(25 February 2010) With the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty there are now clear obligations on the European Union to develop a positive agenda for public services and fundamental rights.
EPSU wants to make full use of the new possibilities so that a strong public sector and quality public services can play their role in combating the economic crisis and securing the long-term development of our societies, both within and outside the EU. This means, for example, that public services must feature prominently in the new EU 2020 strategy.
The EPSU public services network will be a key instrument in developing EPSU’s input into the EU public services agenda. The agenda for the kick off meeting of the network that took place on 2 February, was shaped by the position paper adopted by Executive Committee in November 2009 on ‘Services of General Interest after Lisbon’. This sets out the main EPSU demands ‘post’ Lisbon
- SGI protocol to the Lisbon Treaty as ‘benchmark’ or reference point by which to judge EU and national developments regarding public services
- ‘general interest’ statute as way of strengthening the regulatory framework applicable to public services providers - Universal access to public services, as a key demand (and reinforced by wording from the SGI Protocol)
- A European Parliament (EP) intergroup on public services, as a forum to build cross-party political support for quality public services. (The EP intergroup has now been set up.)
Report of the EPSU Public Services Network
Meeting 2 February 2010, Brussels
- Members of the network and all interested affiliates are invited to complete the form below (annex 3 of the meeting report) in order to help EPSU identify and make use of expertise on quality public services.
Please return this form as soon as possible to [email protected] or [email protected].
- Log in to post comments