI and their affiliates will use this occasion to launch on their traditional media, followed by workers and social media the EP developed communication material and specific infographics targeting the workers.

All the events and additional activities organised by CESI members and change makers will be shared with the together.eu community.

Dear members, partners, and friends,

In different contexts, ’independence‘ has been the buzz word during the pandemic (in terms of domestic vaccine and protective equipment production) and since the beginning of the Russian aggression in Ukraine (in terms of the provision of energy, critical raw materials, food and fuels, and industrial goods).

With the alleged Qatar corruption scandal drawing ever larger circles and shaking in particular the European Parliament, ‘independence’ is a buzz word in a third context: independence in terms of politics and trade unionism.

It is far too early to draw quick and potentially wrong conclusions. However, one lesson can be learned already now: Particularly in moments where trust levels are at their lowest, political and financial independence are tremendously important. And this is what CESI has ever since been standing for.

What saddens me about what some call the “’most serious,’ ‘most shocking,’ ‘most egregious’ corruption scandal to hit Brussels in years” is the fact that it will serve as point of attack for all ‘Brussels bashers’ – until the EU elections 2024 and likely beyond.

Yet it does not do justice to the EU.

As CESI, we have trust in the European institutions, also and especially in the European Parliament. It remains one of the most transparent parliaments in the world – the Qatar scandal does not alter this a bit. The scandal reveals, on the contrary, that transparency prevails, that the rule of law framework functions, and that media are still free.

How different would that have been in authoritarian of pseudo-democratic states…

And in these challenging times we must also recognise the EU´s significant responses to unprecedented challenges.

Three years ago, hardly anyone could have imagined that we would face one of the worst pandemics in human history with millions of victims and dramatic changes in our lives.

Two years ago, we had no idea that rampant inflation would knock on Europe’s door putting workers’ purchasing power at stake and exposing many of them to imminent poverty risks.

And one year ago, who would really have seriously expected that a bloody war would erupt in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood?

Looking back at these years, and despite of all the criticism levelled at the EU and the mistakes made, we must admit that overall, it has delivered results. Strong ones.

It supported Member States in the fight against the pandemic and its consequences; it delivered a multitude of initiatives to bring to life the European Pillar of Social Rights; and it showed that in times of war it can stand firmly – for peace and diplomacy. Because let us not forget: Per definition, the EU is the antithesis of violence and war.

“Faced with the barbarity of Russian power today, the EU is opting for counter-power. For too long, it has been believed that interdependence is the way to peace. But, what is true within the EU does not apply to countries that hold totally different values or un-values. As a result, for us today, security is ultimately more important than cheap energy because life is more important than death, and freedom is worth more than money”, Herman Van Rompuy said at the EPC’s Jubilee Conference in December 2022.

He is right.

And I believe that all of this can also be said, mutatis mutandis, of CESI. With respect, solidarity, passion, and not least our independence, we have maintained strong cohesion and delivered many activities – hopefully also in the best interest of our members.

Reading through CESI’s activity report for 2022, I realise that together we can achieve a lot. Through effective lobbying, intervention, and advocacy and remaining committed to our principle to act independently and in full transparency for the interests of our worker members and affiliates, CESI further enhanced its influence on EU decision-making and strengthened the voice of its members at EU level.

During times of crises, we need light. And I hope that – on a small scale – CESI has proven itself to be one.

On behalf of the entire CESI team, I wish you a healthy and successful 2023.

Merry Christmas!

The Joint Declaration follows the completion of an EU-funded capacity building project of PostEurop, UNI Europa and CESI on ‘Postal Skills and Work Environment in the Digital Era’. The project, which was implemented as part of the European social dialogue on postal services, inquired into the links between digitalising work environments, evolving skills needs and subsequently required re-training measures for specific postal job profiles such as back-office operations, delivery operations and post-offices networks and was recently finalised with the publication of a study on the subject (French version / German version).

In the Joint Declaration, PostEurop, UNI Europa and CESI, as recognised European social partners for postal services, recognise the central importance of training and retraining of postal personnel to accompany evolving digitalisation in the sector, especially against the background of the Covid pandemic which has even speeded up and accelerated already existing digital transitions. They agree that training and re-training along the work careers of staff constitutes a joint effort and joint responsibility of the personnel (unions) and operators (employers), together as social partners in social dialogue.

On behalf of CESI, Manfred Wiedner, President of CESI’s statutory Expert Commission on Post and Telecoms and Chairman of the Austrian FCG-Post union, was present during the signing of the Joint Declaration during the social dialogue plenary meeting in Brussels.

The full text of the joint declaration can be accessed here.

The new Recommendation as well as the Strategy help respond to many of CESI’s health- and care-related demands and claims made since the start of the Covid pandemic.

The Recommendation encourages Member States to recognise, as their national competence, Covid-19 as an occupational disease if contracted by workers in disease prevention,in health and social care, in domiciliary assistance, or (during a pandemic) in other sectors where there is an outbreak and where a risk of infection has been proven.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “I am sure that following the lessons learnt during the pandemic, Member States will swiftly proceed to recognising Covid-19 as an occupational disease. This is especially needed for the healthcare workforce, which is a vital force in our societies and has been especially suffering from and affected by long Covid. These workers need to be given adequate health and safety at work conditions.”

The European Commission’s newly proposed EU Global Health Strategy acknowledges health as a common global good and seeks to position the EU as a global leader in the fields of health and care. It takes stock of the vulnerabilities showcased by the pandemic, sets out a readiness plan for tackling additional health threats in pandemics, and also adresses persisiting inequalities in healthcare. It adopts a ‘health-in-all-policies’ approach and it places the workforce at the forefront. Setting out a ‘one-health-approach’, the strategy is innovative and ambitious by proposing three targets for tackling global health challenges: better health and well-being of people across the life course, strengthened health systems and advanced universal health coverage, and mitigated health threats including through pandemics.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger commented: “CESI is committed to supporting the EU in delivering the European Health Union, the EU Global Strategy and its related recommendations that seek better working conditions for the healthcare workforce, reduce understaffing, and aim at higher pay, sectoral investments and professional valorisation of the personnel.”

CESI Secratary General Klaus Heeger said: “Violence against women and girls is still too prevalent – in the EU and beyond, at work and in private life. It can be physical violence or psychological harassment, it can happen in the real world as well as in online forums. As CESI, we stand firm to condemn violence, which is unacceptable in all its forms, regardless of where or when it happens.”

“As CESI, as a confederation representing numerous public sector trade unions across Europe, we recently concluded a major capacity-building project to end specifically third-party violence at the workplace. As a European sectoral social partner, CESI is signatory party of the European multi-sectoral guideliens to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work and has been involved with eight other European sectoral social partner organisations in a further project on third-party violence. Both projects have shown that this kind of violence is particularly prevalent towards female workers. We need to raise further awareness and support to prevent and manage third-party violence at work, particularly against women.”

“Women can also experience violence or harassment emanating from colleagues or thier management. Many also experience adverse behaviour at home and in private life, as well as in online communities. Beyond activities through social dialogue in the world of work, CESI is therefore a long-standing proponent of a swift accession of the EU to the Istanbul Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence and speedy and successful negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council on the European Commission’s recent proposal for a new EU directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence.”

