ciett & eurociett public affairs report - bap · etuc/etui conference on labour markets 12 ......

Ciett & Eurociett Public Affairs Report

October 2014 N° 8/2014

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Table of content

International Public Affairs Topics

Ciett speaks at the UNODC meeting of experts on recruitment fees and human trafficking

2

Ciett president visits Latin America 2

Ciett meets with OECD Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs

3

Ciett to speak at the OECD-EC conference on quality jobs 3

Ciett to take part in the 3rd

UN Forum on business and human rights

3

Ciett delegation at ILO Global Dialogue Forum on the incidence of temporary work in the electronics industry

4

Ciett participates in IOE meeting on industrial relations 4

The Way to Work Way to Work Brussels Day with BAP 5

Dutch delegation to come to Brussels in December 5

Eurociett PA Priorities

New European Commission and EP: Commission college endorsed by EP in October. Solid performance of Employment Commissioner Marianne Thyssen

5

Agency Work Directive: Advocate General in the Finnish legal case will deliver his opinion in November / EU Expert Group in December

7

Posting of Workers: Renewed discussions on the Directive, Eurociett participates in EU Committee of Experts

7

Youth Employment: European Youth Employment Summit in Rome in October, Eurociett continues to contribute to Taskforce of the European Policy Centre

8

Europe 2020 Review: Eurociett contributes to EU Stakeholder Consultation

9

Undeclared work: Progress in the discussion in the EU Employment Council

9

Social Dialogue: Joint project with Uni-Europa is progressing 9

Further European Affairs News

New Network of Public Employment Services has been established. First meeting held in September

11

DG Employment published quarterly labour market review 11

Eurociett participates to high-level event on administrative burden reduction

11

ETUC/ETUI Conference on labour markets 12

National Public Affairs News

India: Delhi government regulates recruitment agencies 12

Italy: Renzi wins vote on labour market reforms 12

Belgium: Eurociett and Federgon take action against trade union campaign fighting day-contracts

13

Ciett & Eurociett Positions

Ciett Statement on the world day of decent work

Eurociett Position Paper on the Europe 2020 Strategy Review

Upcoming events

28 October: Eurociett

participation in Taskforce of the European Policy Centre on Youth Employment

31 October: Ciett Northeast Asia Regional meeting in Beijing, China

31 October: Ciett takes part in the consultation of the OHCHR on recruitment practices

18-19 November: Ciett speaks at ILO-UNODC consultation of recruitment practices in Bangkok

Key Achievements

Eurociett and BAP jointly organised a national day in

Brussels, including

an update on European affairs, meetings with Members of the European Parliament, a Commission official and the head of the Brussels office of the German central employers organisation BDA.

The Way to Work

Contact us

In case you have questions on the public affairs report:

Ciett & Eurociett Secretariat Tel. 0032 2 – 421 1586 [email protected] www.ciett.org

http://www.ciett.org/


http://www.eurociett.eu/fileadmin/templates/eurociett/docs/position_papers/2014_Employment_Policy/Eurociett_Position_-_Europe_2020_Review_Oct._2014.pdf

http://www.eurociett.eu/fileadmin/templates/eurociett/docs/position_papers/2014_Employment_Policy/Eurociett_Position_-_Europe_2020_Review_Oct._2014.pdf

mailto:[email protected]



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International Public Affairs

Ciett speaks at the UNODC meeting of experts on recruitment fees and human trafficking

On 22-23 October, Sandro Pettineo (Ciett Policy Advisor) took part in the meeting of experts at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna to discuss the role of recruitment agencies and fees in trafficking in persons.

The meeting gathered around 30 participants including criminal law experts from various countries, representatives of international organisations, such as the IOM, OSCE, HEUNI, employers and workers’ organisations (Ciett and the International Trade Union Confederation), and NGOs.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the role of private employment agencies and charging recruitment fees in trafficking in persons from the criminal justice perspective, with a special focus on the Americas, Europe and Africa.

