13th FPSEK congress
Presentation at the Federation of Public Services Employees Cyprus 13th Congress, 24 November 2006
Dear friends, I am delighted to be able to speak to you on this occasion of your congress. I would like to thank Michalis and all colleagues.
I would like to talk to you about developments in the European Union. I speak to you at a time when there are serious question marks about the EU’s commitment to social Europe.
Even if we take only this month, there have been hugely significant developments, which illustrate what is at stake.
The services directive or Bolkestein Directive was voted through the European Parliament last week. This proposal is probably one of the most significant single pieces of EU legislation. The final agreed version, as voted through by the MEPs is less threatening than the original proposal by the European Commission. One of our joint successes in the European trade union movement was the removal of health services from the scope of the directive.
The original proposal included health services and other essential services. Unfortunately there are still many public services that are at risk of being adversely effected by this Directive. Question marks still exist over the impact on water, on social services, energy, and of course on national administrations, who will be responsible for the implementation of the directive. However, the clearest sign that the services directive is not the end of the story can be seen in the Parliament where, last Wednesday, the MEPs were debating what the exclusion of health services from the Bolkestein directive means. And debating what action for health services at EU level should be taken.
The Health Commissioner Mr. Kyprianou is therefore in one of the hottest seats in Brussels now. It will be his job to steer the debate on national health care systems through the EU institutions. It will be his biggest task to ensure that the principle of high quality, affordable healthcare available to all, is the absolute rock upon which the response is built.
I trust that you, dear friends, will take every opportunity to remind your Commissioner of his responsibility to frame this debate in this way. This debate should be about ensuring the highest quality of healthcare for all in the European Union, it should not be reduced to the idea of a rich patients ability to shop around the EU for the best healthcare.
EPSU is adamant that we not just sit on the sidelines and criticise. It is for this reason that we have launched a European Wide campaign on public services. The aim of the campaign is to secure an EU law that defines public services as a balance to, and not subject to, the internal market. Allies are many and varied and include the Party of the European Socialists, the Public Service Employers, the European Cities organisation, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the European Green Party.
But the success of this campaign will be based on action taken in the member states. So far we have had over 20 separate events throughout the EU bring national attention to our demands. I am sure that your union will be soon joining that list.
I would like to finish on a positive note and indeed a note of thanks. The Working Time Directive is one of the most important EU debates for Public Service workers. EPSU’s position on the directive is simple. We want the basis of the legislation - health and safety - to be respected, we want those who are obliged to stay in their place of work, while on call, to have that considered as working time. And most importantly we want an end to the situation where an individual worker can opt-out of the directive.
On 7 November the Finnish Presidency tabled an unacceptable proposal, which tried to keep the individual opt-out. The Council of Ministers did not reach agreement. Cyprus was one of the countries that stated that opting out of a law designed to protect health and safety is madness. I personally would like to extend EPSU’s gratitude to your Minister for Labour, Mr. Vassiliou, for saying no to this drastic reduction in worker rights. As a doctor, he is of course aware of the risks of allowing people to work to the point of exhaustion.
That the Cypriot Government saw this issue in these terms is encouraging. In some countries, most notably the UK, it is seen only from an finance point of view and not from the perspective of the law upon which it is based - namely health and safety. So thanks should also go to the Minister of Finance for allowing this to be seen as a health and safety issue.
EPSU is fully confident that, with our collective strength, we can persuade the EU to take our issues seriously. I thank you again for this invitation to speak and I congratulate you for the role that you are playing in promoting our shared agenda of quality public services - quality of life.
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