Brussels, 27/01/2005
10 SOCIAL TESTS FOR THE LUXEMBOURG PRESIDENCY: {{
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1. Social Agenda 2006-2013: Lay a solid base of the new European social policy agenda for post-2005 and ensure the right balance between legislative and contractual instruments.
2. Services: Make the proposal for a Services Directive acceptable and ensure a strong social dimension for the internal market.
3. Working Time Directive: Put an end to individual opt-outs and safeguard the basic principles of the Directive, i.e. the right to limit working hours, the protection of health and safety, offering both companies and workers flexibility and security.
4. Lisbon Strategy - Mid-Term Review: Ensure steps to meet the Lisbon Objectives, to keep the integrated approach and to launch a review of the Stability and Growth Pact.
5. Gender Equality: Implement gender mainstreaming to all policy fields, and start a genuine process of gender proofing in all stages of policy making.
6. Temporary agency work: Adopt the directive without further delay and make sure that the principle of equal treatment is respected.
7. EWC revision: Accelerate the revision process and embark on the next phase of consultation.
8. Health and Safety at Work: Take initiatives for the adoption of REACH taking account of its consistency with health and safety directives and define a 'duty to care' for all the respective chemicals.
9. Social protection: Promote open method of coordination health and ensure mobility by guaranteeing the portability of supplementary pension rights.
10. Financial perspectives: In light of the limit proposed by the Commission (1.24%) in the financial perspective for the 2007-2013 period, ETUC feels that the 0.41% allocated to cohesion policy is inadequate if the EU is to attain the ambitious goals proposed in the ongoing pursuit of European construction
I. Introduction
The Luxembourg Presidency of the European Council from 1 January to 30 June 2005 is the eleventh Luxembourg Presidency. The matters that will be central to this Presidency will be the EU financial perspectives 2007-2013, the revision at the half-way stage of the Lisbon process, examination of the stability and growth pact and the ratification of the European Constitution, enlargement, working times and the Directive on services.
During the first six months of 2005, the key task will be relaunching the Lisbon strategy, structured around its three pillars - economic, social and environmental. Competitiveness must go hand in hand with sustainable growth, social solidarity and environmental responsibility. ETUC is asking the Presidency to keep a balance between the three pillars.
The Lisbon strategy must also include an ambitious social policy and the Commission must propose a far-reaching agenda. The imbalance of a Commission that encourages liberal ideas (as per the Directive on services) and social breakdown (as per the Working Time Directive) must be offset by a Presidency that takes better account of the social acquis and the social dimension of European integration. ETUC is awaiting a framework directive on services of general interest and has requested a moratorium. The social policy agenda will be a major test for the new Commission. The Presidency has been asked to re-examine the Directive on services in light of the risks of social dumping.
Numerous social objectives feature on the agenda - and ETUC would urge the Presidency to strive towards achieving them. The alternative would be passivity or continuing divisiveness, which would further alienate Europe's citizens, their remoteness being clearly reflected in the low turnout in the latest European elections.
To regain credibility, the European Union must be more attentive to the current and future economic and social concerns and aspirations of workers and citizens alike.
2005 will be a watershed year as regards the ratification of the Constitution. Its entry into force depends on it being ratified in each of the 25 Member States and will be preceded by a series of referenda, the first of which will be held in Spain in February. Given the intense lobbying activities by the Commission (DG Market) for other proposals the absence of significant pressure in favour of the Constitution is scandalous. The European Constitution is a common project and calls for a European communication strategy and a common ratification strategy.
The EU has to create favourable conditions for the ratification of the new European Constitution and for the start of a process, which allows further steps forward. If citizens say ‘yes', then the EU can go ahead. However, the general mood is worse now than at the time when in some countries citizens were called to vote on the Maastricht Treaty. In France, for instance, the traditionally pro-European parties are divided. The “Sovereignists” (De Villiers) and the extreme right (Le Pen) can expect 5 and 15 % respectively. The Communist Party and the extreme left will also campaign against, collecting all together around 30 % or even more. Under these conditions the overall result looks more than uncertain.
Such situation has arisen because of the fears of social dumping, of economic restructuring, high levels of unemployment; and the citizens, in particular working people, expect clear answers to these threats. In a referendum, the draft Constitution will easily become a pretext for political confrontations between governments and opposition because of purely national political circumstances. Many citizens perceive the Constitution as linked to liberalisation & privatisation, longer working hours, pension reform, services directive and other issues.
