The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa, met the European social partners in Brussels on Wednesday 19 March for the traditional ‘Tripartite Social Summit’, organised each year prior to the March European Summit.
Devoted to the challenges of EU competitiveness and the need to strengthen the skills of European workers in a complex global context, the Summit was an opportunity for the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and BusinessEurope to put across a number of messages.
For ETUC General Secretary Esther Lynch, who was “encouraged” by the meeting, it is impossible to ensure the security of the EU “without investing in quality jobs”, and EU spending rules must be suspended. “We need a new support mechanism”.
As far as deregulation and simplification are concerned, the rules governing public procurement are indeed extremely complex, because companies offering lower wages win all the contracts.
With regard to the forthcoming revision of the directive on public procurement, Esther Lynch argued in favour of criteria focusing on the existence of collective agreements within the companies applying for contracts. Focusing on this condition would, for the ETUC, be the best possible simplification exercise, she said.
“I think the big message going out from us is that Europe won’t be bullied out of our social model. We won’t be bullied out of our solidarity between Member States, between working people and between working people and employers”, she added.
For its part, BusinessEurope described the Commission’s recent actions on competitiveness as a “step in the right direction”, according to its President, Fredrik Persson, between the “Clean Industrial Deal”, the first ‘omnibus’ proposals and the Skills Union, but more needs to be done on energy prices and reducing the administrative burden. It is also necessary to conclude agreements with the Mercosur countries and Mexico, and explore new avenues with India.
“Europe’s social market economy has never been only about markets – but it is about people. We can only boost Europe’s competitive edge and ensure that no one is left behind if all of us work very closely together”, assured the President of the Commission.
“As our economies undergo major transformations, this dialogue is more essential than ever to foster quality jobs, boost our competitiveness, and build a more resilient and sustainable future together”, commented President Costa.
The European social partners also jointly stated that “the geopolitical situation increasingly challenges the European Union, putting EU institutions, member states, workers and enterprises under significant strain, at a moment when it is still recovering from previous crises and managing different transitions. The European social partners are convinced that Europe can only weather these developments while standing together, maintaining unity and solidarity, and taking action to reinforce Europe as an attractive, competitive and investment-friendly location that protects and creates quality jobs”, summarised the Commission in a press release.
“The European social partners call on the Commission and EU leaders to keep social partners at both European and national level fully involved in all relevant deliberations following the geopolitical uncertainties”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)