IR Notes

Ahead of the meeting of the European Council, which brings together the heads of state and government, the EU Treaty established a tripartite social summit as a forum for dialogue between representatives of the European social partners, the Council and the European Commission. This institutional gathering is often only of marginal interest. This is not true of the last meeting on 16 March, however, at which the European social partners made their voices heard by adopting joint declarations on four issues:
1/ Refugee crisis: In their joint statement, the signatories point out that “Schengen is one of the most tangible achievements of the benefits of European integration for citizens and companies.” In an ageing society, “legal migration from third countries is part of the answer to ensure our future prosperity and overcome demographic change challenges”. In their eyes, “the inclusion and integration of refugees that are granted permission to remain in the EU into society, particularly in the labour market has to be a common goal of all member states”.
2/ Digitalisation: The European social partners propose to work hand-in-hand with the European Commission to make sure that European policies related to labour markets and skills accompanying the digital transformation of the economy make sense for enterprises and workers (see joint statement).
3/ Industrial policy: In a statement, BusinessEurope and the European Trade Union Confederation cruelly point out that the goal set by the European Commission in 2012 of raising the share of industry in GDP from 16% to 20% has failed. Indeed, between 2008 and 2014 the situation deteriorated, with employment declining by 16% and production by 9%. While acknowledging the effort made by the Commission, this is “far from enough to return industrial investments to pre-crisis levels”. The two organisations call for a concrete action plan to strengthen industry.
4/ Relaunch of social dialogue: In a long declaration on “a new start for a strong social dialogue”, the social partners state how they envisage their involvement in EU policy-making. They also make known their opinions on respecting the autonomy of the parties (with a call for the concept of representativeness of the social partners to be developed and clarified) and on strengthening social dialogue in the member states and the social partners’ involvement in the European semester process. Finally, the text outlines the actions that the social partners intend to take and their expectations of each of the institutions. The overall impression is that the European social partners wish to reaffirm their autonomy and defend the European values trampled underfoot by the emergent nationalist and sovereignist forces – a belated, but nonetheless heartening, response!

• Free movement of third-country researchers and students: On 10 March, the Council adopted a proposal for a directive relating in particular to the conditions of entry and of residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies or training. “The draft directive’s objective is to advance the European Union in the global competition for talent”, the Council explains (see press release). Third-party nationals working as researchers or pursuing studies in one member state may, in certain cases, enter and carry out part of their research or studies in another member state upon simple notification. Furthermore, the period of mobility for researchers has been increased to six months, making the European Union a more attractive destination for third-country nationals. Family members of researchers will be allowed to accompany them and students from third countries will have the right to work at least 15 hours per week outside their study time in order to allow them to cover part of the cost of their studies. Researchers and students from third countries may stay for at least nine months after having completed their research or studies to look for a job or set up a business. The European Parliament is expected to adopt this text definitively in May.

• Integration of refugees: The European Economic and Social Committee on 16 March published a synthesis report on the “fact-finding missions” it carried out in 11 countries “on the situation of refugees, as seen by civil society organisations”. The Committee stresses that “refugees should be seen not as a threat but as an opportunity for Europe’s economic and social model”. It believes that “sustainable long-term integration policies, covering skills screening and recognition, education and training, including civic education and language courses, need to be applied as soon as possible”. An effort should be made to get asylum seekers into work “as quickly as possible, to avoid skills obsolescence and to allow them to become economically productive”. They should be guaranteed “equal conditions with nationals”, says the Committee, which calls for “an educational and information campaign concerning the rights, obligations and procedures related to the employment of migrants” to be “specifically targeted at employers and trade unions”.


• Steel industry: The European Commission on 16 March presented a communication entitled “Steel: preserving sustainable jobs and growth in Europe” that sets out how, with the support of the member states and EU institutions, the steel sector can overcome the short-term and long-term challenges with which it is faced. The Commission insists on the need to preserve “industrial know-how and a skilled workforce” by means of an increased training effort; it invites the member states to avail themselves of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund in cases of restructuring and asks the social partners to invest, together with the regional and national authorities, in “a fair and socially responsible management of change and restructuring”. The Commission intends to work with the sectoral social dialogue committees on the “implementation of the necessary measures” and calls for compliance with the directives on worker information and consultation (see Commission press release).

Air traffic management: The European social partners in air traffic management (ATCEUC, CANSO and ETF) on 9 March formally adopted a Toolbox for successful social dialogue in their industry. The aim of the toolbox is to increase the quality of social dialogue and reduce the risk of conflicts. The recommendations are based in particular on a survey of best national practices. The signatories undertake to promote the toolbox among their affiliates.

Urban public transport: The European social partners in the urban public transport sector – UITP and ETF – on 14 March signed a joint statement towards sustainable urban mobility. UITP and ETF call on the European Commission to “take up the target of doubling the market share of public transport by 2030”. The two organisations hope to persuade decision-makers that their activity is a solution to a number of challenges (urban pollution, social cohesion, global warming, etc.) and that supporting the development of urban transport is essential.