The general mood has also become worse in most of the new member states in the last period. The population had positive expectations vis-à-vis enlargement, as hopes for a fast convergence and for a better living standard were prevailing. They had to face more belt-tightening at times of dynamic growth and a renewed pressure on wages, which have just started to recover rapidly after periods of wage restraint. The pressure came from the EU, as budget consolidation has become the number one issue in order to fulfil the Maastricht criteria in line with the upcoming accession to the euro zone. Efforts for a forceful introduction of the euro - not respecting growth, employment and social sacrifices in the interim period - led to the fall of three left-wing governments in the region in 2004 (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary). This and the low turnout rates at the EP elections demonstrate the public frustration with Europolitics. Poland is a crucial country among the new member states and a country where a referendum on the Constitution is foreseen. The alarmingly high result of the Eurosceptic nationalists at the EP elections is a bad sign for the prospects of successful referenda.
No single EU institution by itself can steer today's EU forward, but each institution has to strive to set this ambitious process on the right track.
The dreadful tsunami disaster in Southeast Asia must not make us forget the poverty, underdevelopment, famine and war affecting other parts of the world.
II. More and better jobs by putting social Europe at the heart of the mid-term review of the Lisbon strategy
Social Europe and Social Dialogue as a productive force
The Lisbon strategy is about reaching ambitious objectives in the economic, the social and the sustainable development fields through a mutually supportive strategy of innovation and of investment in the knowledge-based society. It is not about wage cuts or competition on the basis of bad working conditions.
The Lisbon mid term review presents an opportunity to restore this basic approach. This opportunity should not be missed. The ETUC urges the Luxembourg Presidency and the Commission to defend and to push forward the balanced approach whereby ‘win-win' situations instead of trade offs between the different Lisbon pillars are identified. The agenda must avoid the road of simple deregulation and pursue a positive agenda based on the participation and the contribution of social dialogue at all levels, including the European Social Dialogue. The ETUC welcomes the fact that the report of the Kok group insists on the importance of involving the social partners, both at the national as well as the European.
The mid term review should also stress the importance of ‘national ownership' of the Lisbon strategy. This can be done by having Member States present an annual ‘single action plan', including national instruments and policy objectives, thereby respecting the balance between the three pillars of the Lisbon strategy. In drawing up the national ‘single action plan', the Social Partners need to be strongly involved. Follow-up of these national action plans should then be done by the Commission and should be openly discussed with national Parliaments and social partners.
If acceptance and ‘ownership' of structural reform policies is to be enhanced, then a radical overhaul of the current policy approach is urgently necessary. For the ETUC, the mid-term review has to acknowledge that social Europe is a powerful force for productivity and growth and that, for the Lisbon goals to be delivered, a massive investment is required in active and positive labour market policies, in life long learning for all, in policies to fight discrimination and gender gaps and that contribute to reconcile working and family life. In this respect social benefit regimes have to be improved and new forms of security have to be developed while maintaining the principles of existing forms of worker's security.
Using the European framework for macro economic policies
Macro-economic demand policies are an indispensable part of an agenda for growth and jobs. For growth and jobs to materialise there needs to be supply side and demand side policies. Structural policies that improve the quantity and quality of labour supply have to go hand in hand with active demand policies that support growth and create jobs. The economic slowdown which has set in since 2001 and from which Europe in 2004/2005 still has enormous difficulty from recovering vividly illustrates the need for Europe to reform its existing regime of macro policy making. Europe can no longer continue to focus its macro economic policies exclusively on stability and leave the responsibility for growth and demand to policy makers in the rest of the world. The Luxembourg Presidency should make this a focal point and, in cooperation with the Commission, work towards clarifying and reviewing the implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact. This would be an important way of boosting confidence. Consumers and producers need to be given a clear signal that there will be no fiscal restriction amid insecure economic circumstances.
{Social Cohesion and financial perspectives
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The legislative proposals for the new architecture of the Structural Funds after 2006 will be developed further during the Luxembourg Presidency. ETUC wishes to emphasise that the strengthening of economic and social cohesion is one of the European Union's prime objectives. ETUC believes that this commitment needs to be shored up in an enlarged Europe and that the Community's Structural Funds must make a significant contribution towards the objectives of the European Strategies for Employment and for Social Cohesion and the reinforcement of the European Social Model.
Furthermore, the social partners' involvement in Structural Fund operations has to be stepped up. In this respect ETUC hopes that the Luxembourg Presidency will insist that future arrangements regarding the Structural Funds will clearly set out the principles of partnership rather than leaving it to national rules and practices. In addition, the social partners must be able to benefit from technical assistance to help them develop the skills of their representatives in the various bodies established to implement the Structural Funds, especially bearing in mind the specific needs of the social partners in the new Member States.
{Sustainable development
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Like Social Europe, the environment is a source of competitive advantage for Europe. Sustainable development policies force the European economy to invest in those sectors for which future world demand will grow most (‘first mover' effect). Sustainable development policies also improve present European competitiveness by economising on expensive energy and materials input.
