Ciett & Eurociett Public Affairs Report

Transcription

1 International Public Affairs Executive Summary ILO: Ciett continues to work towards further ratifications of ILO Convention 181. In this context, a technical assistance workshop will be held in Turin in November OECD: The OECD has published a new economic outlook with a slightly more pessimistic growth forecast, reflecting on the economic and financial turmoil. Top European Public Affairs Priorities Agency Work Directive: The debate on the Agency Work Directive is now moving back to the European Parliament, where the second reading on the Directive will start in September. Eurociett aims at contributing to smooth and uncontroversial second reading. Flexicurity Debate: The European Commission continues to support Member States in the implementation of Flexicurity policies. A follow-up report will be published in October. Further European Public Affairs Priorities In this section, information is provided on the new EU labour force survey, a new Eurociett fact sheet on the restrictions on the free movement of workers from Central and Eastern Europe and some other topics. Ciett & Eurociett PA Network BusinessEurope hosted in July 2008 a seminar on the EU Growth and Jobs Strategy after 2010, called the Post-Lisbon agenda. During the seminar both policy makers and stakeholders have been identifying key priorities for economic and labour market reforms in Europe. ETUC published recently a Memorandum on the French EU Presidency, in which they outline key policy priorities and react to the political agreement reached in Council on the Agency Work Directive. Jackie Morin, head of unit of the European Commission s DG Employment, has changed position and is being replaced by Mr. Tricant. National Public Affairs News In this section, latest information is provided on labour market developments in Chile, China and Spain. Latest Position Papers Eurociett/Uni-Europa Joint Declaration on the Agency Work Directive Ciett Statement to support the End Human Trafficking Campaign PA calendar & events September, 16 th : Eurociett workshop for developing federations / Krakow October 2 nd & 3 rd : Conference Quality of work in Lyon October, 9 th : Conference on the Posting of Workers November, 17 th 19 th : ILO workshop to promote further ratifications of Convention 181 / Turin December 4 th : Eurociett/ Uni-Europa Conference on Vocational Training for agency workers, Brussels New on the intranett In the meeting section of the intranet, you will find latest information on upcoming Ciett & Eurociett meetings, including the workshop to be held in Krakow and the Ciett Annual Conference in San Diego. Contact us Denis Pennel Managing Director Tel denis.pennel@ciett.org Michael Freytag Policy Advisor Tel michael.freytag@ciett.org Frederic Aerden Communications & Economic Affairs Advisor Tel frederic.aerden@ciett.org Ciett & Eurociett Secretariat Avenue du Port 86c Box 302 B Brussels Page 1 of 8

2 International Public Affairs Ciett promotes further ratifications of ILO Convention 181 Jointly with the ILO, Ciett and UNI-Global Union are promoting further ratifications of the ILO Convention 181 on private employment agencies. As foreseen in the Ciett Action Plan, a technical assistance workshop will be held in the ILO training office in Turin, from 17 th to 19 th November The main objectives of this course are: To strengthen national governments understanding of the changing role of private employment agencies around the world To review the measures which need to be taken by governments and private employment agencies themselves to promote their effective functioning in support of decent work. The participants will be provided comprehensive knowledge on private employment agencies so that they are able to share such knowledge in a national context. Targeted audiences for the event are senior policy makers and planning staff of national ministries and governments, officials from other governmental institutions, social partners and non-governmental organisations and managers from private employment agencies who want to learn more about ILO Convention 181. Ciett members from countries that have not yet ratified ILO C181 should get in touch with their national governments in order to promote attendance to the workshop. A leaflet detailing the content of the workshop is available (in French, English and Spanish) at the Secretariat. Deadline for registration is end of September For more info, please contact Mr Mostefa Boudiaf, ILO Programme Manager (m.boudiaf@itcilo.org). In addition, it is worth mentioning that the EU has identified in its renewed Social Agenda the need to promote further ratifications of up-to-date ILO Conventions. In this context, the EU Commission has classified Convention 181 as a recent and important Convention that should be ratified by more countries. For a more detailed assessment of the EU Social Agenda and its interrelation with the ILO, please refer to the specific contribution in the July issue of the Ciett Public Affairs Report (in the European affairs section) or the corresponding European Commission website. OECD interim economic outlook cuts growth forecast In its interim economic outlook published on 2nd September 2008, the OECD has given a more pessimistic economic outlook. According to the analysis published, the financial market turmoil, the subprime crisis in the US and high commodity prices have slowed down global economic growth rapidly. The downturn in the housing markets is still unfolding, while reduced credit supply likely adding pressures. Finally, oil prices have fallen from peaks around middle of the year in respond to slower demand growth and record production from OECD countries. For the Euro-area, the OECD is now forecasting an economic growth of 1.7 %. The full report is available on the OECD website. Page 2 of 8

