Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

linked to the Europe 2020 strategy and the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity
between Generations 2012. The Commission has welcomed the priority given by the European
social partners in this sector to key issues such as demographic change, work/life balance, lifelong
learning and health and safety, noting that their contribution is crucial for the European Union to
meet the objectives of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
The subject of active ageing was also discussed by the social partners working on common
guidelines in the hospitals and healthcare sector. Further, the social partners in the chemical
sector adopted general remarks in January 2011 on the Commission's Green Paper towards
adequate, sustainable and safe European pension systems. The European Chemical Employers
Group (ECEG) and the European Mine, Chemical and Energy workers' Federation (EMCEF) state
that they subscribe to the most of the targets presented in the Commission's document, however,
they perceive some specific goals to be inadequate, particularly the provisions on occupational
pension schemes. Furthermore, the social partners expressed their disagreement with the procedure
followed by the Commission and argued that they were insufficiently consulted on the issue. The
social partners did, however, note that the existing institutions concerning pension policy at the
European level are sufficient.
The sectoral social partners in the temporary agency work sector, the European Confederation of
Private Employment Agencies (Eurociett) and UNI Europa, prepared and launched a joint project
on Temporary agency work and transitions in the labour market. The project aims to assess the
possible role of the sectoral social partners in facilitating transitions in the labour market (from
education to work, from unemployment to work, and from different types of labour contracts). It
looks at the profile of temporary agency workers (skills level, age, gender, main sectors in which
they work) and at the career of temporary agency workers (for example, the situation before and
after temping, average length of assignment, types of labour contracts offered to them, quality of
transitions and applicable working conditions). The project also aims to find out to what extent
some agency workers might be in a precarious situation, focusing in particular on women, migrant,
low-skilled and older workers. In a further development, during the past two years the social
partners in this sector have supported their national members during the implementation phase of
Directive 2008/104/EC on temporary agency work. In close cooperation with their global
counterparts, Eurociett and UNI Europa also promoted the ratification of ILO Convention 181 on
Private Employment Agencies as a relevant international framework for regulation on temporary
agency work and as a way to promote decent work. The final conference of the project took place in
December 2012.
In April 2012, the social partners in the commerce sector issued a joint contribution on social issues
for the European Retail Action Plan which is being prepared by the European Commission. The
main policy objective of a this Action Plan is to ensure a consistent and systemic approach to the
treatment of issues identified as hampering the provision of more efficient and fair retail services in
Europe. In their contribution, the social partners call upon the Commission and the Member States
to: promote social dialogue, collective bargaining and the development of free and democratic trade
unions and employers organisations across the EU; promote and fund initiatives for improving
health and safety at the workplace and fostering a more inclusive labour market; take all possible
action to fight the use of undeclared work, while reducing administrative burdens, especially for
SMEs, as an incentive to develop regular activities; support projects aimed at identifying skills
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