General Secretary views - new year 2008 and the challenges ahead
I wish you a happy and successful New Year. This circular letter is to give you a brief overview of the challenges to be addressed this year and beyond.
1. EPSU Congress
The EPSU Congress will take place from 8 - 11 June 2009 in the Flagey Centre in 1050 Brussels. A formal call to all affiliates will go out in early May this year. Preparation of Congress contents has already started with a first public services workshop being held on 29 January, where we will have a first discussion on the main orientations to be given to the lead public service resolution. The first meetings of the Constitution Working Group and the Congress Resolution Committee will be on 11 and 12 March respectively (see General Circulars Nos. 15 and 16 (2007) calling for nominations).
2. Major items of the EU and EPSU policy agenda
EU Directive on Cross Border Healthcare
We informed you about the intentions of the European Commission to come out with a proposal on cross border healthcare at the end of last year. Supposedly, such a directive is to legislate the rulings of the European Court of Justice on patient mobility. But the various leaked versions of the draft directive suggested that this directive had the potential to be another ‘Bolkestein’ for health with far reaching consequences for the organisation and funding of national health systems. As a result of concerted public pressure by EPSU, political groups and NGOs, Member States governments, the Commission did not publish its draft directive as foreseen on 20 December. It is at this stage not clear when and in what form the Commission will move forward with this piece of legislation.
EPSU issued a 10 point press briefing in the main risks for universal health care of the draft directive in December (www.epsu.org/a/3458).
EPSU further succeeded to conclude a joint statement on the draft health directive with our social partner in the hospital sector, HOSPEEM, which can be found at www.epsu.org/a/3411.
If published, this draft directive will require the full EPSU lobbying and campaigning effort to prevent major liberalisation drives in health care.
Services of General Interest and Internal Market
The ETUC petition in support of a horizontal legal framework has resulted in over ½ million signatures to date. Crucially, over 10 mayors of European capital cities have supported the objective of the ETUC petition with their signatures to a joint declaration. The ETUC presented the petition to Commission President Barroso on 19 November 2007. The following day, the Commission published yet a further Communication on Services of General Interest as a ‘Companion document to the final report on the single market”. This qualification as ‘companion document’ illustrates very clearly, where the political focus of the Commission lies, i.a. pushing the liberalisation agenda based on the competition and internal market rules of the present European Treaty. The Commission also holds the view that the Protocol to the Lisbon Treaty on Services of General Interest provides sufficient legal clarity for the operation of public services and hence a further general legal instrument is not required. This Commission’s view has been challenged by the ETUC and EPSU, but also by the European Socialist Party, NGO’s and legal experts, who maintain that the revised Treaty provides a much better basis to legislate on public services than is currently the case (the existing Article 16 is strengthened, the new protocol confirms the main principles to be applied as well as the primary competence of Member States, article 36 of the EU Charter of fundamental rights recognises and respects access to services of general economic interest).
This discussion will remain one of the main items on the EPSU agenda in 2008, also in the view of our future policy orientation in the run-up to Congress.
EPSU will endeavour to highlight the importance of public services for the functioning of our societies and for social cohesion with specific examples, such as:
EPSU Prison Action Day
Over 500 trade union activists are expected to assemble in Brussels on 28 February as protest against prison overcrowding and bad working conditions of prison service workers. A majority of prisons in Europe are faced with an overcrowding problem of on average 25 % more detainees than the prisons were designed for. This entails massive strains on the health and safety of staff and detainees, as well as operational and security problems. The basic human right of some 300.000 prison workers to a safe work environment is thus affected. This is also in breach of the Council of Europe’s prison rules, which recognise prisoners’ right to human dignity and privacy. Chronic understaffing in many prisons is another major problem, preventing proper supervision and rehabilitation.
The action day will synchronise European and national action coinciding with the EU Home and Justice Affairs Minister Council. It is to raise aware among the general public and policy makers at national and EU levels (ww.epsu.org/prisons)
EPSU Care Workers Day
On the eve of International Women’s Day, on 7 March, EPSU will organise a seminar for care workers, which is to highlight the poor conditions of service and pay of this predominantly female part of the labour market. This lack of recognition of care workers is in stark contrast to their essential contribution to the economy and to society at large, in terms of child care, home care and elder care.
3rd Package on Liberalisation of the Energy Sector
This package is currently discussed in the European Parliament. The main issues are ownership unbundling, democratic regulation and addressing fuel poverty. Again a major issue for EPSU and its affiliates to lobby Members of the European Parliament.
Collective Bargaining Work
This year we are taking a new initiative in our collective bargaining work with a series of regional meetings organised through a European Commission-funded project. These will begin with an energy sector workshop on 30 January for affiliates from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxemburg and the Netherlands. There will then be three conferences covering all EPSU sectors for regional groupings of EPSU affiliates. The first will take place in London on 3-4 March followed by meetings in Berlin (13-14 May) and Rome (9-10 September).
For more information on meetings and other upcoming events: see EPSU upcoming events
3. EPSU - PSI Europe Merger Process
The Congress of Public Services International (PSI) adopted a statement at its 2007 Congress in Vienna, which authorises the PSI Executive Board to continue the merger process with EPSU on the basis of the documents endorsed by the PSI European Regional Executive Committee and the EPSU Executive Committee, including a revised Cooperation Agreement. Existing structures of PSI Europe and EPSU will be merged during the transition period, which is foreseen to be concluded at the EPSU Congress in 2009.
We can expect the year 2008 to confront us with a multitude of challenges: the working time directive and the temporary agency directive remain without positive solution. The Lisbon Treaty is up for ratification this year. There is ongoing consultation of the revision of the European Works Council Directive. Preparations for the elections of the European Parliament in June 2009 are under way. EPSU will produce a public service checklist for the use of affiliates in their discussions with candidates and political parties.
I am happy to count on your continued support and cooperation,
Yours sincerely,
Carola Fischbach-Pyttel EPSU General Secretary
General Circular being translated into French, German, Russian, Spanish and Swedish
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