“As CESI, we condemn persistent violence against women and girls around the world. In many countries around the globe, it is even substantially more widespread than in the EU. As the EU, as Europeans, we need to lead by good example and achieve improved gender equality and reduce violence against women and girls.”

We just concluded the national meeting in Finland under the CESI DiWork project with TVML – Customs Officials Association.

During the meeting we discussed about European strategies, the impact of digitalisation, required competencies, work-life balance and the need of digital tools for customs’ workers in Finland.

More about DiWork – Digitalising public services: Making it work for citizens, business and workers: https://lnkd.in/dFrbQue4

On November 22, after weeks of negotiations and political pressure, the European Commission unveiled a proposal for a measure to limit excessive gas prices. Although the idea to cap prices has divided EU member states for many months, the Commission made the decision to table a formal proposal to establish the first-ever EU-wide cap on gas prices.

Speaking at a press conference, Commissioner for energy Kadri Simson said: ”Until now, we have been missing a tool in our toolbox to address these situations, like the one that we witnessed in August. This is what we are proposing today. This is not a regulatory intervention to set the price on the gas market at an artificially low level. It is a mechanism of last resort to prevent and, if necessary, address episodes of excessively high prices, which are not in line with global price trends.”

If approved by the member states, the so-called ‘market correction mechanism’ will apply to the Dutch TFF, the EU’s main gas trading hub, and will be in place for a year. The gas price cap will be triggered when two conditions are met: first, the gas price exceeds €275 for two weeks, and second, the difference between the TTF price and global LNG price is €58 or more for ten trading days.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We welcome the proposal of the Commission but it is clear that this mechanism is not a silver bullet. And this is because the cap is too high. A price cap at the levels that the Commission is proposing, a cap at 275 euro, is so high that it will probably never kick in. Natural gas prices in Europe closed yesterday at 124.5 euros per megawatt hour. The proposal is indeed a positive signal, but we expect bolder initiatives.”

CESI President Romain Wolff added: “It is indeed difficult to design an effective tool that will not endanger the security of supply and financial stability. A high price cap may be a risk-free intervention in this regard, but I am afraid that nobody can stand buying gas at this expensive price for such a long time. However, we support the Commissions’ proposal. Not because we consider it an adequate measure, but because it is a first step that may pave the way for more efficient solutions.”

During the last five years, socio-economic as well as political, military, and geo-strategic developments have been unexpected both in scope and nature.

When the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) was proclaimed in Gothenburg on November 17 2017, Europe was still recovering from the 2008 fallout of the financial crisis and faced unforeseen migration integration challenges. And while the Porto Social Summit with its presentation of an Action Plan to implement the EPSR took place in the midst of the Covid-pandemic in May 2021, this year, five years after the proclamation of the EPSR, Europe is still in crisis, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation and supply chain bottlenecks that hinder economic development and thus labour markets.

This year, five years after the Gothenburg Summit and one year and a half after the Porto Social Summit, it is time to reflect on what has been achieved and what should still be done to ensure a more inclusive and fairer Europe. The Presidium of CESI highlights:

1. With every crisis, with every new strain to public budgets, the Pillar with its 20 principles tells us what social Europe is and what it should be. No challenge or crisis should divert away from social targets. The Pillar remains the social compass.
2. The management of the challenges and crises that Europe has faced during the last years shows that that determined action creates societies more able to resist to external and internal shocks – where no one should be left behind. The Covid-19 crisisin particular revealed that investments in public services are preventative imperatives to creating resilient and fair societies that will be able to better face sudden and unexpected crisis of unknown scope and nature. Most of the EPSR’s 20 principles cannot be delivered without well-equipped and wellperforming public services – and they need to necessary funding and personnel to this end.
3. Looking back, even if mistakes were made, the EU has not fared too badly in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic – especially when considering the speed at which the pandemic evolved and the various uncertainties that existed. Both the landmark Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the SURE instrument helped preserve employment and continue to cushion socio-economic impacts of the pandemic. Investment-related Instruments like the RRF and SURE, inspired by the principles of the EPSR, should be kept during future crises too.
4. The EU institutions have adopted and tabled significant legislation and initiatives to implement the EPSR at the EU level. This relates above all to the following: i. New directives on work-life balance and on transparent working conditions, a forthcoming ‘women on boards’ directive, and a recent recommendation on access to social protection all represent determined steps to ensure social justice and upwards convergence across the 27 Member States. ii. In particular, the recent new directive on minimum wages is a leap forward to bring adequate minimum wages and foster collective bargaining and, thus, the role of unions and social partners. If implemented and enforced fully, the directive is likely to also translate into higher wages and pay grades beyond minimum wages, hence addressing in-work poverty and social exclusion. iii. Hopefully, a new platform economy directive will bring better employment and working conditions in the platform economy, and a new pay transparency directive will foster equal pay for equal work – in particular for women. If adopted and implemented, a recent proposal of the European Commission on adequate minimum incomes could life large numbers of citizens out of poverty. A swift adoption and implementation of these three files is imperative.
5. Social and employment challenges however remain and are numerous and substantial. Continuing to make the EPSR a reality that achieving the headline targets of its Action Plan requires a sustained and joint commitment and endeavour by the EU institutions, Member States, local authorities, social partners, and civil society. The EPSR is, first and foremost, a political pledge. Delivering on it is a shared political commitment and responsibility towards future generations. It is also CESI’s commitment.
6. The EPSR can only be made more known and successful if all actors are on board. Making the EPSR a reality will benefit not only workers and citizens, but also democracy. Social Europe needs complementary synergies and cooperation between social partners, civil society, the member states and the EU institutions to make every effort to bring – and keep- the EPSR more at the core of the political, legislative, and collective bargaining agendas at both EU and national levels.

Read the full resolution of the Presidium of CESI here.

The meeting focused on the need for more investments in the healthcare workforce, especially in light of ageing and green and digital megatrends which are creating major changes and put pressure on the qualitative health and care service provision.

Klaus Heeger, CESI Secretary-General, set the stage in the post-Covid-19 context and highlighted the vital role healthcare workers play in our societies: “They are the life support of our communities and they should be valued as such through recognition, remuneration, adequate levels of staffing and good working conditions”, he said.

The Conference, which took place in Constance, Germany, was the final step of CESI’s 2-year “DiWork” project. The aim of the project has been to provide the personnel of public services and their representatives with an adequate understanding of how they can benefit from digitalization in terms of work organization and service provision and assess possible risks for working conditions and occupational health and safety.

See the full photo album here.

Together with high-level representatives of the European Institutions, politicians representing the local community of Constance and qualified researchers, CESI tried to give answers to timely questions regarding the future of public services and the suitable approaches regarding the protection of their staff.

On November 9, the European Commission published a Communication setting out orientations for a reformed EU economic governance framework aiming at strengthening debt sustainability while enhancing sustainable and inclusive growth.

The Communication is the product of lengthy discussions and consultations among national governments, the civil society and social partners on how to rebalance Member States’ budgetary discipline and investment-oriented expenditures in the EU’s macroeconomic framework.

The new architecture proposed by the European Commission comprises three components: a revision of the fiscal framework driven by medium-term expenditure, policy coordination between the Commission and Member States to ensure the enforcement of reforms and investments, and a revised procedure on macroeconomic imbalances. The forward-looking approach of the Commission focuses on medium-term objectives and tries to shift from the tight one-size-fits-all rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) to a more inclusive model.