3 Top European Public Affairs Priorities Agency Work Directive Policy update: Following the political agreement reached in Council on the 10 th of June, the Council will adopt its formal common position on September, 15 th. Thereafter, the Agency Work Directive will be transferred back to the European Parliament for the second reading, which can last for a maximum of three months. Most recent information obtained from Members of Parliament and social partners indicate that the Directive might be adopted without further amendments in Parliament. Such an approach is likely, as the Council Common Position has taken up most of the key demands expressed by the European Parliament in the first reading and as opinion leaders in the Parliament intend to disconnect the debate on the Agency Work Directive from the Working Time Directive, two dossiers which had been linked in a package deal in Council. Eurociett Public Affairs Actions: During the Summer months, the Secretariat has prepared a detailed assessment of the political agreement reached. Based on this assessment, a public affairs strategy for the second reading has been designed: In the second reading of the Agency Work Directive in Parliament, Eurociett will support the current text of the common position. Eurociett is therefore striving for advocating a similar message as our EU social partners. This message will be communicated in a range of meetings with Members of Parliament and complementary press & PR actions. Flexicurity debate Policy update: Until September, the EU Mission for Flexicurity is implementing country visits to EU Member States to explore best-practice examples in the area of Flexicurity and to assist Member States in the implementation of Flexicurity policies based on the eight common principles agreed in December The country visits of the Flexicurity Mission will feed into a follow-up report on Flexicurity, which will be published by the Flexicurity Mission in October. Eurociett Public Affairs Actions and next steps: Based on EU common principles, Eurociett has drafted eight Agency Work Briefings, which illustrate the contribution of the agency work industry to the implementation of each of the principles. These agency work briefings have been finalised in July and sent to the members of the Flexicurity mission. The Briefings can also be used at national level to promote the involvement of the agency work industry in Flexicurity policies. In the coming months, Eurociett will use the Flexicurity mission report to advocate the contribution of agency work to Flexicurity and to shape a better understanding of the role agency work can play in the labour market. Lisbon Strategy and the EU Social Agenda Policy update: Following the publication of the new EU Social Agenda by the European Commission in July (Cf. Ciett & Eurociett Public Affairs Report of July 2008), the debate on future priorities in the field of employment and social affairs has started at European level. In September, Commissioner Spidla has presented the main dimensions of the Social Agenda to the European Parliament, which has started its debate on the social agenda package. Especially socialist MEPs have been calling in this debate for further strengthening the social dimension of European integration and blamed the European Commission for not being concrete and precise enough in its proposals and recommendations. Conservative MEPs called for focusing more on small and medium size enterprises as backbone of economic growth and job Page 3 of 8

