Main News

2018-12-13 12:00

At its last meeting of the year today in Brussels, the Presidium of CESI adopted new position papers on steps for a more democratic and investment-related EU economic and monetary union (EMU), on trade union priorities for the European Education Area, and on measures to bring down social dumping in Europe, .

2018-12-12 12:00

On Friday December 7 CESI’s Trade Council ‘Post & Telecoms’, bringing together CESI’s sectoral telecommunications and postal services trade unions, convened for its last meeting of the year in Brussels. The agenda featured, above all, strategic work on CESI’s position in the upcoming evaluation and potential revision of the EU postal services directive.

2018-12-09 12:00

In our latest #CESItalks interview Helga Trüpel, Greens/EFA MEP from Germany and Vice-President in the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education spoke with CESI about the necessity to budget up for youth and education in the EU’s next MFF, the role of the forthcoming European Solidarity Corps in helping young people to engage socially and the success of the Erasmus+ programme.

2018-12-05 12:00

After protracted internal negotiations the transport ministers of the Member States adopted, at a Council meeting on December 4, a common position on a reform of working conditions for truck drivers in Europe, as part of a broader ‘Europe on the Move’ mobility package proposed by the European Commission in 2017. According to CESI, the position can be the basis for better employment conditions in road transport in Europe.

2018-11-26 12:00

On November 22-23 CESI held this year’s Europe Academy symposium in Lisbon, which was this time was devoted to the future of the teaching profession. Under the theme ‘Education professionals and trade unions in Europe: Horizon 2025’, CESI had invited affiliates from its over 40 member organisations from more than 20 countries to discuss about the role and value of the teaching profession, employment and working conditions in educational institutions and perspectives for education systems in times of recent digital, societal and economic evolutions in Europe.

2018-11-23 12:00

On November 19-20 the Foreign Affairs Council met in Brussels to discuss a number of key issues for European security, reviewing EU-NATO cooperation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as well as the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations, in particular the EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia. In a joint session, the defence and foreign ministers discussed the implementation of the EU Global Strategy in the area of security and defence. Reacting to the meeting, the President of CESI’s Defence trade council, Thomas Sohst, who is affiliate of CESI’s member DBwV (German Armed Forces Association), highlighted the importance of a social dimension in EU defence and security policies and measures.

2018-11-16 12:00

On November 15 affiliates of CESI’s member trade unions from the law enforcement and justice sectors met to explore the state of play and the future of the EU’s area of freedom, justice and security. Participants from 8 EU member states and an organisation with observer status from Russia joined active discussions in the trade councils ‘Security’ and ‘Justice’ on the state of rule of law in Europe, personal protective equipment for law enforcement officers, violence at work and access to electronic data.

2018-11-12 12:00

The European Commission work programme for 2019 includes an initiative to explore possibilities to switch from unanimous-based voting to qualified majority voting (QMV) in EU social policy making by the Member States in the Council. The procedural mechanism which the European Commission envisages for this switch relates to a so-called Passerelle Clause which the EU Treaties specify and according to which the Member States may, upon a proposal by the European Commission, decide by unanimity to transition future decision making in the Council in specified fields – such as parts of social policy – from unanimity to qualified majority voting and from a special legislative procedure to the ordinary legislative (co-decision) procedure. In its response to an ad-hoc social partner consultation by the European Commission which closed last week, CESI makes a case for a more integrated EU social policy making.

2018-11-11 12:00

When on November 11 1918 the First World War came to an end, a conflict which to the day is also referred to as The Great War, had caused millions of casualties -civilian and military- and great suffering in societies across Europe and beyond. With many considering this war not least a result of excessive nationalism and isolationism in the years preceding it, its end however also set initial foundations for more democracy in Europe and the first-ever real international cooperation efforts which we continue to benefit from still today. According to CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger, we should recall this as today’s politics in many countries in Europe and around the world is once again increasingly shaped by authoritarian and protectionist voices.

2018-11-07 12:00

In recent judgments, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has strengthened the rights of workers (and their heirs) in relation to the application of the EU Working Time Directive.

2018-11-03 12:00

November 3 is EU Equal Pay Day. It symbolises the average wage gap between women and men across the EU Member States by commemorating the day on which the ‘average’ woman -in relation to the ‘average’ man- does not get paid anymore until the end of the year. In 2018, women earned on average 16.2% less than men, which translates into 58 out of 365 days of the year until December 31. According to Kirsten Lühmann, President of CESI’s members’ Commission on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality, policy makers and authorities are not doing enough to close the gap.

2018-10-23 12:00

Today, a public consultation on ‘Better regulation’ -the European Commission’s central instrument to slim down EU legislation to the minimum of what is required “to achieve objectives and bring benefits at minimum cost”- comes to a close. In its consultation response, CESI calls for more transparent, impartial and inclusive EU policy drafting.

2018-10-22 12:00

The European Council which took place on the October 17-18 in Brussels focussed on Brexit, migration, internal security and external relations. According to CESI President Romain Wolff and Secretary General Klaus Heeger, all discussions need to feature a real human dimension focussing on the impacts of policies and political decisions on citizens and concerned workers.

2018-10-18 12:00

Earlier this week on Tuesday, October 16, the latest edition of the Tripartite Social Summit took place, bringing together the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and BUSINESSEUROPE, CEEP and UEAPME with European Commission President Juncker, European Council President Tusk and the Austrian Chancellor for the Austrian Council Presidency ahead of this week’s European Council to discuss about key challenges in employment and social affairs in Europe. CESI welcomes this dialogue with EU leaders but calls for a more inclusive framework of interaction in the future.

2018-10-13 12:00

On October 3, Germany celebrated its 28th anniversary of reunification. As a Western German, a ‘Wessi’, I remember very well the fall of the Berlin Wall, my instant travel to Eastern Germany to meet with my Eastern German friends. But even after 28 years, divergences between the East and the West are still strongly felt. Eastern Germany is lagging behind economically, and some areas still suffer from major brain drain of young people. Not few there still feel as second class citizens.