European meeting between States and trade unions to combat work-related stress
- On: 09.09.2008
- In: Paris
The European Union Public Administration Network (EUPAN) brings together the ministries responsible for civil service and administrative modernisation issues in the 27 European Union Member States. It allows the managers of national administrations to exchange best practices and knowledge concerning major challenges such as the modernisation of human resources management in the public sector, the development of e-government, innovation and the quality of public services. The members of the network, in conjunction with the social partners, have also launched an experimental European-level social dialogue in the central administration sector.
The dialogue entered into between the members of EUPAN (representatives of the European Union Member States) and European trade union organisations has progressed so significantly since the German Presidency (2007) that it now represents one of the most important forums for discussing the major issues concerning civil services at the European level. At the start of 2008, an experimental phase was launched to organise social dialogue in public administrations in the form of a sectoral committee. However, this is still at an informal level and exists concurrently with the European cross-sectoral social dialogue. At the conclusion of this phase (end of 2009), the social partners will decide upon the changes to be made. Two major projects will be central concerns under the French Presidency: work-related stress and the anticipation of change.
The fourth meeting of the "social dialogue" working group, to be held on 9 September, will be dedicated to the topic of "work-related stress". Aware that the problems caused by this phenomenon have serious consequences, both for staff and public administrations, the social partners hope to reach a mutual agreement in order to affirm their wish to better identify, prevent, eliminate and reduce problems stemming from work-related stress issues. If the social partners succeed in agreeing on a draft text on 9 September, it could be signed at the meeting between Directors-General of the European Union Civil Service and European trade union representatives on 19 December 2008. The projects to be discussed under the forthcoming Czech and Swedish Presidencies will aim to encourage the implementation of these recommendations.
- Updated: 03.11.2008
