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EDITORIAL Dear subscriber subscriber, The recent attacks in Brussels show the need to strengthen the cooperation at European level and to stay united against any form of terrorism. HOSPEEM expresses its deep solidarity towards the victims of this terrorist attack. As you will read in this newsletter, the beginning of the year has been very active and fruitful for HOSPEEM in particular with the participation in the European Dialogue on Skills and Migration, the DG SANTE workshop on CPD and Patient Safety, the fact-finding seminar of the cross-industry social partners’ negotiation on active ageing and the partnership meeting of the new EU-OSHA Campaign “Healthy Workplaces for All Ages”. HOSPEEM also co-organised the first meeting of this year of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector and held the final meeting of its joint OSH project with EPSU. The upcoming period will also be busy and promising for HOSPEEM with a study visit to ARAN and Agenas in Italy and the participation in high-level events such as the workshop of the DG SANTE study on Health Care Assistants and the closure event of the Joint Action on Health Workforce Planning and Forecasting. In this issue of the newsletter, you will find HOSPEEM news, news from Members, EU news, recent publications as well as information on events attended and future events. This newsletter has been conceived as an interactive tool to facilitate the flow of communication from the EU level, to support the exchange of information between our members and to give your organisation’s voice a broader diffusion across Europe. Therefore you are invited to send us your contributions to future issues. Enjoy your reading! Tjitte Alkema Secretary General of HOSPEEM |
European Dialogue on Skills and Migration HOSPEEM Secretary General Tjitte Alkema was invited by the Commission to participate in the European Dialogue on Skills and Migration organised by DG Migration and Home Affairs (DG HOME) on 28 January and more specifically to represent HOSPEEM in the workshop on the health sector. The main focus of the discussions was on shortages in the health sector and the role of migration in addressing them, as well as on the challenges linked to migration of health professionals. On this occasion, the HOSPEEM-EPSU Code of Conduct on Ethical Cross-border Recruitment and Retention was showcased. During the event, the importance of improving the attractiveness of the EU towards highly skilled third country nationals and of ensuring their effective integration, the validation of their skills and the recognition of their qualifications was particularly highlighted. The outcomes of this meeting will feed into the preparation of the Commission’s upcoming initiatives in the field of integration and legal migration. Read more. |
Cross-industry social partners’ negotiation on active ageing – Fact-finding seminar On 9 February, Kate Ling (NHS Europe) participated in the fact-finding seminar organised by the EU cross-industry social partners as a start of their negotiation of a framework agreement to foster active ageing and an intergenerational approach, as planned in their work programme 2015-2017. On this occasion, Kate Ling, representing HOSPEEM, was invited to present, together with Richard Pond (EPSU), the HOSPEEM-EPSU Guidelines and examples of good practice to address the challenges of an ageing workforce in the healthcare sector adopted in December 2013. |
HOSPEEM Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee meeting and project activity HOSPEEM members participated in the first Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee meeting of the year in Brussels on 2 March. The meeting was dedicated primarily to the continuation of the discussions on the HOSPEEM-EPSU joint declaration on access to CPD and LLL for all health workers in the EU and to an exchange on the next steps of the HOSPEEM-EPSU project on health and safety risks in the hospital sector in view of the final meeting of the Steering group held the day after. On 3 March the participants exchanged views about the dissemination of the project results at national and EU level and the use of project outcomes in the context of the future work of the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Hospital Sector. Possible further actions to be taken by HOSPEEM and EPSU in the field of MSD and PRSRS@W and ways to further share knowledge and exchange good practices were also discussed. The dates of all the future meetings are listed in the events section on the HOSPEEM website. |
NEWS FROM MEMBERS Members’ profile: ARAN
ARAN is the Italian full member of HOSPEEM. ARAN is the Italian Agency for the contractual representation of the Public Administration. Established in 1993 by legislative decree, it is a technical body, representing public administration in the collective bargaining at national level. It carries out activities in the field of negotiation and definition of the collective contracts for public administration staff. These activities include, inter alia, the interpretation of the contractual clauses and the regulation of the relationship with the trade unions. ARAN also supports public administration in the uniform implementation of collective contracts. ARAN is the only national body in charge of the negotiation in the public sector and it represents the main reference in the complex system of collective bargaining. ARAN is led by a Steering Committee composed by 5 members chosen among experts in collective bargaining. Three of them are chosen by the Italian Government; one is chosen by the Presidents of Italian Regions and one is chosen by the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) and by the Union of Italian Provinces (UPI). Read more. |
NVZ Branch Report 2015 NVZ recently published its Branch Report 2015, “Portraying Healthcare”. The report focuses on the developments made with regards to making the quality of healthcare visible, from the introduction of the Care Institutions Quality Act in 1996 to 2014 Quality Windows for patients. It provides detailed information in the form of facts and figures and it highlights that employment opportunities in the healthcare sector, one of the largest economic sectors in the Netherlands, have decreased for the second year running by an average of 0.8%. The average solvency for Dutch hospitals has increased, exceeding the target level of 20% for the first time. Read more. |