Ciett mentioned the commitment of its members to non-fee charging and to the other principles in the Ciett code of conduct. Ciett called for the need for appropriate regulation based on the ILO Convention No. 181 as a way to set the ground rules for the operations of private employment agencies and to establish a framework to separate the good agencies from the rogue operators.

Ciett also shared some best practices from its members that ensure that the industry operates with high quality standards. For example, the authorisation system in Sweden; the enforcement of legislation with the SNCU, the CLA police in the Netherlands, and the quality audits in the UK; the grievance mechanism of South Africa, and the Ombudsman in Belgium and Portugal.

Ciett actions and next steps: Ciett will participate in the next round of consultations that will take place on 18-19 November in Bangkok, Thailand. At that meeting of experts UNODC will focus more on the Asian region; Ciett will be represented by Steve Shepherd, Ciett Board Member representing the Southern Asian Region. At the end of this process, UNODC will produce a report together with the ILO where the two organisations will look at human trafficking from both the labour law and criminal justice perspectives.

Ciett president visits Latin America

From 27 October to 4 November, Ciett President Annemarie Muntz is visiting Brazil and Argentina. In a trip through both countries, she will meet with industry leaders as well as with other important stakeholders such as policy makers and trade unions. Since her election as Ciett President in May 2014, Muntz has already visited China, India and now Brazil, underlining the importance of the so called BRICS countries for the employment & recruitment industry.

During her visit, Muntz will be promoting appropriate regulation for the employment & recruitment industry in Brazil and Argentina. This means regulation that promotes workers’ rights, while also allowing employment & recruitment agencies to conduct their business and play their important role on the labour market.

Another important aspect of the visit will be supporting the national federations of both countries (Sindeprestem & FAETT) in their work, and help them align with the Ciett priorities. In Brazil, a designated taskforce was established by Ciett to strengthen advocacy for better regulation of the industry at national level.

In Argentina, the Ciett President is speaking at the IV Latin America and the Caribbean Global Compact Business Forum. She is participating in a panel on labour conditions, discussing supply chains and decent work across all businesses including multinationals and


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SME’s. Joining her at the forum are a number of influential organisations including the ILO, FEMSA LatAm, Group Argos, the Future Institute of Denmark, French Employers’organisation MEDEF, EEB and Ecopetrol. Alvaro Navas, ex-president of the Agro bank of Colombia, will be moderating the discussion.

Ciett meets with OECD Director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs

On Thursday 23 October, a Ciett delegation had a private meeting with the OECD director of Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Stefano Scarpetta. The meeting took place in Brussels. The meeting was an important chance to cement the relationship between Ciett and the OECD. Topics discussed included a general discussion on the changing world of work, and the importance of the annual OECD Employment Outlook. On the occasion of the publication of the latest edition of this employment outlook, Ciett published a critical comment about some elements in the text linking agency work to precarious and non-quality work. During this meeting Scarpetta acknowledged the importance of the employment & recruitment industry, and made an important point about the importance of solid and reliable datasources for the OECD.

Ciett assessment: Ciett will continue to work with the OECD to improve their data gathering on our industry, and to counter any negative image of our industry that may still exist.

Ciett to speak at the OECD-EC conference on quality jobs

On 27-28 November the OECD and the European Commission will organise a joint workshop on “Job Quality, Labour Market Performance and Well-Being”. Ciett Managing Director will be representing the industry and will speak on behalf of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC).

The meeting will attract high-level participants representing all the international organisations dealing with the topic, including the OECD, European Commission, ILO, Eurofound, and the World Bank. Along with international organisations, researchers from various Universities will also be invited to contribute to the discussion with their findings.

Ciett actions and next steps: the workshop is a great opportunity for Ciett to position agency work as quality work as well as to network with key stakeholders working on the topic.