ETUC and its partners on the Platform of European Social NGOs and the European Environmental Bureau have drawn up in their manifesto “Investing for a sustainable future” specific proposals for active policies on public investment that will benefit employment, the environment and also growth. ETUC expects the Luxembourg Presidency to urge the Commission to take these proposals on board in its report to the European Council in spring 2005.
Industrial Policy
ETUC supports the general orientation on industrial policies based upon the latest Communication from the Commission. In particular, the strong reference to the role of Social Dialogue in industrial policies is welcomed. For an innovative industrial policy, sufficient financial resources are needed. The market by itself is unable to guarantee a sufficient level of investment in research and development and in human capital.
In order to meet the Lisbon objectives, the European industrial policy must be articulated with other policy areas, so that potential synergies between the various Community policies can be achieved. ETUC expects from the Luxembourg Presidency to support the Commission proposal to double the EU's research budget, to increase and use more systematically the structural funds and to establish a ”Structural Adjustment fund”.
While agreeing with the need for better and simplified forms of regulation, ETUC warns against the abuse of new regulatory instruments for the mere purpose of reinforcing deregulation.
{{III. Social Policy Agenda
}}The Future Social Policy Agenda
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}}In ETUC's view, the main issue at stake in the next Social Policy Agenda (SPA) will be to reply to citizens and workers' expectations vis-à-vis Social Europe.
In order to achieve this there are a number of conditions that need to be put in place: (1) the implementation of all pillars of the Lisbon Strategy in an equally balanced way; (2) the elaboration of policies that take into consideration a person's life cycle, ensuring adequate protection; (3) the promotion of more and better jobs; (4) the promotion of social inclusion and anti-poverty policies and measures, fully recognising the diversity of the European workforce; (4) the negotiation of a new social contract building on the values and objectives of the EU.
In the discussions that will lead to the adoption of the next SPA, ETUC expects the Luxembourg Presidency to safeguard the need to promote the concept of quality at all levels, including the content and impact of envisaged policies, processes and instruments in order to promote a better quality of life and of work for all; the mainstreaming of social policies and of gender mainstreaming in all EU policies; the recognition of social partners as key actors in the implementation of the SPA as well as the promotion of collective bargaining and social dialogue at all levels.
{{
}}On what concerns the type of instruments that are needed to implement the necessary actions, ETUC would like to draw the attention of the Luxembourg Presidency to the necessary combination of such instruments (legislation, agreements, Structural Funds, OMC, national and EU budgets and policies...). In the context of an enlarged EU and knowing the current deficits in terms of social policies, ETUC will not accept a SPA that does not take into consideration the need to pursue a European social policy that is also based on legislation where appropriate.
{Working Time Directive
}Long working hours have strong adverse effects on the modernisation of the European labour markets and are against the spirit and the letter of the Lisbon agenda, both on what concerns the promotion of equality and conciliation between work and private life and in respect the need to promote innovation or to modernise work organisation.
In the ETUC's view, what Europe needs is a modern working time policy, one that combines flexibility and productivity for enterprises with security and real choice for workers. The choice to have healthy working hours, a maximum amount of hours per day and/or week that allows workers - male and female - to also take care of their private life, flexibility in the scheduling of working hours to adapt the organisation of working time to their needs.
Various EU-Treaties and Charters commit the EU to promoting a high level of employment and social protection and oblige the EU to a progressive reduction of working time, limiting the maximum working week for every worker. Within the framework of these obligations, the Working Time Directive has been adopted to protect workers against the health and safety hazards of long working hours.
A revised Working Time Directive should provide for a level playing field for all Member States of the EU, in order to prevent unfair and downward competition on the basis of longer working hours, to the detriment of the health and safety of workers, negatively influencing women's participation, productivity and consequently economic growth.
The ETUC is very concerned with the Commission proposals with regard to a revision that will lead to a further weakening of the minimum protection provided by the Directive. The Luxembourg presidency will have the difficult task to build a bridge between these excessive demands, and the more rational approach of the European Parliament, as shown in their report adopted in February 2004 on the matter.
Adequate and balanced solutions must be found for problems that have arisen in some Member States with the implementation of recent ECJ-judgements on the issue of ‘on call working time'. As a result certain Member States are considering to take recourse to the introduction of the ‘individual opt out'. The ETUC is of the strong opinion that the individual opt out cannot and should not be accepted as an adequate instrument to protect the health and safety of workers. But also the proposal of the Commission to declare all ‘inactive time' within the framework of on-call duties to be not working time is not acceptable; while the simplistic extension of reference periods for the calculation of maximum working time to 12 months without any further safeguards may lead to extremely long working hours and very harmful working time patterns.
The ETUC counts on the Luxembourg presidency to advocate a modern working time policy, that takes account of the long term interests of the European economies, labour markets and peoples, and that favours balanced and negotiated solutions to flexibility needs, in which limitation and reduction of working hours go hand in hand with flexibility and security for both enterprises and workers.
