EPSU public services workshop, 29 January 2008, brief report
The aim of the workshop was to help prepare the first draft of the public services resolution for the EPSU 2009 Congress. Each constituency was invited to nominate two representatives to the meeting.
The attached PowerPoint presentation gives an overview of the day’s discussion. The last slides reflect the points made in the meeting concerning the content of the public services resolution. These are based also on a “tour de table” on challenges and trade union demands at the national level. Key points mentioned here included:
budget constraints
falling pay levels
role of voluntary sector (and link with public procurement)
demographic challenges (e.g. social and healthcare)
liberalisation / privatization scandals (e.g. homecare in the Netherlands)
need for good administration
need for productivity measures to reflect social as well as economic factors
role of public services in local and regional (territorial) development
We had some discussion as to what we mean (or not) by the concept “EU social model”, and with terms such as harmonization, convergence, subsidiarity. How much more “social Europe” do we want? At the same time, however, we also emphasized the need for greater social cohesion in the EU (and beyond); and the need to reduce inequalities within and between countries, not least by strengthening the role that quality public service can play in this task.
In general, participants thought that the public services resolution should:
build on existing EPSU policy (not reinvent the wheel unnecessarily)
Bear in mind complementarily between EU, national and local action and also between ETUC / PSI / ITUC... (e.g. who should do what on climate change)
stress what EPSU (as a whole) wants and aims for in positive terms, rather than criticizing others too much; and show our capacity to improve / change from within
reflect our interest in “sustainable development” being the over-arching EU goal (more relevant than Lisbon strategy)
mirror our campaign slogan “public services - quality of life”
offer perspectives for future work on “anchoring” public service values and principles in EU law and practice (given current impasse on legal framework)
make a clear link with “democracy” and democratic / social values
Participants also stressed the need for overall coherence between the resolutions, and the preference for short and clear texts.
The summary points in the attached PowerPoint presentation will now be written up for the Resolutions’ Committee meeting, together with the “action points”.
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