More and more job quality is becoming a priority for policy makers and in fact this workshop is a mid-term milestone of the work of the OECD on the topic. Last September the OECD issued the Employment Outlook with the first part of the project setting out a conceptual framework to measure quality of jobs. The second part of the results will be published next year with the 2015 Employment Outlook. Ciett will continue to monitor the project and will closely work with BIAC and the OECD for a positive outcome.

Ciett to take part in the 3

rd UN

Forum on business and human rights

On 1-3 December a Ciett delegation will participate in the 3rd

UN Forum on business and human rights, taking place in Geneva.

The Forum serves as global platform for stakeholders to take stock of the challenges in implementing the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights and to discuss the way forward.

This year the focus of the forum will be on these areas:

Strengthening multi-stakeholder dialogue and engagement

Discussing national action plans to implement the Guiding Principles

Exploring access to effective remedy


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Identifying current and good practice

Ciett actions and next steps: Ciett has taken part in the previous two UN Fora on business and human rights and will continue to represent the industry this year as well.

At the 3rd

Forum there will be also some discussion on the June vote of the UN Human Rights Council to negotiate a binding treaty on business and human rights. In order to prepare for the event, the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) will be holding a meeting for its delegation on 19 November in Geneva; Ciett will be participating at this IOE preparatory meeting.

Ciett delegation at ILO Global Dialogue Forum on the incidence of temporary work in the electronics industry

A Ciett delegation will take part in an ILO Global Dialogue Forum (GDF) on "the adaptability of companies to deal with fluctuating demands and the incidence of temporary and other forms of employment in electronics”, taking place on 9-11 December in Geneva.

The meeting is organised by the sectoral activities department (SECTOR) and will discuss the reasons for companies to choose temporary work and other forms of employment, and the impact of these forms of employment on enterprises and workers.

The discussion will be supported by examples and cases and will seek to identify solutions that address these impacts. Any resulting recommendations will only be adopted if there is consensus, but no negotiation or formal conclusions will take place.

Ciett actions and next steps: Ciett will take part in the employers’ delegation to respond to potential claims from the unions about negative examples and alleged abuses from our industry. More information on the meeting can be found here.

Ciett participates in IOE meeting on industrial relations

On 6 November, Sandro Pettineo (Ciett Policy Advisor) will participate in the IOE Policy Group meeting on industrial relations, taking place in Geneva.

The meeting will focus on the topic of settlement of labour disputes through mediation and arbitration and will provide a platform for employers to explore challenges and opportunities linked to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.

Ciett actions: this is the second meeting of the IOE industrial relations working group that Ciett is invited to; the first one was back in June at the ILO International Labour Conference addressing the issue of the right to strike in international labour standards. The invitation to a second meeting, even if Ciett is not an IOE member, shows the positive and constructive relationship between the two organisations. Ciett will report on the meeting in the next issue of the PA report.

http://www.ilo.org/sector/activities/sectoral-meetings/WCMS_244154/lang--en/index.htm


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The Way to Work

BAP Brussels Day in October

On the 8th

and 9th

of October, a delegation of 10 BAP representatives from Germany came to Brussels for an update on European affairs and discussions with EU policy makers. Meetings included the Social Affairs Attaché of Germany to the EU, Mr. Michael Sunnus (permanent representation to the EU), two German Members of the European Parliament, Michael Theurer (ALDE) and Sven Schulze (EPP), an EU Commission official (Bertrand Muller-Schleiden/DG Employment) and the head of the Brussels office of the German, central employers organisation BDA (Ms. Antje Gerstein). The discussions focused on the contribution of agency work to well-functioning labour markets and on offering a Way to Work, on appropriate regulation and work mobility under the EU EURES scheme.

ABU is coming to Brussels in December

A delegation of the Dutch private employment services federation ABU will be coming to Brussels on 10

th December for a “Dutch national day”, including meetings with Dutch

members of the European Parliament, a civil servant from DG Employment and the Dutch central employers’ organisation VNO. As for the German national day, these meetings are jointly organised by the Eurociett Secretariat and the national federation of the country concerned.

