(Brussels, 9 December 2011) The social partners agreed a joint position on the energy roadmaps 2050 at the plenary meeting in November 2011. The consultations have now finished and the position has been addressed to Commissioners Oettinger and Andor asking them to ensure that the social dimension and just transition are taken into account in the energy road maps which will be published soon.
For the joint position see (...)

The employers and the trade unions for the European gas sector considered their approach to the Commission’s energy road maps 2050. They agreed that a social dimension needs to be included considering employment, skills and qualifications, the role of social dialogue and information and consultation. The just transition principles need to be included. The organisations will now consult their relevant bodies. The position is important as a leaked version of the energy road maps available at (...)

09:30 - 17:00
MCE - Management Centre Europe Rue de l’Aqueduc 118, 1050 Brussels
Simultaneous interpretation has been requested for the following languages: EN/FR/DE/CS/HU
EC invitation and draft agenda

(13 September 2011) The trade union delegation underlined their concerns about the general situation of social dialogue in Europe. In several countries governments allow collective agreements to be opened up, abolish sectoral agreements and weaken trade union representation at the work place, Actions were taking place against such labour code reform in Hungary 12 September. The weakening of the national mechanisms for social dialogue will also impact on the European social dialogue both (...)

(12 April 2011) EU Member States and the European Commission are considering the energy roadmap towards a low carbon society in 2050. The power sector should be decarbonised with CO2 emission cuts of close to 100% in 2050. While the social partners for the European gas sector welcome the longer term targets they are concerned about how governments and Commission see the role of gas. While most scenarios indicate a continuing role, this is not translated in long term investment strategies (...)

(13 January 2011) The European Energy Strategy 2020 includes also perspectives on the developments of the gas sector. To consider this the European gas industry social partners organized a work group, A central concern are the neglected effects of the developments on the companies and workers.
A presentation on the future of the gas sector was made by Professor Klaus Homan, CEO of Thyssengas, recently sold by RWE to Macquarie, the Australian private equity company.
He addressed the (...)

(22 November 2010) Netherlands – Energy Delta Institute - Interactive World Gas Map : encompassing key statistics on natural gas reserves, consumption, production, major gas fields, storage capacity etc. per country. The information is updated every year in accordance with the data adjustment introduced on yearly basis by the most renowned sources of statistical information for the energy sector. The Map has been developed by EDI in collaboration with International Gas Union and is now (...)

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(18 November 2010) The social dimension needs to be integrated in the EU’s energy policy was the message of the European social partners of the gas sector to European Commissioner Andor, responsible for employment and social affairs. EPSU’s Deputy General Secretary pointed and that the gas sector is important to ensure Europe’s energy security and assists in making the transition to a low carbon economy. “And we need not only attention to the physical infrastructure. We (...)

(18 November 2010) A representative of DG Energy presented the Commission’s ongoing work such as the energy strategy 2020 and the just published infrastructure package. The Commission representative also introduced the energy work programme 2011 of the Commission (see 12-16 in the annex) which includes initiatives on Energy efficiency and energy savings as well as on Energy roadmaps 2050.
The social dialogue committee raised several issues around the future of the gas industry. How do (...)

(13 September 2010) What is the future direction of the European gas sector and what implications does this have for skills and qualifications and employment. This was the main topic of debate of employers and unions in the gas sector 9 September.
The recent uptake and development of shale gas requires qualifications that are different from those of workers on LNG terminals, and different again from those working on pipelines (transport) and yet again workers dealing with biogas required a (...)