4 creation. As next steps, the European Parliament will adopt a preliminary resolution on the social agenda and work afterwards on a report to contribute to the debate on the social affairs priorities for the coming years. Eurociett public affairs actions: The social agenda package has been assessed by the Secretariat and a corresponding position paper will be issued in the coming weeks. In the position paper, Eurociett will illustrate the contribution of agency work to the main dimensions covered in the social agenda, particularly regarding access to the labour market, vocational training and skills development and the support of young and disadvantaged people. EU Sectoral Social Dialogue The EU sectoral social dialogue on temporary agency work currently focuses on the following, key priorities: To implement joint actions with Uni-Europa to ensure a smooth completion of the second reading on the Agency Work Directive in Parliament. To update the 2006 Dublin Foundation report on temporary agency work in Europe. The draft report has been circulated to all Eurociett members for comments and amendments. To implement the study project on vocational training for agency workers. Our research partner IDEA Consult is currently working on the synthesis report and the in-depth case studies, which will then have to be discussed both internally and with Uni-Europa. A Conference will be organised on the 4 th of December. The next meeting of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee will be held on November, 5 th in Brussels. Further European Public Affairs Priorities Eurostat published EU Labour Force Survey 2007 The EU statistical office Eurostat published end of July the Labour Force Survey Key findings of the report are the following: In 2007, million resident persons in the EU27 aged 15 years or more had a job or a business activity. The total employment rate for people aged was 65.4% in 2007, compared with 62.1% in and 64.5% in The employment rate for women was 58.3% in 2007, up from 53.6% in 2000 and 57.3% in 2006, and the rate for older people, i.e. those aged 55-64, was 44.7%, also up from 36.8% in and 43.5% in Denmark (73.2%), Sweden (71.8%), the Netherlands (69.6%) and Finland (68.5%) registered the highest rates of female employment in 2007, while Malta (36.9%), Italy (46.6%) and Greece (47.9%) had the lowest. Finland (4 percentage points), Sweden (5 pp) and Lithuania (6 pp) recorded the lowest differences between male and female employment rates. On the other hand, Malta (37 pp) recorded the greatest difference, followed by Greece (27 pp), Italy (24 pp) and Spain (22 pp). The employment rate for those aged was highest in Sweden (70.0%), Estonia (60.0%) and Denmark (58.6%), and lowest in Malta (28.3%), Poland Page 4 of 8

5 (29.7%) and Luxembourg (32.0%). In 2007, 18.2% of persons in the EU27 in employment worked part time. The highest shares of part-time employment were observed in the Netherlands (46.8%), followed by Germany (26.0%), the United Kingdom (25.5%) and Sweden (25.0%) and the lowest in Bulgaria (1.7%), Slovakia (2.6%), Hungary (4.1%) and the Czech Republic (5.0%). The full text of the labour force survey is available online on the Eurostat website. Overview on the free movement of workers from central and eastern Europe In order to further develop the information available to Eurociett and its members, the Secretariat has drafted a comparative overview on the restrictions applied to the free movement of workers from the Central and Eastern European EU Member States. Based on the EU accession treaties of the enlargements of 2004 and 2007, EU Member States can apply transitional measures that limit and restrict the free movement for workers from central and eastern Europe. This information gathering forms part of a new Eurociett public affairs thematic focus, which aims at gathering information on restrictions to cross-border activities of temporary work agencies. This first comparative overview is available on the combined Ciett & Eurociett intranet. Eurostat projection forecasts pension crisis A new Eurostat forecast indicates that, as of 2015, deaths would outnumber births in the EU, resulting in the fact that by 2060, one in three Europeans will be aged over 65, thus putting high burden on the economic and public finances. With people living longer and persistently low fertility rates across Europe, natural population growth would simply stop as of 2015 and, as of 2035, net migration flows would be insufficient to counterbalance the negative natural change. The report published in August also includes country specific assessments, indicating that the situation would be worst in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia. The demographic evolution would be slightly softened in other countries, including Denmark, Ireland, Cyprus, Luxembourg and the UK, where population growth is likely to be stronger, notability due to higher levels of immigration. Social partners issue joint advice on European Works Councils BusinessEurope, CEEP, UEAPME and ETUC issued a joint advice on the revision of the European Works Council Directive (94/45/EEC). In the joint letter, the social partners are backing a Commission proposal to revise the Directive, while proposing some changes to the content of the Commission text. The joint advice follows a social partners consultation launched by the European Commission in February. The need to revise the Directive has been repeatedly voiced by the trade unions, which have identified problems in the implementation of the Directive. BusinessEurope considers the agreement now signed as a win-win situation, as text signed is as sensible as it can be. All parties involved have expressed the hope that the revised text will be adopted by all 27 Member States in the second half of 2008 under the current, French EU Presidency. More information is available on the BusinessEurope website. Page 5 of 8

