IR Notes

The wish of the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, that Europe should be “triple-A on social issues” does not appear to be shared by all the Commission’s directorates general. Indeed, in its new aviation strategy for Europe (see press release), adopted on 7 December, the Commission is a long way from meeting the expectations of the European social partners and the European Parliament. First of all, it underscores that, in parallel with the restructuring conducted in the sector to improve competitiveness, “new business and employment models have emerged”, such as the “multiplication of operational bases”, the “recruitment of air crews through agencies” (without making clear that these are temporary employment agencies), “new atypical forms of employment” (a concept that relates primarily to pilots wrongly classified as self-employed) and pay-to-fly schemes. These abuses, which were determined by the European social partners when they produced their report on atypical employment, and also by a resolution of the European Parliament (see IR Notes 42), as well as an opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee, do not trouble the Commission. All it has done is to announce “continuous monitoring” and a regular exchange of information between the Commission, the member states and the interested parties in order to “contribute to a better understanding of these new trends and ensure fair working conditions in the sector”. Unlike the European Aviation Safety Agency or the EESC, the Commission does not at any stage refer to any causal relationship between the emergence of these new employment forms and aviation safety. As regards the problems in terms of labour law or social security law associated with “the situation of highly mobile workers who have their operational basis (‘home base’) located outside the territory where the airline is licensed”, the Commission believes that this situation “deserves specific attention”. But it will merely “bring clarity on the applicable labour law and on the competent court” in the form of a practical guide. Anne Demelenne, rapporteur responsible for the EESC opinion on social dumping in the European civil aviation sector, adopted in September, reacted with a reminder that it was necessary to redouble efforts in the fight against social dumping, referring to the recommendations contained in the opinion. On the trade union side, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) voiced its dissatisfaction with the social content of the proposals and actions put forward by the Commission (see ETF press release). This disappointment was shared by the pilots’ union, the ECA (see press release).

• Copyright and online content: As a follow-up to its Digital Single Market strategy presented on 6 May, the European Commission on 9 December presented a proposal for a regulation that will allow Europeans to travel throughout the EU with online content which they have purchased or subscribed to in their home country. It also presented a communication entitled “Towards a modern, more European copyright framework » aimed at updating European copyright rules.


• Representation of women in the boardroom: At a meeting on 7 December, the labour ministers of the 28 member states failed to reach agreement on a general approach to the proposal for a directive on the representation of women in the boardroom. This text sets a target figure of 40% for the under-represented sex on the boards of publicly listed companies by 2020 (2018 in the case of public undertakings). Despite measures to increase flexibility proposed by the Luxembourg Presidency of the EU, several countries found that the proposal did not respect the principle of subsidiarity.


• Agreement on support for the long-term unemployed: The labour ministers of the EU 28 on 7 December adopted a proposal for a recommendation calling on the member states to make sure that the long-term unemployed are better supported. An assessment should be made of the “individual needs and potential of the long-term unemployed before reaching 18 months of unemployment”. When this takes place, they should be offered “a job integration agreement” which should comprise, “as a minimum, an individual service offer aimed at finding a job and the identification of a single point of contact”.


• Minimum wage: The Committee of the Regions on 3 December adopted an opinion on Standards of remuneration in employment in the EU” that argues for EU action to encourage the establishment of a minimum wage. The Committee thus wishes to see the member states adopt “a fair wage, using 60% of median wage as a benchmark, and based on reference budgets, which are a package of goods and services an individual needs to live at a decent level, together with a set of equitable terms and conditions of employment”.

• Rail freight: The European social partners in the rail sector (CER and ETF) on 4 December adopted a joint declaration calling for a fairness and growth plan for rail freight (in English).

• Preparations under way for workplace elections: The “social elections”, whose purpose is to set up or renew works councils and committees for prevention and protection at work, will be held from 9 to 22 May 2016. Just over 6,800 companies and approximately 1,690,000 employees will take part in the elections.

• European ruling on the wearing of the veil in a public hospital: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on 26 November issued a ruling on the decision taken by a public hospital not to renew a female social worker’s fixed-term contract. Despite complaints from patients and warnings from the management, she refused to remove her veil. The court found that the decision not to renew her contract did not violate Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of religion. In the eyes of the court, while the decision did impinge upon her right to freedom to manifest her religion, it was justified by the requirement of neutrality incumbent on public officials and was proportionate.

UniCredit: The European works council of the Italian banking group UniCredit adopted a declaration during a meeting on 17 November devoted to the announcement by management of its revised strategic plan 2013-2018. The bank announced a reduction of 18,200 jobs between now and 2018 to reduce its costs by 1.6 billion euros. The European workers’ representatives demanded in the strongest terms that “any initiative to reduce employment contained in the strategic plan should be the result of a collective bargaining process in the different countries”. The UniCredit EWC announced its intention to be vigilant and to rely on the “trade union alliance recently created at UniCredit” in order, should this be necessary, “to take action at a transnational level”.

• Air France KLM: At the plenary session of the Air France-KLM central works council on 15 October, members demonstrated their anger with management over the “lack of consideration to which they have been subjected, following the receipt of incomplete preparatory documents which should have been provided before the meeting”. The Netherlands delegation even showed its displeasure by not attending the session. Last May, the central works council had voted to commission an expert report, awarded to the consultants Secafi, on a plan to restructure the “customer contact centres”.


• Compagnie des Alpes: The European leader in the leisure industry, Compagnie des Alpes (close on 5,000 employees), for the first time convened a meeting of its European works council on 30 November and 1-2 December. The group operates 11 ski resorts and 13 theme parks (including Walibi, Parc Astérix and Futuroscope).


• Sidel: Following a letter sent to the management of the group, in which the European works council outlined in detail its concerns with regard to the future of the company and in particular its manufacturing division for plastic (PET) bottles, the group’s CEO was replaced. A further meeting of the EWC was due to be held on 15 December in the hope, according to the EWC, of seeing a change of strategy from the management. The new CEO will take up his duties in January.

• Volkswagen: The IndustriALL Global international trade union federation has announced the victory of the local branch of the American trade union UAW, supported by IG Metall, in workplace elections held on 3-4 December at the Volkswagen plant (1,450 employees) in Chattanooga (Tennessee), which now becomes the first foreign-owned car plant in the southern United States to be unionised (see press release).

Social security coordination: This rather obscure term actually refers to the mechanism that allows EU citizens to move between the member states without losing their rights; for instance, it permits all periods of employment in more than one member state to be taken into account when an individual wishes to claim his or her pension. The system is implemented by two European regulations that are analysed in detail, article by article, by the authors of this new reference work. While remaining accessible, this informative work is written by recognised experts. EU social security Law: A commentary on EU regulation 883/2004 and 987/2009, Fuchs/ Cornelissen (ed.), 2015, published by Nomos, Baden-Baden, 554 pages, €178.

• Ecological transition: Avoiding the catastrophic rhetoric about the end of the planet, which does not provide any incentive to change behaviour, Philippe Pochet and Eloi Laurent’s work (see interview in IR Notes 42) sets out to tie the ecological transition firmly to the simultaneous demand for social progress. They argue for a social-ecological transition as a response to environmental change, while at the same time backing social progress. The guide is the English translation of the paper entitled Pour une transition sociale-écologique. Égalité, emploi, protection sociale, published in French.