Already more than five years ago, CESI together with Social Platform and Eurodiaconia had made clear that the EU needed a reform of its fiscal and economic governance. In their discussion paper, the 3 organisations proposed the adoption of a more refined, democratic and socially-just approach that allows Member States better to fill much-needed investment gaps (especially in public services and administrations) without being penalised by budgetary deficit rules of the SGP.

In its position of December 2018, CESI proposed again steps for a more democratic, accountable and transparent economic governance structure. In accordance with the European Pillar of Social Rights, CESI stressed the importance of putting social indicators at par with economic priorities and highlighted the need to foster public social investment.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The pandemic made clear that we cannot go back to business as we used to. This week, the European Commission expressed its intention to propose a simpler and more transparent economic governance framework with greater national ownership. We welcome the fact that member states will be able to develop their own economic plans with more flexibility. In view of the austerity-based policy responses to the financial crisis post-2007, the latter approach seems to be in principle preferable to the former. However it will take time to assess the real impact of the new strategy.”

In the same vein, CESI President Romain Wolff highlighted the importance of flexibility in the proposed framework: “During the years before the pandemic, the EU’s economic governance framework has helped indeed to keep budgetary discipline at bay. Unfortunately, though, this happened at the price of investment gaps in public services. Then, to face the Covid fallout, massive public expenditure was evidently necessary and the SGP had to be formally suspended because its inflexible emphasis on the avoidance of public deficits was incompatible with economic, fiscal and political realities. We welcome the efforts of the Commission to push for a transparent, more flexible and yet risk-based EU surveillance framework that is sensitive to both budgetary discipline as well as investment needs. The new framework should be adaptable to the differing socio-economic situations in the various Member States.”

Dear members, friends and partners,

In October, the CESI family met after a long time in the beautiful city of Constance, in Germany, on the occasion of the final conference of our EU co-funded “DiWork” project to exchange on the findings of the project regarding the digitalisation process of public services and its impact on workers.

In our first real in situ event outside Brussels after 3 years, we had the chance to discuss about the risks and benefits of digitalisation for the personnel of public services, share experiences and analyse the role of trade unions in this regard. Together with high-level representatives of the European Institutions, politicians representing the local community of Constance and qualified researchers, we tried to give answers to timely questions regarding the future of public services and the suitable approaches regarding the protection of their staff.

The crises of the past years – the September 11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, the 2010 European debt crisis, the 2015 refugee crisis, the terrorist attacks of 2015 and 2016, the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and now the war in Ukraine with the energy crisis and soaring inflation have demonstrated that countries with efficient public services are more resilient.

Public services are essential to protect and support citizens, our societies and the economy. They determine whether societies and economies are sustainable and competitive. They protect the most vulnerable members of our society and improve citizens’ prosperity and well-being. Public services care, protect and deliver.

Especially during the pandemic, it became clear that well-performing public services require digitalised work organisation and digitalised service provision. Digitalization provides public services with new opportunities to perform changes that have not been possible in the past and helps them meet public expectations and become more efficient and resilient.

Similarly, digitalised work organisation and digitalised service provision require workers and their representatives not only to accept them – but to actively shape and co-design them. Workers and their representatives have the knowledge and experience needed to make digitalisation be beneficial not only for themselves but also for the functioning of the services.

But to do so, the workforce of public services must be skilled, well-equipped, prepared – and, of course, protected. And this is exactly what trade unions and social partners should focus on in this new era. As Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, stated on the conference, “(social) partners are the key ingredient (of the digitalisation process).”

In this frame, CESI should be really proud of its efforts to offer adequate protection to the personnel of public services with the new landmark European social partner agreement on the protection of the workforce in central government administrations in the digital era, which CESI co-negotiated and signed slightly before the conference.

Constance showed us that public services need investments, equipment, and modernisation – and all these elements depend on digitalisation.

This conference may have been the final step of a 2-year journey full of lessons and experiences, but in fact, it marked the beginning of new collective efforts and fights towards stronger, more efficient, sustainable, resilient and well-performing public services.

Already at the European Council meeting on October 20-21, the national leaders had requested the European Commission and the Council to “urgently” lay out “concrete decisions” for (1) voluntary joint purchasing of gas, (2) a “temporary dynamic price corridor on natural gas transactions “to “immediately limit episodes of excessive gas prices”, (3) a temporary EU framework “to cap the price of gas in electricity generation” and (4) increased efforts to save energy, amongst others.

The national ministers, in their meeting of October 25, subsequently discussed a legislative proposal of the European Commission for a Council Regulation on ‘Enhancing solidarity through better coordination of gas purchases, exchanges of gas across borders and reliable price benchmarks’, in addition to a non-paper on by the European Commission on policy options to mitigate the impact of natural gas prices on electricity bills.

Ministers generally welcomed the main principles of the proposal and emphasised the need for swift and coordinated efforts at European level in a spirit of solidarity. In particular, they agreed in principle on an obligation for countries to pool demand for at least 15% of their gas storage filling requirements – in an attempt to have joint gas acquisition with cumulatively more market power at lower prices. However, at the same time, ministers were unable to move substantially forward on price caps and a decoupling of gas and electricity price developments.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “In the EU, compromise is usually an added value and quality assurance in policy-making, and it is clear that joint measures, far-reaching as they are, need time for deliberation and negotiations. In this context, I welcome the steps that the Energy Council has agreed on during its last meeting. It is however clear that prices continue to go up, and citizens, workers and their families feel the burden of their bills every day. It is imperative that the ministers in the Council, in cooperation with the European Commission, convene again urgently and move on to roll out price caps for gas, and to decouple electricity prices from gas prices. The task is certainly complex and technical, but the matter is also imperative to resolve”

As mentioned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in her 2022 State of the Union speech, the EU faces skills shortages and mismatches which need to be addressed in order for the EU economy to remain competitive.

CESI Youth and its members welcome the initiative of the European Commission to address the existing challenges of the labour market by improving the skills system, European-wide.

There is currently an enormous labour shortage in the EU, and this despite a basic availability of labour force: Many young people are in unemployment. Eurofound’s Company Survey shows that already in 2019 70% of responding companies struggled to find candidates with the right profiles despite quite high levels of unemployment and thus a general availability of workforce. A more recent Eurochambres research from 2022, too, found that a main challenge for many EU companies, following the pandemic, is a skills shortage.

This mismatch between large numbers of unemployed persons on the one side and high numbers of open positions on the other can be partially attributed to skills mismatches as a result of digitalisation processes and green transitions which transform and change the labour spectrum, at a rate and with an intensity that is hard to control.

In view of priorities for the 2023 European Year of Skills, CESI Youth notes:

• Interventions to address skills mismatches should start early in life by ensuring skills intelligence, meaning the knowledge on which shortages of skills exist in order for policy makers and the business environment, educators, to act accordingly to the reality. Education and training providers (trade unions included) need to ensure that, based on the real needs of the society, they are ready to adapt their curricula and trainings to the needs of the labour market. Support and guidance in the form of early career counselling should be implemented by educational and training facilities and provided to all children from early school years. More public investments in career guidance in the form of one-stop-shops are needed to provide information on labour market needs together with corresponding educational pathways. Moreover, a focus on the real opportunities provided by VET systems is key for addressing the current labour shortages.
• Empowering individuals to take up training is key to overcome the current crisis on the labour market and to establish a culture of life-long learning. Moreover, consultation mechanisms between education institutions, authorities and companies as well as social actors, including unions and their youth representatives, should be strengthened as this can contribute in the drafting of realistic and effective education-to-work strategies.
• Europe needs accessible and inclusive labour markets and for this reason reskilling and upskilling should be encouraged throughout one’s life but vulnerable groups should be offered special attention and policies since they are experiencing more difficulties in adapting to green and digital transitions.

