Brussels, 17/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Informal Tripartite Social Summit will meet in Lisbon on Thursday morning 18 October to discuss the modernisation of social protection systems. Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will open the summit. European social partners will present their points of view on the reform of the treaty, the concept of “flexicurity” and their joint analysis of the key challenges currently facing European labour markets. Among the speakers will be representatives of the forthcoming EU presidencies, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa and French Secretary of State for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet. José Manuel Barroso will then chair a debate during which Portuguese Minister of Labour and Social Solidarity José Antonio Vieira da Silva and European Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Commissioner Vladimir Spidla will speak. Here is a flavour of what the social partners will tell the summit on the above issues:
Reform Treaty. BUSINESSEUROPE President Ernest Antoine Seillière believes that the reform treaty provides the updated legal basis needed by the enlarged Europe. The EU must now build on this legal framework to improve knowledge and innovation, modernise its social systems and reform its labour markets in order to address the challenges of an ageing population and globalisation. The president of the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-Sizes Enterprises (UEAPME) Georg Toifl supports the reform treaty and calls on member states to reach agreement at the summit. Rainer Plassmann, General Secretary of the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP), welcomes what has been achieved in negotiations on the treaty under the German and Portuguese presidencies, especially on Article 14 on the functioning of the European Union and Protocol 9, which is devoted to services of general interest (SGI). He wonders, however, whether these provisions protect fundamental principles such as accessibility, availability, continuity, solidarity, transparency, democratic control, non-discrimination, equality of treatment and freedom of choice for providers of SCI as to how best to provide these services.
Flexicurity. European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) President Wanja Lundby-Wedin says that the European Commission's flexicurity agenda has to be rebalanced to make it more labour-friendly, by putting quality of jobs and stable contractual arrangements at its heart. She calls on European policy makers to set a policy agenda promoting internal flexicurity and the quality of jobs. Ernest-Antoine Seillière (BUSINESSEUROPE) says that flexicurity is the right way forward for European labour markets. It should be considered a strategic long-term priority for Europe and form part of member states' National Reform Programmes. The modernisation of social protection in a wider sense implies a change in the delivery, management and funding of many of the services provided by CEEP member, says Rainer Plassmann (CEEP). They are committed, he says, to delivering “a better kind of change” and making the best of the employment growth potential represented by public services. He goes on to say that, in this context, they believe flexicurity will provide them with an appropriate set of measures in order to achieve Lisbon targets and reinforce the confidence of European citizens in Europe.
Key challenges facing European labour markets. The social partners looked at these challenges in great detail. Flexicurity is at the heart of this joint analysis, says Ernest-Antoine Seillière (BUSINESSEUROPE). Employers and trade unions agree that flexicurity can create a “win-win” situation for companies and workers, embracing labour law that allows a response to social and economic challenges, efficient active labour market policies, effective lifelong learning systems and modern social protection. In addition, effective social dialogue can contribute to the smooth functioning of labour markets. Sound macro-economic policies and a favourable business environment can only stimulate job creation, Seillière concludes (see also EUROPE 9524). ETUC General Secretary John Monks says that the challenge is not simply to create more jobs, but also to create better jobs, offer more security for workers in an already very flexible labour market and to ensure improvements in employment and growth are accompanied by greater social cohesion. He says. “With the European labour market already capable of a process of 'creative destruction', destroying around 4% of jobs and creating 5-8% of new ones every year, the most urgent issue is how to ensure the European labour market can offer more security for workers”. SMEs take the view that the most important aspect is for social partners to be able to find a compromise on current problems. This compromise is an excellent base for future negotiations, says Georg Toifl (UEAPME), adding that, as far as SMEs are concerned, undeclared work is a key point. Such are the results of the joint analysis by social partners but, unfortunately, the UEAPME president says, they have not been able to jointly develop concrete recommendations. Member states have an essential role to play here. They are ultimately responsible for taxation and social security systems and they should collaborate with national social partners to reintegrate undeclared work into the regular economy. (G.B.)