Further national days planned for 2015

Further national Way to Work days in Brussels are planned for 2015, including a day focusing on Sweden and potentially France. Eurociett member federations who have an interest to come to Brussels for meetings with EU policy makers from their country should contact the Secretariat.

Top European Public Affairs Priorities

New EU Commission and EP

In September and October, the hearings of the new EU Commissioners took place in the European Parliament. Most Commissioner-designates passed these hearings rather smoothly, including the Commissioner-designate for Employment and Social Affairs, Marianne Thyssen. Following the hearing the Slovenian Commissioner designate (Vice-President for Energy Union) has been replaced by Viloleta Bulc, who will now become responsible for transport policy and the former Commissioner candidate for the transport portfolio, Maros Sefcovic, has been assigned to the position of a Vice-President for the energy union. Furthermore, some minor changes to portfolios have been agreed to secure the support of the European Parliament. The new Commission was endorsed by the EP with a broad majority 423 in favour, 209 against and 67 abstentions. The new Commission was thereafter endorsed by the European Council and will be taking office on 1

st of November

2014.


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Commissioner-designate Marianne Thyssen stressed during her hearing that she aims to put a strong focus on reconciling economic and social needs, thus focusing both on the environment for companies to crate jobs and for workers enjoy appropriate protection. Commissioner-designate Thyssen as well as several other Commissioner-designate described this approach with the term of a social market economy.

Along with the appointment of the new European Commission, there will so be a re-organisation of several EU Commission directorate generals taking place. A larger part of the portfolios on skills will be attributed to the DG Employment and Commissioner Thyssen.

Further important EU Commissioners include the Commission Vice-President Jyrki Katainen, in charge of jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue and Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, Enterprises, Entreneurship and SMEs.

The EP has completed its reorganisation phase after the EP elections that took place in May. However, the EP agenda of the past months has been largely dominated by the political discussions on the appointment and election of the new European Commission.

Eurociett Actions and next steps: Eurociett has been very actively taking part in the EU debates on the new Commission and its agenda.

1) Eurociett participated in the hearings of key Commissioners for the private employment services industry.

2) Eurociett published an opinion piece outlining key priorities for the next EU Commission in the area of employment and social affairs.

3) Regular updates on political developments linked to the new Commission have been provided to the Eurociett community (PA Committee, Board and all members).

4) Letters have been drafted to address the new EU Commission.


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Agency Work Directive: Striving for a full implementation

Discussion on the EU Agency Work Directive continue to focus on two main dimensions:

On a political level, the Application Review Report published by the European Commission in March will be subject to discussion in the context of a meeting of the EU Expert Group on temporary agency work, taking place on 10 December 2014. EU Social Partners will be invite to present there views during the afternoon session of that meeting. Besides that meeting, there is currently no significant discussion or political initiative linked to the Directive at EU level.

On a legal/litigation level, the Finnish Agency Work Directive legal case is progressing according to schedule. Following the hearing on the case in September, the Advocate General of the Court of Justice will present its opinion on 20

th of

November. The Court judgement will afterwards be published in January/February 2015. A further, Swedish legal case is still ongoing and currently being progressed at the level of national courts with the intention to obtain a referral to the European Court of Justice.

Eurociett Actions and next steps:

1) A new Eurociett Position Paper on the Directive, using mainly economic and social arguments to fight unjustified restrictions on temporary agency work is currently being drafted by the Secretariat and will be finalised in November.

2) A Eurociett reaction to the opinion of the Advocate General in the Finnish legal case will be prepared and the Eurociett Litigation Taskforce and PA Committee will hold a joint conference call shortly after the publication of the opinion of the Advocate General.

3) A Eurociett delegation (Annemarie Muntz and Michael Freytag) will participate in the EU Expert Group on temporary agency work taking place in December.