Dear members, friends and partners,

Inflation in Europe is continuing to soar to record highs. Driven by the energy price spike, rapid increases in the price of basic commodities are putting our living standards at risk. Citizens see their financial security and purchasing power at stake, while low and middle-income households are being exposed to poverty risks.

If it is not dealt with now, inflation will cause irreversible damage to our societies. If no measures are taken to re-balance disposable household incomes, Europe and its citizens will face dramatic consequences for the wealth that they have worked hard for during years of even decades.

To avoid an imminent large social unrest across Europe that continued inflation could bring, we need to determine appropriate mechanisms to protect citizens and support those in need. Now more than ever, Europeans need a strong European Union that will put the people again at the core of its policies – despite all crises around us.

In our recent letter to the Czech Council Presidency, CESI stressed the need for concrete and immediate interventions to bring down energy prices for citizens, workers and their families. In advance of the scheduled extraordinary Council meeting of national energy ministers on September 9, we asked the EU leaders for affordable gas and electricity prices and effective steps to maintain workers’ and citizens’ purchasing power. Unfortunately, one month later, we are still waiting for tangible solutions at the European level.

We continue to demand bold initiatives by all national and EU stakeholders. Together with policy makers and social partners, the European Central Bank should initiate discussions on how it may effectively control inflation without limiting the post-Covid economic recovery and rushing Europe in a renewed recession.

We believe that governments must proceed to targeted relief measures to protect low- and middle-income households and callsfor statutory minimum wage increases that compensate for inflation. Also beyond, middle-income earners should see wage increases to mitigate effects of inflation.

At national level, our members have already launched proceedings to claim salary increases. The dbb in Germany, CSIF in Spain, CNV-Connectief in the Netherlands and CGFP in Luxembourg, for instance, have asked for a meaningful adaptation of the salaries to compensate for the rises in prices and dramatic losses of purchasing power.

However, we know that – even if this is an extremely important first step – salary increases are not enough. To overcome this very worrying acute situation, we need a systemic approach with a mixture of several measures, including targeted tax reductions and lowered VAT-rates on (a determined quantity of basic consumed) gas and electricity, expanded social tariffs on energy bills and caps on the energy prices in general – counter-financed by a solidarity contribution on excess profits of energy companies,. And, of course, we must find ways to work on the energy supply side to ensure our independence from Russian energy and invest in new collaborations and partnerships, and we must invest quickly and considerably in energy efficiency and green energy sources.

Unfortunately, multiple crises over the last years have limited countries’ ability to offer adequate support to their citizens. As Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the IMF, states in this year’s IMF Report, “…high debt and tightening global financial conditions make it even more difficult for governments to support them (citizens). In addition, there is a sharply increased risk of the world fragmenting into geopolitical and economic blocs that could reverse decades of gains in living standards.”

The stakes are high and as the positions, also demands and strategies differ strongly from one member union to another, we can only learn from each other. What is feasible, what is realistic, and what is the least we can do for the affiliates of our members?

I invite all CESI members to participate next month in a timely event on the surging inflation, its impacts on their affiliates and the consequences the unions will take – or have already taken. We will shed light on the results and the expectations of collective bargaining and agreements in the different member states and sectors. And we will search for the effective and efficient ways to protect workers – in one of the most difficult periods for Europe in the postwar world. Stay tuned for the invitation that will follow shortly.

The meeting featured in particular also the presentation of a new project of CESI named “EcoTra – A smooth and fair ecological transition – for workers, with workers”, and, in this context, the expert commission had the pleasure to welcome Deirdre Hodson from the European Commission’s Directorate-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, who presented EU actions amd neasures for learning for green transitions and sustainable development. She noted that a public consultation carried out in 2021 on the subject showed clearly that education and training have a key role to help people understand and take action on environmental sustainability. In this context, CESI affiliates highlighted that education professionals need dedicated time, space and support, as well as suitable teaching material, guidance and training in order to teach appropriately about the climate crisis and environmental sustainability, which includes dealing with eco-anxiety among their students.

CESI Secreatry General Klaus Heeger met the representatives of CONFSAL and CISAL to talk about the challenges of the digital transformation of public services.

Among others, it includes the right to telework, to disconnect, to a better work-life balance, to training, to health and safety, and to data protection.

In particular, it establishes that telework remains voluntary, reversible, and available for every worker – and it makes clear that trade unions and social partners will have a major role to play in the design and the implementation of telework arrangements.

CESI Secretary-General Klaus Heeger said: “Today, we have signed a landmark agreement on digitalisation, which will have or has a direct, visible impact on workers. It is intrinsically logic; it is comprehensive and extensive. It is a direct source of rights for workers in central governments administrations – and it will hopefully extend to other sectors. As such, represents a clear added social value of the European social dialogue. And as such it stands for a clear added social value of the EU.”

The full agreement is available here: SDC CGA Agreement on digitalisation – EN.

Elena Lazarou, Head of Unit at the European Parliament Research Service, presented potential scenarios of the war in Ukraine. In her opinion what the EU is currently witnessing is an escalation of war, but, while efforts for a speedy delivery of the European Defence Union have tremendously increased, peace and/or ceasefire scenarios can be expected..

The urgency to deal with these geo-political changes was highlighted by Fabian Zuleeg, CEO of the European Policy Centre. According to him, the economic instability is creating social tensions, which might bring populist movements to power: “The ‘permacrisis’ will lead to a winter of discontent, which seriously jeopardises the EU’s values and interests.”

MEP Lukas Mandl pointed out the need for European leadership to explain to EU citizens the multiple crisis that it faces, the hardships that people must expect – and the solutions that could be envisaged in return. He deplored a lack of leadership and admonished political leaders to proceed to changes to the European Union’s decision-making mechanisms to make defence and security policy more effective and responsive.

According to Thomas Sohst, President of CESI’s statutory Expert Commission ‘Defence’, the human factor, including social policies, must be addressed when designing and implementing international and EU security policies: “With the ongoing escalation of conflict, the danger of war becomes real for everyone – and so are the needs of those women and men who are called upon to defend our countries in a real case scenario.”

Klaus Heeger, Secretary-General of CESI, emphasised the importance of unity: “Solidarity in times of war will also mean deprivation. We can and will cushion a lot, but not everything. And true leadership must prepare citizens to face hardships. I think most of the citizens are ready for that – because it also means that our values have a price tag.”

CESI continues to place a formalised European Defence Round Table in the heart of the EU’s political agenda, where all stakeholders, including trade unions, are consulted and heard in the making and shaping of security and defence policy. In support of these efforts, CESI’s Expert Commission ‘Defence’ adopted a position paper on the impacts of the war on the EU before this ERDT, as a basis for discussion.

On September 29 the Workers Exchange Programme (WEP) started. The WEP project aims to support investment in young trade union representatives by establishing an Exchange and development programme for future union leaders that will deliver training, shadowing and networking sessions in order to equip them to become well-connected and aware transnational and Europe-oriented union leaders of tomorrow.