{Social Protection
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The Luxembourg Presidency must overcome the reluctance of national governments to become involved in implementing the open method of coordination health and, above all, defining common objectives, three of which are high priority (since they will need to appear in the NAPs): (1) quality of care; (2) (financial and geographical) accessibility; (3) equal access.
This must also succeed in removing these services from the Directive on services in the internal market.
The European Commission has announced a directive on the portability of supplementary pension rights. After years of discussion, a solution to this problem is now urgently needed. The Presidency has a crucial role to play in the Council and therefore in the Member States so that the necessary initiatives are implemented and the required dialogue takes place with the social partners involved, and in particular with ETUC.
{Revision of the EWC Directive
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The European Works Councils are important instruments of the European social pillar; in this respect ETUC shares the opinion voiced by the European Commission during the first stage of consultation on the revision of the EWC Directive, according to which the value of the EWCs was clearly shown. However, some of the limits set out in the Directive must be corrected to enable the EWCs to maximise their potential.
Large-scale restructuring and relocations represent serious threats to workers and contribute to the increased precariousness of employment; this situation makes the revision of the Directive urgent and essential.
The current Directive includes some limitations that must be avoided, for example: (1) The Directive does not explicitly define the contents or means of exercising current information and consultation rights, but companies have to introduce them on time before any decision is made; (2) the implementation of a more closely specified procedure for renegotiating agreements is also urgently required, particularly for the instances where the EWCs are involved in a restructuring process or a merger; (3) the revised Directive must guarantee the right to trade union coordination and support for the EWCs, both in their negotiations and in their general duties.
ETUC expects the Luxembourg Presidency to accelerate the second stage of the consultation process. The revision process must be sped up to enable workers in multinationals in the 25 EU Member States to set up effective information and consultation bodies at European level as quickly as possible.
{Chemicals Policy (REACH)
}ETUC is of the opinion that the Reach proposal is a significant contribution to sustainable development, and that it is in line with the commitment made by the EU and its Member States.
The Luxembourg Presidency must actively continue this work and the impact studies in order to confirm the innovations and requirements required at European level to ensure the transparency and conditions governing workplace health and safety. This is a key challenge facing the European economy, especially the chemicals industry. The aim is to boost the industry's ability to devise modern solutions for its future by developing criteria which are environmentally friendly and socially responsible.
{{IV. Social Dimension of the Internal Market
}}Internal Market for Services
ETUC accepts the idea of a Single European services market, but not at the expense of services of general interest and European and national social standards. Consequently, ETUC cannot support the proposal for the Directive on services in the internal market as presented by the European Commission on 13 January 2004. The proposal would call current collective agreements into question, including those agreed upon at sectoral level, as well as the requirements of current labour codes. It would lead to more 'deregulation' and 'social' insecurity and would be detrimental to services of general interest and health and safety. ETUC is extremely concerned by the impact that applying the 'country of origin principle' could have on the efficacy of control and protection against abuse, particularly in the area of labour law.
This highly complex proposal covers a wide range of subjects and all its potential consequences are extremely difficult to predict. For this reason, a proper and pluralistic assessment of its impact, undertaken in collaboration with the social partners, is needed. ETUC suggests that temporary work and secondment of workers be totally excluded from the scope of the Directive.
ETUC will continue to strive for an acceptable Directive on services and would urge the Luxembourg Presidency to continue analysing the proposal, taking serious account of ETUC's concerns and defending the EU's social dimension.
{{
}}{Mergers and transfer of registered office
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ETUC believes that the compromise on Directive 10, made during the European Council meeting on 25 November 2004, allowed a certain number of problems contained in the Commission's initial proposal to be resolved. Nevertheless, we believe that the formulation of Article 14 is still unsatisfactory, containing proposals that could worsen the regulations and guarantees set out in the Directive on the European Company (2001/86/EC), as regards workers' information and consultation rights.
Improvements are particularly necessary in three areas: (1) Clarification of the choice of setting a threshold of 500 workers, the number that introduces a limitation based on current legislation, which allows a lower threshold to be adopted (Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Sweden and Slovakia); (2) We cannot endorse the decision to set a threshold of 33?% for applying the SE regulations, in which the legislative standard is fixed at 25%. There are no objective reasons that justify increasing this percentage; (3) The Council's proposal makes provision for guarantees to remain valid for three years in the event of successive mergers. We believe that, at national level, guarantees for information and consultation rights will remain valid for three years. In our opinion, this temporary limitation could result in practices that sidestep the standards set by Community legislation.
In the view of ETUC, these modifications are necessary so that a qualitative framework for information and consultation rights can be established which is coherent with the model provided by the SE Directive, and which is valid for legislation currently being developed and for Directives 10 and 14 on the transfer of registered office.