Main News

2018-03-09 12:00

Swiss voters voted against the discontinuation of radio and television licensing fees the weekend of 3 to 5 March 2018.

2018-03-08 12:00

March 8 is International Women’s Day. Celebrated under the auspices of the UN every year since 1977, the day recalls persisting and widespread gender inequalities around the world. This year’s theme is ‘#PressforProgress’, a common hashtag for a strong call-to-action to press forward and progress gender parity. According to Kirsten Lühmann, President of CESI’s Commission on Women’s Rights and Equality, such gender parity is an ambitious but worthy target that needs a joint effort by all: Policy makers, authorities, NGOs, social partners, trade unions.

2018-03-07 12:00

The Commission has informed the European central government social partners today that it will not bring their agreement to the European Council for implementation as a directive. The agreement seeks to plug a gap in EU legislation that excludes workers in central government administrations from the EU right to information and consultation.

2018-03-02 12:00

On the occasion of the European Day for a Work-Free Sunday on March 3, the European Sunday Alliance calls on all its supporters to take action against Sunday Work.

2018-03-01 12:00

On February 21 2018, the European Court of Justice (CJEU) delivered a judgment on the ‘stand-by’ time of volunteer firefighters. The Court took an important stand related to the notion of working time and the scope of the working time directive, stating that the ‘stand-by’ time at home of a volunteer firefighter who is obliged to respond to calls from the employer within a short period must be regarded as ‘working time’.

2018-02-18 12:00

On Monday this week, this year’s project of CESI’s Europe Academy on ‘Education professionals and trade unions in Europe: Horizon 2025’ kicked-off with a workshop in Brussels.

2018-02-17 12:00

On the 26th of January the European Commission launched its celebratory campaign on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Erasmus programme. It started as a student mobility programme in 1987 and has over the years been recognised as one of the most successful programmes created for the European Union. Throughout the years supported 9 million students, apprentices, volunteers, staff and youth exchanges.

2018-02-15 12:00

March 7 will see the next edition of CESI’s event series ‘CESI@noon’ with a lunchtime panel debate on ‘Digitalisation & future of work: Social protection for all?’ Registration to the event, which will be held jointly together with the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the European Union, is now open.

2018-02-14 12:00

Hungarian member organisation MKKSZ (Trade Union of Hungarian Civil Servants and Public Employees) has led a series of protests, such as a recent 2 hours strike at the local government offices across the country. After the latest consecutive failures of negotiations with the government, MKKSZ will launch a new industrial action from 15-19 February 2018 in the Hungarian public services.

2018-02-14 12:00

February 12 2018 is an important day for military personnel all over Europe. It marks the ground breaking decision of the European Committee on Social Rights of the Council of Europe which recognises the right to association and the right to collective bargaining for soldiers and military staff across the continent.

2018-02-05 12:00

The European Commission published its 13th report on the progress towards an effective and genuine Security Union. The report focuses on preventing radicalisation/ fighting terrorism offline & online, cybersecurity and, more importantly, on establishing interoperable EU information systems for security, border and migration management. In a first reaction, Gerrit van de Kamp, President of CESI’s Trade Council ‘Security’ and President of the European Police Union (EPU), welcomed the report, yet called for further efforts.

2018-02-02 12:00

On January 26, the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of CESI’s horizontal Commissions and sectoral Trade Councils -CESI’s specialised internal forums of debate for member organisations- met in Brussels to discuss their priorities for 2018. Like every year in January, this meeting of the ‘Programme Commission’ kicked off the new year’s activities of CESI’s Trade Councils and Commissions.

2018-01-29 12:00

Last week, the Council of Ministers removed eight countries from the EU’s list of non-cooperative states for tax purposes – only one month after the list was set up. The removal of these countries from the ‘black’ list was done following political commitments, but not on effective and concrete actions. The countries include Barbados, Grenada, Korea, Macao SAR, Mongolia, Tunisia and the U.A.E. Even Panama -just a few years after the ‘Panama Papers’ scandal- was removed from the list. According to CESI this is a sign that the governments of the Member States of the European Union are deliberately undermining the actual fight against tax avoidance.

2018-01-26 12:00

The World Economic Forum is meeting once again in Davos on January 23-26 2018. Being aware of the importance of the Forum, it remains incomprehensible for CESI that trade union and civil society representatives remain excluded – especially in times when sustainability and the investment in the human factor becomes of fundamental importance for the cohesion of societies.

2018-01-26 12:00

On January 25 a CESI delegation participated in the first European Education Summit organised by the European Commission in Brussels. Having placed education as a priority of the EU’s political agenda, the European Commission has repeatedly highlighted the tremendous challenges brought up by the digital age. The new era does not only require the necessary new skills and life-long learning, it also requires, as the European Education Commissioner Tibor Navracic underlined in his opening address, “rediscovering the value of our values.“