The target group consists of 15 English speaking young CESI union representatives who are already active in trade unionism and workers’ representation in their country. They are between 18 and 40years old and come from different Member States of the European Union as well as EU neighbouring countries. They work in different sectors, especially in the different fields of public service delivery.

The project aims at providing them with a solid understanding of EU institutions, the EU legislative process, the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) and its action plan, European social dialogue and the European Semester. Training and information is provided regarding different practices of social dialogue and collective bargaining at national level, youth engagement strategies across Europe and, last but not least, capacity building and communication tools.

The Exchange and Development Programme for Future Union Leaders (WEP) intends to deliver five training, information and exchange modules:

1st WEP training and exchange module with the CESI General Secretariat:

EU institutions, EU legislative processes, EU social dialogue, EPSR

The training session will discuss the role and functioning of the European Institutions, the EU legislative process, the role of social partners at EU level and, last but not least, the EPSR.

The training will explore the effectiveness and interlinkage between European and national level social dialogues. It will address the permeability between EU and national social dialogues with the aim of making EU social dialogue more known, relevant and useful both among, and for, national-level social partners and trade unions.

The training will also focus on concrete impacts and deliverables of the European Pillar of Social Rights and its action plan.

2nd WEP training and exchange module:

European Semester, national social dialogues, collective bargaining models and strategies

The one-day training will be divided into two parts:

The first part shall be devoted to the European Semester (and its new linkage to the Recovery and Resilience Facility) and explore concrete ways to make social objectives, social partnership, collective bargaining coverage and well-performing public services, centrepieces of the Semester (and the national recovery and resilience programmes).

The second part shall focus on national social dialogue models with a comparative view of the history and functioning, as well as of the strengths, outcomes and weaknesses, of social dialogue models in the different EU Member States. Due to different historical, legal, economic and social evolutions, social dialogue in the Member States differs in terms of scope, legal nature, trade union density, collective bargaining coverage, labour dispute resolution etc. Criteria for successful social dialogue models and collective bargaining strategies shall be established, so that future national union leaders can strengthen social dialogue and trade unionism in their own countries.

3rd WEP training and exchange module:

Communication, social media, writing skills

This one-day training will be devoted to communication. Social media trends, communication, not least of all writing skills, shall lead to an optimisation of both external and internal communication (and linkage) between CESI and its member organisations, as well as with key external players. Altogether, the session will aim at establishing a more ‘unified communication network’ so as to enhance both the visibility and assertiveness of CESI and the national members.

4th WEP exchange and shadowing module:

Practical insights and network building at the national trade unions or CESI secretariats

Having equipped the 15 young participants with the necessary basics, the 4th module will provide for an exchange and shadowing of the participants at the national trade union or CESI secretariats for a maximum of 30 working days. The participants shall be given practical insights from the hosting organisations in terms of approaches, experiences and strategies. The participants shall also remain key players of network building within the CESI family, as well as essential intermediaries in identifying further young trade union talents.

5th WEP training and exchange module designed by the young participants:

Lessons learned and recommendations to the senior levels

This final activity aims to provide a well-structured and highly interactive event on how trade unions can adapt to the new challenges.

Specific modules will be designed by the WEP participants based on their experiences and knowledge gained

in the previous modules, namely:

• social partners’ capacity-building;
• effectiveness of EU sectoral social dialogue ;
• involvement of workers’ organisations in the European Semester (and the NRRP);
• collective bargaining strategies;
• communication, writing skills, digital and social media tools – to optimise both external and internal communication (and linkage) between CESI and its member organisations, as well as with key external players;
• promotion of young trade union talents.

The final event shall identify best practices learned during the previous training sessions, discuss avenues for a lasting WEP and, in particular, inspire senior colleagues of the CESI member organisations to be open to change – and especially to young talents.

A visit to the Parlamentarium and the House of European History shall mark the closing point of the project.

The climate neutrality is an ambitious objective that requires a significant commitment from the European Union, but also from the national public and private sectors. In the short and medium period, disruptive implications will affect enterprises, public administrations and workforces across Europe. To undertake the ecological transition does not simply mean “greening” the current system. It means adopting a new economic and social model, and this will have a considerable impact on the future of work and the workforce.

On September 29, CESI expert commission ‘Defense’ took place to exchange under the new EcoTra project. The aim of the project is to ensure that the green transition is socially fair. A just transition should not only apply to private-sector workers but also public sector staff.

CESI President Romain Wolff and SG Klaus Heeger met in Luxembourg the representatives of the Luxembourgish General Confederation of Public Services (CGFP – Confédération Générale de la Fonction Publique ) to talk about the challenges of the digital transformation of public services.

In a statement prepared for a consultation of the European Commission on the topic, CESI expressively supports the initiatve but highlights that:

1. In education, teaching in digital technologies should be further expanded – but curricula for students must not be emptied of subjects that help them become responsible citizens of tomorrow, such as history, politics and ethics. In a world were political apathy is in many places substantial and liberal democracies often increasingly threatened, the formation of socially engaged and responsible, cosmopolitan, open-minded citizenry is crucial.
2. In employment, it is vital that employers – enterprises and public service providers alike – further recognise the importance of digital skills provision for the workforce. Digital skills help employees become more productive and allow them to develop professionally, and they allow companies to successfully manage inevitable digital transitions. It is an investment that pays off. As such, training opportunities in digital skills should be further fostered and encouraged by employers, and the provision of digital skills should take place in principle during paid working time.
3. In both education and employment, up-to-date teaching and training in digital technologies requires well-trained teachers. In particular, successful digital education and training necessitates that teachers are constantly trained and upskilled in relevant digital pedagogy and teaching methods. Face-to-face teaching methods which teachers acquired during their initial formation cannot be mapped one-to-one to new digital contexts. Their effective training and further training is a prerequisite for their ability to successfully teach pupils, students, and workers. Teachers must receive high-quality basic digital training and they must have opportunities to perfect their digital skills during the course of their careers.
4. Furthermore, for digital education to function, the provision of digital equipment for students and schools is just as important to close digital gaps as is the provision of digital equipment for teachers, which should not be neglected. Too often, teachers still have to chip in digital equipment for teaching from their private resources.
5. Moreover, generally, employment and working conditions for teaching must improve in many Member States in order to attract, recruit and retain more talented young persons into this occupational field and to counter widespread teacher shortages. This is especially true for the areas of VET, lifelong learning, and the education of adults. Several Member States still see abusive uses of precarious consecutive fixed-term work contracts for teachers that expire every year during the summer vacation time so that no wages and social security coverage needs to be paid during this time.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Teaching is too often still not a profession that enjoys a high social standing in the eyes of a majority of the population. Its low prestige frustrates the recruiting and retaining teachers in both rich and poor countries. Teaching is a highly valuable profession, and guaranteeing teachers decent salaries and improving their working conditions on all levels of the educational system is of central importance. With regards to this major responsibility, education professionals must enjoy high-quality working conditions. Their work and contribution to society must be adequately valued and recognised, and this notion should also be reflected in the European Commission’s very useful and timely iniative on an improved provision of digital skills and training.”

