France
French unions continue to be frustrated by the attitude of the public services minister Christian Jacob. The latest meeting with the minister on 9 November produced nothing concrete but just the framework for further discussions in December. They accuse the minister of simply using delaying tactics rather than agreeing to proper negotiations over public sector pay.
Read more at > CGT
Public service union Abvakabo reports that a meeting with the home affairs minister was disappointing in terms of the prospects for the negotiations over a new agreement covering the civil service. The minister confirmed that the government would be looking for job cuts and a pay freeze. The union reaffirmed its call for a 2% pay increase and a stop on job cuts. It argued in particular that redundancies would be s short-sighted measure in view of the increasing trend to retirement arising from the ageing public sector workforce. [Read more at > FNV Abvakabo (NL)->http://www.abvakabofnv.nl
Just one month after the Council adopted a black list of countries that qualify as tax havens, the European Parliament revealed that Council discusses the removal of 7 countries from this list.
