Project PESSIS 2 Title: Roadmap towards European Social Dialogue - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Project PESSIS 2 Title: Roadmap towards European Social Dialogue for the social services sector

Brussels 23 September 2014

Thomas Bignal, thomas.bignal@easpd.eu Policy & Communications Officer

PESSIS 1

• Growing sector in both social and economic terms;
• Common set of problems challenging traditional forms of

social service delivery;

• EU playing increasingly important role in policy action for
• ur sector: working conditions, professional training, public

procurement, etc;

• All these issues could be addressed by social partners in our

sector in European Social Dialogue

PESSIS 2

• Extend research to 6 additional countries to have

reports on 17 EU countries.

• Discuss and explore interest of national employers in 5

EU countries where social dialogue structures appeared to be the most developed.

• Discuss and explore how our sector could take part in

European Social Dialogue at European level

PESSIS2 Partnership:

What is European Social Dialogue?

• ESD brings together employer and employee representative
• rganisations at EU level to « assist in the definition of European

social standards and play a vital role in the governance of the Union ».

• Two strands:
• Cross-industry ESD, which tackles broad issues affecting all or

most industries in Europe.

• Sectoral social dialogue, which provides a structured framework

for sectors to tackle issues of specific interest to them; through exchanges of information or of models of good practice, jointly advocating EU institutions, negotiating agreements, frameworks

• f actions, guidelines, etc. There are currently 43 sectoral social

dialogue committees.

National interest in European Social Dialogue

• Meetings took place in five countries -AU, BE, FR, GER, NDL- and were

attended by Employers in the Social and Health Services sector.

• Clear recognition of added value of social dialogue, and interest in

strengthening employers representation at national level.

• All Roundtables viewed European Social Dialogue as important, albeit to

different degrees.

• Key argument for this was that it is key to participate more strongly in the

development of European norms being implemented in their own respective Member States and bringing to light the specificites of the sector

How could our Sector participate? 1/2

• Each country discussed four possible options in terms how our sector could participate in

European Social Dialogue. Outcomes of discussions are theoretical preference rather than a conclusive decision.

• Join the sectoral social dialogue committee for Local and Regional Authorities:

mainly considered ill-suited due to difference in legal status between the two sectors: public – private.

• Join the sectoral social dialogue committee for the Hospital and Healthcare

sector: considered favourite option in NDL, mostly for practice reasons. Also interest in FR due to person-centred focus of work. In FR, AU, BEL & GER it was also argued that this would not be good option because the core of the professions are different: curing – support;

How could our Sector participate? 1/2

• Outcomes of discussions are theoretical preference rather than a conclusive decision.
• Creating an intersectoral committee for the non-for-profit sector

including the social, health, cultural and education sectors: was generally deemed ill-suited in all countries mostly due to the scope of representation being too large;

• Creating a sectoral committee for the social services sector: Preferred
• ption in AU, BE, FR and GER as it would strengthen the voice and

specificities of sector at European, but also national level.

European Perspective on four options

• Informational discussions were also held at European level between

members of Social Services Europe, several European Employer Organisations (CEEP, HOSPEEM and CEMR) and EPSU to help feed into the national discussions.

• The Outcome of the discussions, from the perspective of Social Services

Europe, is clear. The option to create a Sectoral Committee for the Social Services sector stands out as the best option, in terms of interest, feasibility, identity of the sector and political willingness.

• Twin track approach received most support; that is, both joining CEEP to be

represented at cross-sectoral level, and creating a social services sectoral committee to discuss the sector specific issues..

An emerging consensus?

• A seminar took place in Brussels in June to bring together outcomes
• f both the European and National discussions;
• The Seminar resulted in a growing consensus on the need to create

a sectoral committee for the social services sector, whilst also respecting the varying opinions and levels of interest as expressed by the Employers in each national outcome;

• There was also growing consensus on the need to participate and be

represented in cross-sectoral social dialogue, possibly through the work and structures of CEEP.

What issues could be discussed in European Social Dialogue?

• PESSIS 1 and 2 brought to light the fact that many of the issues facing the sector are shared by many (if not

all) countries across Europe and which also often have cross-border implications.

• In the discussions had at national level, several subjects –which could be tackled in Europen Social

Dialogue, were brought up:

• Recruitment and retention of staff;
• Health and safety at the workplace,
• Professional skills, training and qualifications,
• Improving the image of the sector
• The EU Working Time directive,
• Socially responsible public procurement.
• More « hard topics » such as the negotiations on wages, working hours and the right to strike are

not dealt with at European level. Principle of subsidiarity is key to European Social Dialogue.

What needs to be clarified and discussed today?

• Defining which topics could be worked on in European Social Dialogue

would help to define the scope of « social services ».

• As such, the panels this afternoon aims at helping Employers in the Social

Services sector discuss

• What are their objectives in European Social Dialogue?
• What topics would they like to discuss at that level?
• If Social Services should be defined in terms of sub-sectors (long-term

disability care, long-term elderly care, child care, etc) or in terms of key professions in the sector?

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to contact me!

Thomas Bignal, Policy & Communications Officer Email: thomas.bignal@easpd.eu Tel: +32 2 282 46 11