Posting of Workers: Renewed discussions on the Directive

In the context of the hearings of the Commissioner-designates, as well as in the context of the election of the Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, several references have been made to the need to review the Posting of Workers Directive in order to fight abuses and unfair competition. At the same time, concrete, legislative action is unlikely as long as the Posting of Workers Enforcement Directive is still in its implementation phase at national level. However, the discussions linked to the posting of workers need to monitored closely and actions are being taken when relevant.

The EU Committee of Experts on the Posting of Workers took place on 20th

of October and addressed three main issues:

- The European Commission gave a very brief update on the recent European Union Court of Justice cases on the Posting of Workers.

- Information was provided on a Call for Proposals launched to finance projects linked to the Posting of Workers. 16 projects have been received, which are currently being assessed by the Commission.

- The main part of the debate was devoted to the implementation of the Posting of Workers Enforcement Directive. The Directive, adopted at EU level in May 2015, needs to be transposed into national law until 18 June 2016. A technical expert group to provide advice on the transposition will be set up. Following corresponding, positive experience linked to the transposition of the Directive on temporary agency work, EU Social Partners might be invited to some expert group


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meetings. In a tour de table, Member States reported on the state of play of the transposition, which is in most countries still in a quite early stage.

Eurociett Actions: Eurociett monitors related debates carefully and participates in the EU Committee of Experts on the Posting of Workers.

During the meeting of the Committee of Experts on the Posting of Workers, which took place on 20th October 2014, Eurociett was represented by Michael Freytag.

Youth Employment Eurociett continues to contribute to the debate at EU level

Youth Employment and access to the labour market for young people continues to be a central topic of the EU employment policy debate. Three main events have taken place in October, which are of interest to the private employment services industry:

1. EU Youth Employment Conference on 7th

October organised by the Italian EU Council Presidency. The meeting in Milan gathered representatives of the EU Member States and cross-industry Social Partners. It served as forum to take stock, exchange best-practices and re-focus efforts at EU and national level. It has been highlighted that many EU Member States continue to face a large youth unemployment challenge, that more action is needed to boost employment, especially by making use of the Youth Guarantee, by shifting taxes away from labour and by overcoming the divide in the labour market between insiders and outsiders. Finally, cyclical factors of unemployment need to be addressed, stepping up structural reforms and driving investment for growth. Eurociett issued a PR statement on the occasion of the Youth Employment Conference.

2. Eurociett acted as speaker at Taskforce Employment of the European Association of Paritarian Institutions. The Taskforce gathered employers’ organisations, representatives of the European Commission, the ILO and public employment services and discussed different aspects of employment and labour markets. Presentations focused on the inclusion of older workers, youth employment, vocational training and work migration. Eurociett Policy Advisor Michael Freytag was invited to give a presentation on Youth Employment Strategies and the contribution of private employment services in fostering youth employment.

3. On 28th

of October, Eurociett (represented by Michael Freytag) participates in a meeting of the Youth Employment Taskforce of the European Policy Centre, a leading, European Think Tank. Eurociett has been contributing to this Taskforce throughout 2014 and at the beginning of 2015 the final report and recommendations of the taskforce will be presented. The meeting of October will focus on young people and Entreneurship.

Eurociett actions and next steps: With regard to all three public affairs developments, Eurociett has taken corresponding PA/PR actions. Following the Youth Employment Conference of the Italian EU Council Presidency, a PR statement has been issued. As mentioned above, Michael Freytag acted as speaker at the Taskforce Employment of the European Association of Paritarian Institutions and participated in the Youth Employment Taskforce of the European Policy Centre.


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Europe 2020 Review: Eurociett contributes to EU Consultation

As the EU Europe 2020 Strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth is reaching the mid of its cycle (it was launched in 2000 and will run until 2010), the European Commission has started a mid-term review of the strategy, which includes as a major element the am to push for labour market reforms in the context of the so-called European Semester and the related country-specific recommendations. The Commission asked stakeholders involved in European affairs whether the targets set by the strategy are still relevant and appropriate, whether the EU Flagship initiatives have shown added value and whether the European Semester exercise is useful.