Full position as PDF

Since the establishment of the Von der Leyen Commission, the green transition has been at the heart of the EU agenda. The green transformation is a process that the European Union needs to accelerate in order to achieve long-term economic growth and “climate neutrality”. This ambitious objective requires a significant commitment from the European Union but also from the national public and private sectors.

In the short and medium period, disruptive implications will affect enterprises, public administrations and workforces across Europe. To undertake the ecological transition does not simply mean “greening” the current system. It means adopting a new economic and social model, and this will have a considerable impact on the future of work and the workforce.

On September 26, CESI launched its first meeting as part of the EcoTra project. The project aims to ensure that the green transition is socially fair. A just transition should not only apply to private-sector workers but also to public-sector staff.

The president of CESI Europe Academy, Marcello Pacifico, welcomed the participants and the importance of enabling a socially fair green transition. The CESI secretary general Klaus Heeger said: “With the support of the EU commission, we will train our members and workers in order to embrace this green transition”.

Today, the largest national trade unions of Belgium, the FGTB, CSC and CGSLB, gather with their affiliates at Place de la Monnaie in Brussels to protest over the government’s insufficient measures to protect citizens and workers from the current tremendous energy crisis and help them maintain their purchasing power.

As CESI highlighted in its recent letter to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the living standards of increasing numbers of citizens across Europe are at acute risk. The unprecedented inflation in the EU and especially the surging energy prices have been hitting citizens and workers hard, leading low- and also middle-income households to poverty or the threat of it. The wealth that people have worked hard for during decades is eaten away in no time.

Against this background, the Belgian trade unions demand affordable energy prices and measures that will enhance the purchasing power of Belgian citizens. Their concrete proposals include an automatic granting of the social tariff on the energy bills, caps on the energy prices, maintenance of lowered VAT on gas and electricity, a ceiling on rents, and an increase in the minimum wage.

However, the latter, in the eyes of the unions, can be only achieved with brave reforms in the national legislation. The ‘Loi de 1996’, a Belgian law on the calculation of wages in the country, provides for a wage increase margin that is no longer adapted to the national and international economic reality. According to the unions, the standard set by the law of ’96 must be indicative and not binding, so that workers are able to regain the freedom to negotiate substantial wage increases when inflation is high.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Against the background of multiple crises and tremendous difficulties for the world of work, bigger wage increase margins are needed. In many European countries, these standards were set many years ago, in periods of prosperity. But today, they don’t reflect our real needs. In our resolution on trade union demands to counter inflation, we made it clear: calls by unions and social partners for statutory minimum wage increases and collective agreements with wage and pension indexations that reflect inflation realities must be taken seriously. Otherwise, we will fail. We will fail as economies and societies at large.”

The report acknowledges and recognises mental health issues that children and adolescents face in Europe post-Covid. Most address this, it

• recognises the importance on in-person interactions facilitates through schools, sports centres and youth clubs and notes that the inclusion of arts, culture, music and sport in the school curriculums prove to lead to healthy learning environments, which encourage mental wellbeing.
• calls for investments for early childhood education and care facilities, cultural and sports activities to improve the educational and psychological development of children and youngsters.
• in particular urges to improve early detection and prevention of phyco-social distress through school psychologists and staff for special educational needs.

As a consequence, it

• calls for adequate and sufficient access to positive educational, cultural, youth and sports experiences to be promoted, despite regional economic disparities between countries.
• emphasises the role of communities, towns and regions could play in making available sufficient funds for educational or sports, cultural institutions. Notably, the report makes reference to the 13% Recovery and Resilience Facility envelope, worth 63 billion EUR, which should go for supporting education and skills, while highlighting that budget allocations should take into account socio-economic and regional disparities.
• stresses the importance of further measures and investments in the support and training of teachers and educators in school-based mental health prevention and management processes.

CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski said: “The European Parliament’s report is a step in the right direction to acknowledge a root cause of major mental distress among many young people. This year, during the European Year of Youth 2022, we should all do our best to address the issue of mental health of the youth immediately. Serious national-wide mental health awareness campaigns and programs should be set in place in order to avoid further deterioration of mental health for youngsters.”

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The European Parliament’s report rightfully brings mental health problems of young people as a result of Covid lockdowns to the political agenda. Following the pandemic and consecutive lockdowns, young people worldwide show increasing signs of mental distress:higher rates of stress, anxiety, depression, eating disorders and isolation. Recent estimates of the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate that 1 in 7 of all young people (10-19 year-olds) experience mental health conditions but that these remain largely unrecognized and untreated. Suicide is the 4th leading cause for death among 15-19 year-olds. For Europe, the European Youth Forum assessed that nearly 2 out of 3 young people may be affected by mental health and wellbeing issues and around half of the young people (48.8%) possibly suffer from either anxiety or depression.”

Rightfully, von der Leyen focused this year’s State of the Union very much on the war in Ukraine, which further necessitates European assistance, help and solidarity.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “The speech was a rhetorical fireworks for solidarity, and it is clear that we need continued solidarity with Ukraine and continued solidarity among ourselves in the EU. But solidarity cannot be just based on words. Rightfully, von der Leyen noted the role and importance of the unprecedented NextGenerationEU to lift Europe out of the Covid crisis. But crises move on and we need more and new solutions.”

He added: “The challenges that we have been facing during the last decade are numerous and have been costly. The war on anti-terrorism, the integration of refugees, climate change mitigation, the Covid pandemic management, now the war on Ukraine and suring inflation coupled with a threat of a new recession. All the time, the state has bailed out and assisted. Public budgets are strained while public services across Europe lack adequate funding. And despite assistance by the welfare state, many workers, citizens and families have suffered financially. Many continue to be in poverty or are at threat of it, despite a number of successful public interventions such as the EU’s SURE instrument during the Covid pandemic.”

“I heard a lot of geopolitics but missed a social rhetoric in the speech. It is time that von der Leyen delivers what she promised: An economy that works for people – not the other way round. This is the baseline for continued solidarity. The European Pillar of Social Rights, a supposed compass and flagship initiative of the EU, was not mentioned at all in her speech. We need fairness and a European Social Deal reflected in all crisis management. The announcement of a new, adjusted EU economic governance framework to allow more necessary investments may be a start.”

“The first test is how the EU and the Member States will deal with soaring energy prices that currently lead to absurd profits of certain actors in the sector at the expense of the people and many industries. The European Commission’s plans to overhaul the regulation of the energy market is correct, and I hope the Member States will follow suit. They should also not miss a de-coupling of gas and electricity prices”, Klaus Heeger concluded.

The European Care Strategy, as presented by the European Commission today, encompasses a summarizing and explanative chapeau communication along with proposals for Council Recommendations on access to affordable high-quality long-term care and a revision of the Barcelona targets early childhood education and care.

It sets out to define new ambitions goals for the sector, namely that by 2030:

• 50% of children below the age of 3 are in early childhood education and care and 96% of children between the age of 3 and the starting age for compulsory primary education are in early childhood education and care.
• long-term care is timely, comprehensive and affordable, allowing a decent standard of living for people with long-term care needs.

In order to improve working conditions and attract more people – especially men – to the care sector, the Strategy moreover encourages Member States to:

• promote collective bargaining and social dialogue with a view to improving wages and working conditions.
• ensure the highest standards of occupational health and safety.
• design continuous education and training for care workers.
• tackle gender stereotypes around care and launch communication campaigns.
• ratify and implement ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers.