Health Programme 2014-2020 - Work Plan for 2016 On 29 February, the European Commission adopted its work plan for 2016 in the context of the EU Health programme 2014-2020. The funding opportunities include projects, service contracts and Joint Actions with national authorities, in priority areas such as: health of refugees and other migrants; tackling antimicrobial resistance and healthcare associated infections; support to EU countries to respond quickly and efficiently to health crises; supporting the establishment of European Reference Networks; actions on chronic diseases and prevention of communicable diseases.The overall total amount of EU funding available in 2016 covering grants and tenders is nearly €58 million. Read more |
European Pillar of Social Rights The European Commission presented on 8 March a first outline of the European Pillar of Social Rights and launched a public consultation on it. The online consultation, running until the end of 2016, aims at making an assessment of the EU social “acquis”, reflecting on new trends in work patterns and societies and gathering views on the first outline of the Pillar. The European Pillar of Social Rights, which will set out essential principles to support well-functioning and fair labour markets and welfare systems within the euro area, should be established in early 2017. It should become a reference framework to screen employment and social performance of participating Member States and to drive reforms at national level. The Commission also stated that social partners, both at the EU and at national level, will be invited to play an active role in shaping the Pillar. Read more. |
EU Semester: Publication of the Country Reports On February 26, the European Commission published its annual analysis of the economic and social challenges in the EU Member States. The country reports are a tool under the streamlined European Semester of economic policy coordination to monitor policy reforms and to point early on to challenges that Member States should address. Following the publication in November of the Annual Growth Survey 2016 and the euro area recommendation, which set out the priorities at European level, these reports shift the attention of the European Semester to the national dimension. They will serve as the basis for discussion with Member States of their national policy choices ahead of their National Programmes in April, and they will lead to the formulation, in late spring, of the Commission's Country-Specific Recommendations. Read more. |
Tripartite Social Summit The Spring Tripartite Social Summit (TSS) took place in Brussels on 16 March, on the eve of the March European Council. A discussion was held on a “strong partnership for job creation and inclusive growth”, taking stock of the new start for social dialogue launched in March 2015. A number of sub-themes were discussed, covering the implementation of the country-specific recommendations, the impact of the refugee crisis on the labour market and the challenges linked to digitalisation. On this occasion, the Public Services Employers Forum (PSEF) has published a joint declaration on digitalisation highlighting the key role of public services providers in a successful digital transformation and stressing the importance of guaranteeing citizens’ privacy rights. Read more. |
Reform of the Posting of Workers’ Directive On March 8th the European Commission presented a targeted revision of the 1996 Posting of Workers Directive (Directive 96/71/EC). The aim of this proposal is to facilitate the posting of workers within a climate of fair competition and respect for the rights of workers, who are employed in one Member State and sent to work temporarily in another by their employer. This targeted revision also aims at ensuring a level playing field between domestic and posting companies in the host country. The proposal will introduce changes in three main areas: remuneration of posted workers, including in situations of subcontracting, rules on temporary agency workers, and long-term posting. Read more. |
Role of the social partners in the EU Semester Eurofound recently published a report on the role of the social partners in the European Semester. It analyses the involvement of the social partners in the different stages of the EU Semester, both at national and EU level, in the 28 Member States between 2011 and 2014. The report focuses in particular on the preparation of the National Reform Programmes (NRP) and the adoption of the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) dealing with employment and social policy issues. HOSPEEM participated in the lunch debate organised by Eurofound on 16 February on the occasion of the publication of the report. Read more. |
2015 employment and social developments review On January 21st, Commissioner Thyssen presented the 2015 annual review of employment and social developments in the European Union (ESDE). This review examines the policy actions taken by the EU and Member States to achieve the employment and social objectives of the EU growth strategy Europe 2020. Despite recent improvements huge disparities still exist between Member States, in terms of economic growth, employment and other key social and labour market indicators. The report looks at ways of tackling these disparities, focusing in particular on job creation, labour market efficiency, social protection modernisation and investment in people. It highlights that social dialogue will be crucial in promoting a sustainable and economic recovery.Read more |
Working Time Developments in the 21st Century On March 1st Eurofound published the report “Working Time Developments in the 21st Century: Work duration and its regulation in the EU” which examines the development of working time for full-time workers in the EU between 1999 and 2014 .The report shows that, although there has been a general convergence in working time between the EU15 and new Member States, working hours continue to vary widely in Europe, with a number of different regimes in place. A clear split can be seen in this regard, with collective bargaining playing an important role in the old Member States, whereas in central and eastern Member States working time standards are more likely to be established through legislation. The report suggests that compliance with working time regulations and overtime limits is better enforced where working time rules are mainly negotiated rather than where they are mainly set in legislation. Read more. |
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