Eurociett actions and next step: Following the launch of the consultation, the Eurociett Secretariat consulted with members and prepared a Eurociett position paper. The paper, which calls for maintaining the European Semester process, while putting a stronger emphasis on following-up on the country-specific recommendations being put forward, has been endorsed in October and sent to the European Commission. The full text of the Eurociett Position Paper is also available on the Eurociett website.

Prevention and deterrence of undeclared work: Agreement reached at Council level

Discussions on the EU platform on the prevention and deterrence of undeclared work are progressing at EU level. At the level of the EU Council, a general approach (main lines of compromise been EU Member States) has been reached on 16

th October during a meeting of

the Employment and Social Affairs Council meeting. The principle of a mandatory membership of EU Member States is maintained, while a limited number EU Social Partners at cross-industry and sectoral level will have observer seats. The outgoing EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Laszlo Andor, has welcomed this agreement as an important step to move forward in the EU actions to prevent undeclared work.

In the European Parliament, discussions on the platform have been starting with a first hearing held in July in the Employment Committee and the draft report of the rapporteur, Mr. Georgi Pirinski (MEP/S&D/BG) being currently drafted.

Eurociett actions and next steps: Eurociett continues to contribute proactively to the EU debate on the prevention and deterrence of undeclared work. On 26

th September, Eurociett

Policy Advisor Michael Freytag participated in a Conference in Rome and the prevention of fraud, error and undeclared work. The event gathered national experts from the EU and EFTA countries in charge of social security and the prevention of undeclared work.

On 3rd

of November, Eurociett (Michael Freytag and Menno Bart) will meet Georgi Pirinski (MEP / S&D / BG), EP Employment Committee rapporteur on the platform for the prevention and deterrence of undeclared work. Further meetings with Members of the European Parliament will be set up for November and December to contribute to the debate. In the coming months, Eurociett might also organise a Way to Work lunch or breakfast debate on the prevention of undeclared work in the European Parliament.

EU Sectoral Social Dialogue plenary meeting

On 7 October Eurociett and UNI Europa held their plenary meeting of the EU Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee on temporary agency work (SSDC).

On the agenda there were several presentations, including one of the Austrian sectoral social partners about their social dialogue and collective labour agreement on temporary agency work; one from the OECD on the update employment protection legislation index on temporary agency work and one from IDEA Consult regarding the preliminary findings of the joint project.

As part of their recurrent discussion on regulation on temporary agency work and the implementation of the EU Directive, Eurociett and UNI Europa exchanged views on specific cases on restrictions, e.g. open-ended contracts, sectoral bans and maximum length of


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assignments.

Eurociett actions and next steps: Eurociett and UNI Europa will update their work programme for 2015-2016. As part of the new biennium of activities, Eurociett and UNI Europa will apply for a new joint project to look at the initiatives of the sectoral social partners to bridge the gap in social protection and to enable social innovation, e.g. portability of rights, etc. The next meeting of the SSDC will be held in February 2015.

Eurociett and UNI Europa joint project: EU stakeholders meeting

On 6 October, Eurociett and UNI Europa held the EU stakeholders’ meeting in Brussels as part of their new joint project on “comparing temporary agency work with other forms of employment”.

The workshop gathered around 20 EU experts, representing the ILO, Eurofound, Universities, employers, workers and think-thanks to engage in an interactive debate about the preliminary findings of the field research that is currently being conducted by the external consultancy IDEA Consult.

At the meeting, IDEA Consult presented the preliminary results of the research, which provides quantitative and qualitative data on the role of temporary agency work in the labour market in a comparative way, vis à vis other relevant forms of work, such as fixed-term contracts and self-employment.

A panel of Eurociett and UNI Europa members presented on specific topics that will be included as case studies in the final report.