As a long-time advocate for better working conditions and valorisation of health and care workers, CESI welcomes this initiative to address existing and rising challenges in the child and long-term care sector in the EU – with a focus on fair working conditions and training for workers in the sector as well as gender equality aspects in this regard, as also demanded previously by CESI.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “We would have welcomed more ambition in the Strategy in terms of investments, funding and staff recruitment and retention. However, in sum, even if they will not be binding, today’s proposed measures are a clear step forward towards a better valorisation of workers in two fundamental pillars of our societies: early childhood education and long-term care. We also positively note a clear gender focus in the Strategy. Working conditions are often inappropriate, and most workers in the sector are women. Enhancing the situation in the sector is therefore also a means to decrease gender inequalites.”

He added: “We appreciate in particular also the European Commission’s recognition of the central role of social dialogue for fair working conditions and pay in the sector. As a European trade union umbrella organisation representing also social service workers from many EU Member States, CESI clearly expects to become a social partner in any new European social dialogue committee for the sector, the creation of which is indicated by the European Commission as part of the Strategy.”

He concluded: “It is now vital that the Strategy and the proposed Recommendations are endorsed, adopted and implemented EU-wide. This is especially important for many rural and peripheral regions in the EU which are lagging behind in terms of early childhood education and long-term care services and which would benefit particulary.”

The climate neutrality is an ambitious objective that requires a significant commitment from the European Union, but also from the national public and private sectors. In the short and medium period, disruptive implications will affect enterprises, public administrations and workforces across Europe. To undertake the ecological transition does not simply mean “greening” the current system. It means adopting a new economic and social model, and this will have a considerable impact on the future of work and the workforce.

The project aims to address the needs of investing in young trade unions representatives by establishing a Workers Exchange Platform (WEP) that will deliver training, shadowing and networking sessions. The target group are 15 young CESI workers’ representatives who are very active in their country, aged between 18 and 35 years old and coming from different Member States of the European Union and neighbouring countries. They work in different sectors but they are mainly employees of the public services.

In the letter, CESI:

• expresses support for and appreciation of the extraordinary Energy Council that will be convening on September 9 with a view to addressing exploding energy prices in Europe.
• highlights that for more than a year, workers and their families across Europe have been hit hard by inflation, which has been driven especially by surging energy prices, that even more and more middle income earners face risks of falling into poverty or have already done so, and that with inflation approaching 10% and no end being in sight, the wealth that employees have worked hard for during decades is eaten away in no time.
• stresses that workers in Europe expect that they are being helped, that effective and immediate steps are being taken to maintain their purchasing power – also by public policy and beyond necessary broader and longer-term monetary action by the European Central Bank, and that, chiefly, public policy responses must include bringing down energy prices.
• expresses a clear expectation that on September 9, the national ministers responsible for energy policy will, under the leadership of hte Czech Council Presidency, not shy away from their responsibility towards their citizens and take bold steps, that they will agree on concrete common lines to decrease gas and electricity prices to affordable levels – and that, after the meeting, there is no way left for different levels of public policy – EU, national, regional and local – to scapegoat each other for not taking action.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Energy prices are soaring and workers demand answers from politics. Different Member States have called for a coordinated EU approach to take measures to decrease them to affordable levels. This extraordinary Council meeting needs to pave the way for effective and immediate responses to the energy crisis by the EU and the Member States.”

Full open letter as PDF

Dear members, friends and partners,

With the beginning of September, the summer comes to an end.

For us at CESI, this summer period gave us the chance to take stock of all the crucial events and developments of this year (and they were quite many!) and evaluate our efforts and initiatives so far.

It was a good opportunity to assess the impacts of the ongoing bloody war in Ukraine and design our strategies for a tough autumn that is approaching. We had time to prepare for the challenges that workers and citizens are expected to face in the coming months: the energy crisis, the surging inflation, and, once again, the pandemic.

Against the background of multiple crises and unprecedented difficulties for the world of work, we tried to keep the voice of workers strong and ensure their effective representation at European level. We all know that it was not easy, but our mutual solidarity and collaboration proved that together we can achieve a lot.

Symbolically, the end of this fruitful semester was marked by one of our major flagship events this year: Our ‘Summer Days’ 2022. Through a series of interactive workshops, keynote speeches, plenary debates, and discussions, this year’s Summer Days provided us with the opportunity to ask ourselves what is at stake for workers and citizens and exchange on the timely challenges of the green and digital transitions.

Together with the Bertelsmann Stiftung and the EUobserver as media partner, we managed to gather a significant number of experts and representatives from think tanks, institutions and trade unions and share our views on the trends that will define our future.

However, for me personally, the biggest success of the event was that it made us finally come together. After two years of mostly online meetings and events, we managed to see each other in the real world and share our experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Indeed, in our work, the human factor is (and should be) the most important aspect of our activity.

For these reasons, I would like to close this period with sharing the best moments of our gathering. With the help of our communication team, we managed to create a collection of pictures and videos with moments that will stay forever.

Please find everything here:

Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-e0HWyWj-X3lbTgEYO0JP50CNxbOeLLw

Pictures: https://photos.app.goo.gl/D9pbrUsrJepUPtHL8

Key conclusions of the event in the EUobserver: https://euobserver.com/stakeholders/155449

And please save the date for our next ‘Summer Days’, which will take place on June 29 and 30 2023.

Slightly before an extremely challenging autumn begins in Europe, I would like to express my gratitude for your support over the past semester. And I wish you strength and commitment for the many challenges ahead of us this upcoming autumn.

As you know, CESI will be present and assist whenever needed.

With kindest regards,

Klaus Heeger

In the resolution, CESI requests:

1. Policy makers and central bankers must change their narrative about inflation. They must acknowledge that it is largely unknown when it will go back to normal by itself and that measures must be taken to bring it back to normal. The ECB, policy makers and social partners should run an open and honest discourse on how the ECB may effectively and swiftly respond to inflationary pressures without choking off the post-Covid economic recovery which has been made possible as a result of its asset purchase programmes in Southern Europe in particular.
2. Calls by unions and social partners for statutory minimum wage increases and collective agreements with wage and pension increases that reflect inflation must be taken seriously and heard by policy makers and employer-counterparts. The expected further economic recovery and profitability of business make wage increases possible. While the causes of inflation are well-known, adjusting wages to them while they last will not cause a wage-price spiral. It is clear that once inflation decreases, wage increases will decrease also. Wages must always reflect the profitability of business (pay checks must increase if firms perform well), the productivity of workers (salaries must increase if staff becomes more productive), and not least inflation (wage developments must reflect price in- and decreases).
3. Governments must take appropriate relief measures to shield low- and middle-income households incomes from inflation. This could include raised general tax credits and further increases in allowances for rent, energy consumption, foodstuffs, health care and societal participation. Punctually, additional flexibility in the EU’s fiscal governance framework may be necessary to enable governments to take action, for instance in the form of a suspended Stability and Growth Pact also in 2023. However, to re-balance public budgets, capital taxes could also be increased and VAT raised for high consumption and luxury products. More generally, tax avoidance and tax evasion by investors and multinational companies still represents a large financial resource which remains as a result of legal and illegal loopholes and which should be tapped.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “Since mid-2021, inflation has been surging in the Euro area, and the rise in inflation that Europe witnesses is unprecedented since decades. Workers, especially in the lower income segments, perceive inflation as a real threat, which has the potential for major social unrest, if it is not dealt with. For workers and their families in Europe, the inflation levels that they have been experiencing are unacceptable if no measures are taken to re-balance their disposable household incomes. Workers must not pay the price of inflation.”