6 Ciett & Eurociett Public Affairs Network Business Europe The European, central employers federation BusinessEurope hosted in July 2008 a seminar on the post-2010 Lisbon Agenda, aiming at identifying future key priorities in employment and social affairs. A key focus was laid on approaches to reinforce the EU Strategy for Growth and Jobs, to ensure a better implementation and ownership of the reform agenda at national level. During the seminar, BusinessEurope Secretary General Philippe de Buck underlined that a stronger focus on competitiveness, innovation and skills is needed. ETUC Memorandum to the French EU Council Presidency On 1 September, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) met the French Presidency of the European Union to submit a memorandum. ETUC reiterated that social Europe must stay at the heart of the EU s priorities. In the memorandum, ETUC directly addresses temporary agency work and underlines that The increase in the cross-border mobility of workers and services and the greater potential for abuses and manipulation by agencies and gangmasters makes the adoption of a framework Directive on temporary agency work urgently necessary. It is positive that the deadlock on this issue in the Council is broken and that the vast majority of Member States are now able to ensure that progress is made. ETUC welcomed the agreement reached in the Council on this issue as a good basis for a final agreement with the European Parliament. We are therefore calling on the French Presidency to support this process and ensure the swift adoption of the Directive. Eurociett meeting with the European Business Summit team On 3 rd of September, Eurociett implemented a meeting with the organisers of the European Business Summit. The European Business Summit is a yearly network and public affairs event focusing on key influentials of the European Business Community. The European Business Summit is structured as a two days event involving various sessions and key note speakers. Several of the topics planned for the next European Business Summit Financing, staffing and greening the Economy (26 & 27 March 2008) correspond to the European public affairs priorities of Eurociett, including the topics of skills development and vocational training, work migration. Further information is available online. Senior staff change in DG Employment Jackie Morin, head of unit for the sectoral social dialogue, has changed his position in the European Commission s DG Employment. He has been replaced by Mr. Tricant. Mr. Morin will from now onwards be in charge of social security schemes and the free movement of workers. Page 6 of 8

7 National Public Affairs News Chile: New Bill extends unemployment insurance coverage An unemployment insurance reform in Chile will grant larger access and better compensation for the jobless, even when they resign. Currently, 3.5 million Chileans contribute to the solidarity fund, but only 3% enjoyed it. The new measures introduced are part of a programme to improve social protection. With the reform, the unemployment benefits for workers previously employed on fixed-term contracts will be improved. The right to compensation will be granted after twelve months of contributions, whether they are successive or not, instead of twelve successive months which are required until now. Spain: Government and social partners agreed a joint work programme China: Skilled workforce on downturn & wages on rise End of July, the head of the Spanish government, the secretary general of the trade union federations UGT and CCOO and the employers organisations CEOE and CEPYME signed a declaration to give impetus to the economy, employment, competitiveness and social progress. The intention of the declaration is to extend the social dialogue to new topics and themes, several of which are already highlighted in the declaration: Employment policies, immigration, gender equality, training, collective bargaining and social protection systems. The declaration will provide the overall framework for the social dialogue in the coming year. A follow-up and evaluation commission starts its activities in September. Despite a working population of around 760 million, China will probably encounter recruitment problems of skilled workers in the coming years. At the same time, insufficient job creation and the new labour laws should push up wages. China, which introduced new labour regulations on January 1 st, is beginning to witness the accumulation of worrisome signals in the employment sector. According to the economics institute on population and labour, the abundant offer of cheap labour, in part guarantor of low Chinese wages should stabilize by 2010 and decline by The surplus of 200 million migrants from country areas in the 90 s, has dropped by 50 million in the present decade. While China records an official unemployment rate of 4.3% (a figure which concerns only towns), the urban and industrial areas should offer only 40 million new jobs by 2010, hence a deficit of 10 million jobs. These trends together with the new labour legislation can only push up wage levels which have already increased around 20% since The new regulations, if effectively implemented, strengthen the protection of workers by making compulsory the existence of a written work contract defining more precisely the reasons and procedures for lay-offs or, on other points, obliging the employer to respect the minimum wage level and pay overtime. Page 7 of 8

8 Abbreviations CEEP EU ILO MEP OECD UEAPME European Confederation for Services of General Interest European Union International Labour Organisation Member of the European Parliament Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Page 8 of 8