The case studies dealt with a topic with a specific focus on one or more EU Member States. These were:

1. Agency workers under open-ended contracts – Germany; 2. A focus on self-employment – Italy and Spain; 3. A focus on fixed-term contracts – France; 4. Profile and satisfaction of agency workers – Belgium; 5. Social dialogue in temporary agency work – the Netherlands; 6. Stepping-stone function of temporary agency work –Belgium and France.

Eurociett actions and next steps: Gathering EU experts and getting their views in an active forum will be beneficial to the research and will help enrich its content.

After the EU stakeholders’ meeting, IDEA Consult will finalise the research report, under the supervision of Eurociett and UNI Europa, as well as that of the Steering Committee made of 3 members of Eurociett (BE, FR, DE) and 3 of UNI Europa (IT, ES, NL).

Once finalised, the study will be launched at a pan-European conference early next year, which will bring together around 100 participants from several EU Member States. Representatives from the EU institutions, academia, and NGOs will be invited to the conference, as well as journalists from the main European media.

The key findings will feed into the activities of the EU Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee on temporary agency work and will serve as a basis for Eurociett and UNI Europa to issue their joint recommendations.


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Further European Public Affairs Priorities

New Network of Public Employment Services held first meeting

A new European network of public employment services, established under EU law, held its first meeting in September. The network shall foster the exchange of experience and mutual learning between public employment services, while at the same time also working closely together with other labour market stakeholders, such as private employment services. Frank-Jürgen Weise, Chairman of the German Public Employment Service, has been elected as Chair of the new network. A list of members of the network of public employment services is available at the Eurociett Secretariat. Based on information obtained from Brussels source, the first meeting of the network focused mainly on ceremonial and procedural aspects and thus less on current labour market challenges for employment services.

DG Employment published quarterly labour market review

The economic recovery which started in the spring of 2013 remains fragile and future employment developments remain uncertain, according to the European Commission's latest Employment and Social Situation Quarterly Review.

The Review also takes a look at differences in income inequality among Member States, and underlines the relevance of investing in skills through life to increase the employability of workers. Employment has continued to grow in most sectors since mid-2013. The number of hours worked rose and, for the first time since 2011, there has been a small increase in full time contracts and improvements in the situation of young people. However, many of the new jobs created are part-time or temporary. Unemployment still remains close to historically high levels. And the long-term unemployed represent a large and growing share of total unemployment, with almost 13 million people having been unemployed for more than one year. Moreover, one in three unemployed people have spent more than two years without a job. For young people, the situation has improved, with significant reductions in unemployment rates in most Member States. Nevertheless, youth unemployment remains very high in countries such as Greece and Spain. Among those who have a job, almost half are on temporary jobs and nearly a quarter works part-time.

The full text of the European Commission quarterly labour market review can be downloaded here.

Eurociett attended high-level conference on administrative burden reduction

On 14th

October, Eurociett Policy Advisor Michael Freytag attended a high-level European conference on administrative burden reduction and the reduction of red-tape for companies. During the event, the EU high-level group on the reduction of administrative burdens presented its report and key recommendations. The event stressed that Europe needs to act and be “big on big things”, while smaller issues should be left to the national level. The high-level group has put forward 12 recommendations to the Commission, EU Institutions in general and Member States.

These recommendations focus on the need for an EU Action Plan on reducing regulatory costs, streamlining existing regulation and removing administrative burdens, engagement of stakeholders and the application of the “think small first” principle. Furthermore, the high-level group calls for an EU approach to measure regulatory costs and improve communication on better regulation.

All EU Institutions should concentrate on activities of clear, European added value, scrutinise the impact assessments carried out, empower the ombudsman to act as contact point and accelerate the legislative process. Finally, the high level group calls on Member

http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=113&newsId=2142&furtherNews=yes


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States to set ambitious national targets for cutting red tape and to promote the exchange of good practices on the transposition of EU legislation into national law.

Eurociett took part in the ETUC/ETUI conference on labour markets

On 24-26 September, Denis Pennel (Eurociett Managing Director) and Sandro Pettineo (Eurociett Policy Advisor) attended the European Trade Unions Confederation (ETUC) and European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) conference “Europe at a crossroads” about a new start for a social Europe.

