Main News

2017-01-28 12:00

Today, CESI’s Programme Commission met to discuss CESI’s work priorities and main activities for the year 2016.

2017-01-27 12:00

The European Commission notified the social partners that there will be no legislative revision of the Working Time Directive. Instead, the Commission announced an ‘Interpretative communication’ to bring more clarity about the proper application of the legislative piece. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger welcomed the plans of the European Commission but stressed that the directive is, in its current form, far from satisfactory for many workers.

2017-01-12 12:00

On 12 January CESI, Social Platform and Eurodiaconia held a joint meeting with stakeholders and decision-makers on ways to achieve higher levels of public social investment in European Union Member States. It emerged that increased budgetary flexibility to promote such investment is a real possibility, especially in the areas of early childhood education and care, primary and secondary education, training and active labour market policies, as well as affordable and social housing. There is strong evidence demonstrating the economic benefit of public social investment in these fields, which are also key for developing human capital. Therefore budgetary flexibility could be permitted in areas producing both an economic and social impact.

2016-12-02 12:00

At its 7th Congress held in Brussels today, CESI elected its new leadership and adopted guidelines and positions for the upcoming legislative term until 2020.

2016-12-01 12:00

At its meeting on December 1, the CESI Presidium adopted a position paper on the forthcoming European Pillar of Social Rights.

2016-11-22 12:00

MEPs have today taken an important decision by voting on a motion on the European Defence Union.

2016-11-16 12:00

Today, the European Commission published its yearly Annual Growth Survey (AGS), jumpstarting the 2017 European Semester cycle of economic policy coordination. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger notes cautious calls by the European Commission to raise public social investments.

2016-11-11 12:00

While according to different media sources over a hundred thousand public sector employees have, as a reaction to the July coup attempt, meanwhile been suspended, dismissed, arrested and detained, the European Commission published its latest Turkey Report as part of the 2016 enlargement package. The report denounces “arbitrary applications of the law in Turkey” during the last year and confirms that the sectors and professions particularly hit are the judiciary, police, military, civil service, local authorities, teachers and lawyers.

2016-11-09 12:00

As Donald Trump wins the US presidential elections, the importance of the EU and its Member States as strongholds for democracy, tolerance and human rights increases. They must now show and prove that they can overcome national egoisms and are able to tackle jointly global problems. A commentary by CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger.

2016-11-03 12:00

“This day is the day in the year when women across Europe stop being paid due to the gender pay gap. With the average hourly wage for women in Europe being 16.7 % lower than it is for men, they in effect work 16% of the year for free”, states the European Commission.
“If the average European man stops work today, he still gets paid as much this year as the average European woman who keeps working until 31 December. That is not fair, not sustainable and frankly not acceptable. European employers must stop sending the message that women are worth two pay cheques less than men each year. Men and women in the European Union are equal –that is one of our fundamental values. But on our labour market, even in the year of 2016, this is not yet a reality.”

2016-10-31 12:00

On the occasion of the Congress of CESI´s Portuguese member organization USI (Union dos Sindicatos Independientes), USI President Paulo Marcos and CESI President Romain Wolff had an exchange of views with Miguel Cabrita, State Secretary in the Ministry for Employment, Solidarity and Social Security, on the topic of work-life balance, the leitmotiv of USI´s congress.

2016-10-27 12:00

The recent attack against French police officers in the department of Essonne highlights the mounting pressure and the increasing violence that the French law enforcement forces are exposed to. CESI Secretary General Klaus Heeger firmly condemns these attacks highlighting the importance of security forces, especially in this day and age where destabilisation of internal security within the EU is a growing threat.

2016-10-17 12:00

On Friday, October 14, CESI’s members’ training centre, the Europe Academy, held its second symposium of the year on ‘Responsible players in the implementation of the occupational safety and health (OSH) policy in the public sector in Europe: Managers, trade unions, safety reps’. The seminar was the second of two conferences of the Europe Academy this year in the framework of a project on ‘Health and safety at work in the public sector: new challenges’. The project is an important part of CESI’s awareness-raising work on healthy workplaces in the context of its role as partner of EU-OSHA’s Healthy Workplaces Campaign.

2016-10-12 12:00

On Tuesday, October 11, CESI Youth Representative Matthäus Fandrejewski was invited to present a young trade unionist’s perspective on migration management to the European Parliament Committees on Development and Foreign Affairs.

2016-10-10 12:00

Mr Cameron’s referendum aimed to momentarily serve the cohesion of his own party but has done a disservice to both his country and the EU. The implementation of the British exit will require a great deal of effort and energy. It will have to be planned so as to harm the European citizens as little as possible. Otherwise, the fall of Europe shall be a reality, writes Rainer Dumont du Voitel, former CESI Vice-President, in a guest commentary.