Brussels, 11/06/2010 (Agence Europe) - A new social dialogue committee was set up by the European Commission on Friday 11 June with teachers, trainers and education authorities from across the EU to tackle challenges in education at all levels - pre-school, primary and secondary education, professional training, higher education and research.
The new committee's first meeting was held in Brussels on Friday 11 June, bringing together the European Trade Union Committee for Education (ETUCE) - composed of teachers', trainers' and lecturers' trade unions - and the European Federation of Education Employers (EFEE) - representing education ministries, regional and local authorities, state agencies and other types of employers' organisations. On the agenda were subjects like improving the teaching, working and learning environment by identifying and exchanging good practices; and the impact of demographic trends and the recruitment and retention of staff in a time of strict budgetary limitations. In a press release, EU Employment, Social Policy and Inclusion Commissioner Lázsló Andor said: "The European social dialogue on education is a crucial tool to bring employers and employees together and tackle these challenges with joint solutions."
A Commission press release points out that: (1) the ETUCE and EFEE are already involved in negotiations with social partner organisations from other sectors on adopting EU-level guidelines to tackle third-party violence and harassment related to work; (2) education employs 14.7 million people in the 27 EU member states, educating 93 million pupils and students each year; and (3) education accounts for €583 billion in public spending each year, 5.7% of EU GDP.
Since 1998, the European Commission has created 39 sectoral social dialogue committees. These committees have adopted more than 500 texts such as autonomous agreements, codes of conduct, guidelines, framework of action and common websites. Agreements may be implemented through Council directives. The Commission points out that “European social dialogue is part of our social model and is recognised as a tool of good governance and of social subsidiarity. In times of crisis, it has also demonstrated its role as an instrument of social resilience, helping to mitigate the negative social impact of recession.” See: http: //ec.europa.eu/socialdialogue (G.B./transl.fl)