The conference, held in Brussels, discussed various topics, including that of quality of jobs and precarious work. Eurociett was not a speaker at the event, but in various sessions it managed to intervene from the floor challenging the very concept of “precarious work” and putting it into the wider context of the changing world of work. Trade unions indeed recognised that there is a wider trend in the labour market and that they need to devise new strategies to effectively provide a response.

This shows the difficulty of the unions’ movement to adapt to the new reality of work. At the same time, acknowledging the need to rethink their strategies will not lead to a sudden disappearance of the precarious work campaign, especially because this is a powerful uniting instrument for trade unions, especially at the global level. Nevertheless, when dealing with the quality jobs at the European level, unions are gradually shifting their concern from temporary agency work to other forms of employment, particularly to (false) self-employment.

National Public Affairs News India: Delhi Government issues an executive order on regulation of placement agencies for domestic work

In India, following the decision of the High Court of Delhi to regulate trafficking of domestic workers, especially of girls and women, the Delhi Government adopted an executive order to regulate placement agencies.

The executive order defines “domestic worker” and sets some rules for the operations of placement agencies, including:

1. Obligation for placement agencies to register with the Labour Department to be allowed to operate;

2. Details of the agency, employers, workers, living and working conditions, fees, etc. will have to be provided to the Labour Department;

3. Every domestic worker should be issued a passbook (for record keeping), and an agreement for employment in writing;

4. A penalty of Rs. 50,000 for non-compliance with the Order.

The Executive Order will enter into force in the coming days and will only apply in the Delhi region.

Italy: Support for labour market reforms

The Italian Prime Minister Renzi has won support among his coalition partners for a further, far-reaching labour market reform in Italy. The reform focuses on extending jobless benefits, cut the number of short-term contracts, boost the role of employment services by offering them more favourable conditions compared to direct fixed-term contracts and reduce job protection for permanent contracts. Details of the reform still need to be worked out in the coming months, but the overall direction will imply the simplification of labour market regulation in Italy.


October 2014 N° 8/2014

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Belgium I: New federal government formed

In Belgium, a new federal government has been formed following the national elections in May 2014. Four political parties form a coalition, including liberal parties, the Flemish Nationalist party NVA and the Flemish Christian Democrats. Key priorities of the new government are to increase economic competitiveness and economic recovery, including plans for reducing company charges and tax burdens. Furthermore, the government aims at increasing the statutory retirement age from 65 to 66 by 2025 and 67 by 2030. With regard to the agency work industry, the government announced that the ban for using temporary agency work in the public sector shall be lifted.

Belgium II – Trade union launches bogus temporary work agency

Linked to the World Day for Decent Work, the Belgian Trade Union FGTB/ABVV launched a bogus temporary work agency, which, as announced in the Belgian press, would offer only one-day agency work contracts. Called “One-Day Interim”, the fake-agency did not hold a license (which is required under Belgian law) and would offer only one-day contracts, a practice that contravenes Belgian regulation.

Both the Belgian Ciett member Federgon and Eurociett reacted sharply to this trade union initiative, stressing that it is counterproductive for many reasons (non-compliance with the law, offering fake-hope to workers leading to a negative image of the industry and non-compliance with the collective labour agreement signed between FGTB/ABVV and Federgon.

Abbreviations

BDA Bundesverband der deutschen Arbeitgeber, German central employers’ organisation

BG Bulgaria

DG Directorate General, policy department of the Commission

EFTA European Free Trade Area

EP European Parliament

EU European Union

FCTB Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique / Belgian trade union

ILO International Labour Organisation

MEP Member of the European Parliament

PR Public Relations

S&D Socialists and Democrats party group of the European Parliament

VNO Dutch central employers’ organisation

ciett & eurociett public affairs report - bap · etuc/etui conference on labour markets 12 ......

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