The full resolution is available here.

The 2021 Global Report on Ageism of the World Health Organisation (WHO) shows through well-documented data the barriers that youth faces in accessing employment, health services or political participation due to age-related discrimination. It highlights that ageism -age-related discrimination- is detrimental to all age categories of people and that a life-course approach is preferable when designing and implementing public policies, compared to fragmented, sectoral, short-term policies. If major challenges which concern our societies – such as climate change, economic crises and rising inflation, security threats, and green and digital transitions – are to be addressed, a collective and fair approach is required for all those concerned. Importantly, it must also put the young at the core of our societies as they are the main drivers for generational changes.

Nine months into the current European Year of Youth, few results appear. Youth remains one of the hardest hit groups by the Covid pandemic and the fallout of the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Despite recent mild decreases in youth unemployment rates and a few investments through different EU instruments, progress is lagging behind in terms of the real needs of the young people.

CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski said: “I welcome the EU’s responses of solidarity as reaction to the multiple crises we are facing, among them new legislation on effective and adequate minimum wages and initiatives for minimum income schemes, Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE), ALMA (Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve), the Recovery and Resilience Facility, the Youth Guarantee and Child Guarantee. However, more should be done to further empower the European youth, especially those youngsters coming from the most vulnerable groups of society. This also means a more solid framework for intergenerational solidarity which involves the youth more in collective bargaining, in works councils and in political decision-making.”

Last week, Belarussian power holder Alexander Lukashenko ordered the country’s judiciary to ban free and independent trade unions. This follows arrests of several trade unionists earlier this year in April.

The Presidium of CESI, the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, strongly condemns the prohibition of free and independent trade unionism in Belarus and calls on President Lukashenko to revoke this decision and allow all unions and their leaders and affiliates to operate and work freely and without repression.

Since its creation in 1990, CESI has been the voice of trade union pluralism and the protection of free and independent trade unions in Europe. CESI considers trade union pluralism as a core component of freedom and democracy and views non-discrimination and minority rights as a key to cooperative and solidarity-based societal relations.

Also in the EU and the Member States, trade union pluralism faces obstacle and challenges, and many large union organisations enjoy structural and unjustifiable privileges to the detriment of smaller, free and independent ones.

Both at the EU level and in the Member States, framework conditions must be put in place to ensure that, beyond monolithic single trade union organisations, sufficient space and consideration is given to the voices of non-majoritarian trade union organisations.

Europe must not only condemn Lukashenko’s attack on free and independent unions in Belarus, but also set an example for effective trade union pluralism and inclusive social dialogue itself.

Full statement as PDF

Summertime means holidays for most workers – a time for deserved resting. This is however not the case for many teachers across Europe who experience the end of their work contracts once summer starts. For them the holiday season means economic instability and uncertainty, in some cases even coupled with lack of access to basic social protection rights.

For a long time now has CESI highlighted the often precarious nature of work in the educational sector and the frequent abusive use of repetitive, involuntary, temporary or fixed-term work contracts given to school teachers and other service providers in education which expire at the end of the academic year so that employer saves social security contributions and salaries during the summer holidays. CESI trade union members reporting from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Germany indicate recent increases in the use of involuntary temporary work contracts. Unfortunately there in no pan-European overview or study to underpin this yet.

Since 2008, Europe has witnessed educational austerity and precarious employment contracts becoming increasingly normalised across the education sector in many Member States. And after the Covid pandemic, which was followed by the economic consequences of war in Ukraine, national budget allocations for the educational area are often even less than before. With EU governments priorities focusing on combatting the effects of inflation or putting forward sustainable energy policies, schools are always faced with doing with less and less resources.

For over a decade, in some EU countries teachers have been facing a lack of access to standard forms of employment. This puts a huge burden on how they can perform in their jobs and on the quality of their lives overall. CESI believes that the plethora of insecure jobs in the public education sector should be combatted through adequate investments and highlights the importance of access to social protection for all workers including teachers, of proper and effective interest representation, of inclusive social dialogue and of closing existing legislative loopholes in the EU directives on fixed-term contracts, part-time contracts, and temporary agency work.

CESI Secretary General, Klaus Heeger, said: “Young people are the future of our societies and we should put them at the core of our policies. In order to ensure their prosperous and healthy development we need to invest in the teachers who transmit to our youngsters our best education and our values to become responsible citizens of tomorrow! Without this there can be no good future for the EU.”

Video message from Matthäus Fandrejewski, CESI Youth Representative, explaining the situation of teachers in Germany that face precarious employment.

On July 19 2022 the Hungarian President Katalin Novák signed off a new bill that revises the country’s longstanding KATA tax, in an attempt to bring down abusive false self-employment. However, as the country’s most popular tax option for individual entrepreneurs, its redesign may make it harder especially for many new and young entrepreneurs to jumpstart and run their businesses, writes Róbert Szokolai, affiliate of CESI’s Hungarian member union MKKSz, in a guest commentary for CESI.

KATA refers to Itemized Tax for Small Businesses, which has been the country’s most favourable tax regime for individual entrepreneurs. Its revision will affect roughly 450.000 people using it, including thousands of young people working in the public service. KATA’s preferential tax was set up to help self-employed people, either at the start of their career or with little income, to have a reasonable level of taxation when selling goods and services to private individuals, with little administrative burden. Many hairdressers, electricians, painters and craftsmen fall into this category. According to the new rules, persons that have so far been subject to KATA taxation can no longer work for private individuals anymore, just for companies. Moreover, the level of taxation thresholds under KATA was raised – which means that many self-employed persons or people active in start-ups may hardly make a decent living anymore.

The Hungarian Government claims that changes to the KATA regime were necessary to combat fake self-employment, as many employers seem to have abused the system to hire workers as independent subcontractors under KATA while denying work contracts under registered regular employment. Instead of what the aims are, the abolished KATA will however not only target employers avoiding regular taxation but also impact adversely on actual self-employed persons who will no longer be able to sell their goods and services to individual persons anymore. As such, the revised law may threaten the livelihood of thousands of Hungarian persons, including talented and honest young people, from whom the Hungarian government is taking away their vision for the future. It may leave less opportunities for young people to find work, to make an honest living and become independent.

A regular employment relationship with stable work contracts and paid social contributions and an appropriate level of taxation for both for employers and employees is of course clearly preferable to self-employment. However, in the absence of a real possibility for such long-term arrangements, permanent work contracts, self-employment may be a valid option.

As such, the revision of the KATA law in Hungary may lead to many self-starting individuals to lose their clients and hence mean unemployment – a far worse situation than the present one. Or they may need to take on one or more new clients to make up for losses incurred through higher tax thresholds under KATA. What is worrying too: The bill was made within a mere three days, without social consultations. In the European Year of Youth, legislative steps like the KATA revision that are insensitive to the needs of young entrepreneurs are deplorable.

A better alternative approach would have been to tighten controls by labour inspectorates to detect bogus self-employment rather than making everyone pay for a few free-rides that want to avoid taxation. As unions, we should push for the Hungarian government to reconsider its policy.