More specifically, the EU election manifesto requests that:

• the EU must take decisive action to ensure that no measures are taken by governments against trade unions and social partners that are not line with the European Social Charter and the EU’s Council Recommendation on strengthening social dialogue.
• The EU should set up a New Social Deal to attain the objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights, equivalent to the legally binding New Green Deal that the European Commission envisages.
• The EU directives on fixed-term work, part-time work and temporary agenda work should be revised to close loopholes that provide for discrimination vis-à-vis permanent employees.
• The EU directives on public procurement and concessions and the EU regulations on State Aid should be updated to make the application of criteria for decent work in public procurement procedures obligatory.
• The EU needs to develop a directive on the digitalisation of working environments, to complement national level efforts by Member States, with minimum standards on mobile working and home office, a right to disconnect, the use of worker-friendly artificial intelligence on the job, and the protection of privacy from undue digital surveillance.
• The EU should step up its efforts to support Member States, authorities and social partners to end violence against workers.
• The EU should encourage Member States to build, maintain and strengthen an agenda for performing public services through policy tools such as the European Semester and applicable EU funding programmes for capacity building including the NextGenerationEU, and that the EU should highlight, more than before, the urgent need for adequate investments in administrations and public services and their personnel, in order to make them crisis-proof.
• To this end, the European economic governance framework must be adjusted to meet investment needs while safeguarding sustainable public finance.

CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger said: “During its term from 2024 to 2029, the EU will need to continue crisis management, and it will need to continue to work for rule of law and values of liberal democracy in all its Member States. It will also face further developments in its enlargement of EU accession candidate countries, which would would require first an internal reform of the EU’s institutional and decision-making architecture. The basis for all is a strong EU that can defend its security. Without military security, economic and social security are not possible. In June 2024, we call for a strong pro-European backing from all citizens in the EU.”

The full Manifesto is available here.