• Tripartite agreement on the integration of refugees: The government and the European social partners on 26 February arrived at a 21-point, tripartite agreement with a view to accelerating the integration of refugees on the labour market. The agreement defines the role to be played by the municipalities in ensuring this transition. The signatories aim to put finding a job ahead of learning Danish, which can come later.

• Merger of two trade union confederations: The merger process involving two trade union confederations has entered its final phase. MSZOSZ (the national confederation of Hungarian trade unions) brings together workers from the manufacturing and private services sectors, such as the retail trade — and ASZSZ (the confederation of autonomous trade unions) represents public service workers, transport workers and workers in the chemical industry. The founding congress of the new confederation of Hungarian trade unions (MASZSZ) removed the last obstacles to the setting up of this confederation, which has announced a membership in excess of 200,000.
  > To gain an overview of industrial relations in Hungary, see the presentations by Eurofound and the European Trade Union Institute.

• Obligation to count working hours: The Spanish high court (Audiencia Nacional) is adding to its case law concerning the recording of working hours. Two recent rulings handed down in the banking sector stipulate that companies must keep a written record of all the hours worked by each employee. This obligation has a dual purpose: on the one hand, to allow labour inspectors to verify that companies are respecting the limits applicable to overtime hours and, on the other, to enable employees to prove that they have worked additional hours. These written records must be handed to the employee and to the employee representatives. In addition, the labour inspectorate appears to be particularly assiduous in checking that employers are complying with the obligation to keep a written record of working hours. The Audiencia Nacional rulings are the subject of an appeal before the supreme court.

Danone: The management of the French food group Danone (100,000 employees) and the International Union of Food and Allied Workers (IUF) on 15 March signed their tenth global agreement. Dedicated to sustainable employment, the agreement’s aim is to reduce the use of forms of precarious employment at group level. According to Danone, “Reducing these precarious forms of employment will enhance both Danone’s attractiveness and its employees’ engagement, promoting greater stability and better working conditions—and with them improved business performance”. The agreement sets out the “specific situations that may justify temporary employment: access to a new market, economic crisis, seasonal activity, specific competencies needed, or the acquisition of a company”. The agreement guarantees the respect of fundamental rights for all Danone’s employees, be they permanent employees, employees on a temporary contract (those employed on a fixed-term contract or through an agency) or even outsourced workers, that is to say “employed by a service provider to perform tasks on-site or off-site”, including employees of “independent contractors” (see Danone press release and press release of the IUF).

• Nokia: Having acquired Alcatel-Lucent, the Finnish Nokia group should have found itself with two European works councils. However, the acquisition saw the demise of the EWC established at Alcatel-Lucent (ECID), and the employee delegation of the Nokia EWC terminated its agreement. Finally, the representatives of the European employees found themselves opposing a refusal from the management to set up a special negotiating body to draw up a new agreement. The management has decided to set up an EWC at the end of July according to the subsidiary requirements of the directive without going through a negotiation process.


• SABMiller: The European works council of the British SABMiller group (69,000 employees), specialising in beer production and distribution, on 9 March delivered a formal opinion as part of the consultation exercise relating to the divestment of the businesses belonging to the company’s Peroni, Grolsch and Meantime (PGM) subsidiary (1,610 employees in the EU, principally in Italy and the Netherlands) to the Japanese Asahi group (22,000 employees including 38 in the EU at the end of 2014). The divestment was decided following the planned acquisition of SABMiller by the multinational AB InBev (155,000 employees) (see SABMiller press release). The EWC issued its opinion on the basis of information provided by the three companies concerned, exchanges that took place in February between the EWC and representatives of the Asahi group, and an expert report commissioned from the consultants Syndex UK. In its opinion, the EWC broadly welcomes the divestment and submits several demands to the three companies, including one addressed to Asahi to set up a European works council for its European activities because, following this acquisition, the number of employees will exceed the thresholds laid down by directive 2009/38 (also see EFFAT press release ).
  > Also see: The new EWC agreement of the pharmaceutical group GSK.

• Births and fertility in the EU: According to a study produced by Eurostat, 5,132 million babies were born in the European Union (EU) in 2014, compared with 5,063 million in 2001. France continued to record the highest number of births (819,300 in 2014), ahead of the United Kingdom (775,900), Germany (714,900), Italy (502,600), Spain (426,100) and Poland (375,200). Overall, the fertility rate in the EU increased from 1.46 in 2001 to 1.58 in 2014. It varied from 1.23 in Portugal to 2.01 in France in 2014.


• Weak increase in employment: The number of people in employment went up by 0.3% in the euro area and by 0.1% in the EU28 in the fourth quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to a study by Eurostat. Year on year, employment rose by 1.2% in the euro area and by 1% in the EU28. Commenting on these figures, Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said that they “should ring alarm bells with EU leaders” (see ETUC press release).