Meeting since 15 April in La Hulpe, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and European social partners such as the European Trade Union Confederation, SGI, representing employers in services of general interest, and SMEUnited, representing SMEs, signed the ‘La Hulpe Declaration’ on Tuesday 16 April, outlining the social agenda for the next legislature.
Without detailing potential future legislative initiatives, the Declaration identifies the major social projects to be carried out, including action on algorithmic management of work and its harmful effects, the fight against gender discrimination in the labour market and the strengthening of social dialogue and, if possible, the rate of coverage of workers by collective bargaining.
But the conference was somewhat overshadowed by three ‘absentees’: Sweden, which from the outset did not want to endorse the Declaration, and Austria, which also announced in the middle of the day that it could not accept the latest text. The Belgian Presidency was therefore only able to sign the Declaration on behalf of 25 Member States, as announced by Belgian Deputy Prime Minister Pierre-Yves Dermagne, although he still hopes to convince Vienna in June when the Declaration is formally adopted.
As far as the European social partners are concerned, BusinessEurope, which represents major European companies, did not want to be involved either, believing, as explained by its Secretary General, Markus J. Beyrer, that the Declaration does not, as it stands, address the current concerns of European companies. He explained the economic gap with global competitors as follows: energy costs still too high, excessive regulation in the EU, and labour and skills shortages with gaps in worker mobility.
In an interview with Agence Europe, the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, expressed his disappointment and considered that this was the wrong signal being sent, as BusinessEurope had recently refused to continue discussions with the other social partners on an agreement on teleworking.
Despite this, the conference gives “a clear signal that, in the next legislature, we must continue with the social dimension” and sends out an “important message” to inspire the EU’s future Strategic Agenda.
While the Italians Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, authors of reports on the future of the internal market and European competitiveness, also spoke on 16 April, Nicolas Schmit also stressed that competitiveness and social progress are not mutually exclusive.
None of these reports says “that we should not work on economic competitiveness and the social dimension at the same time, because, to be competitive, it is also better to have the social partners and the broadest possible social consensus”, added the Commissioner.
For the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, Frank Vandenbroucke, this disappointment may only be temporary, as the Belgian Presidency still hopes that the two countries and the European business leaders will join the Declaration between now and the EPSCO Council in June, which is responsible for finalising the procedure.
“This means that these are not just fine words”, said the Belgian Minister, and that this Declaration “has consequences”, otherwise “everyone would sign it”.
For his part, the Chairman of Parliament’s Employment and Social Affairs Committee, Romania’s Dragoș Pîslaru (Renew Europe), also shared his disappointment, but felt that BusinessEurope had shown an openness and could still reverse its decision. He also explained that, for Parliament, there is no “tension” between social Europe and the imperative of competitiveness, as the two go hand in hand.
For 2 days, Ministers of Labour and Social Affairs from the Member States and representatives of the social partners discussed a host of challenges, from labour and skills shortages to an ageing population, from fair working conditions in a rapidly changing world of work to managing mental health issues in a world of work managed by algorithms.
Welcoming Commissioner Schmit’s work on workers on digital platforms, the German Minister, Hubertus Heil, felt that the new rules on the transparency of algorithms should also be applied to sectors other than platforms.
Welcoming the ongoing reform of European Works Councils, he also called for the creation of advisory bodies for mobile workers to inform them of their rights.
The Spanish Minister, Yolanda Diaz, reiterated the importance of democracy in the workplace and of closely involving workers in company decisions. She also stressed the need to offer good wages to workers.
This long conference, which was closed by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, and the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, focused on economic governance and European competitiveness.
“We have shown that economic growth and social growth can only go hand in hand. And social progress can only be based on economic success, if we want it to be sustainable”, said Mrs von der Leyen on this occasion, looking back over the actions of recent years.
On the subject of European competitiveness, Mario Draghi called for “radical change” if Europe is to catch up with its global competitors, led by China and the United States, at a time when the world order and the rules established until now are no longer being respected and Europe has been taken “by surprise”.
The former Italian Prime Minister called for, among other things, a scaled-up effort to combat the fragmentation of the internal market, the strengthening of the Capital markets union and the development of a new European policy to secure the supply of critical materials.
Europe has “no time to wait” and needs a new economic coordination policy now, said the Italian, who will submit his report to European leaders in June.
See Mario Draghi's speech: https://aeur.eu/f/bt3
Link to the Declaration: https://aeur.eu/f/bsm (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)