Kick-off meeting of the project on Industrial Relations in the Commerce sector EBT Perugia Capacity building, EU-Funded Project management and the European Social Dialogue for Commerce Ilaria Savoini Perugia, 16 February 2012

2 Short Presentation of EuroCommerce EuroCommerce was founded in 1993: it is the organisation representing the interest of retail, wholesale and international trade vis-à-vis the European Institutions EuroCommerce has more than 100 members, including: –Commerce association in 31 countries –Companies/groups of companies –Sub-sectoral national and European organisations –EuroCommerce is the recognised social partner for sectoral social dialogue at EU level representing the employers

3 The implementation of the sectoral social dialogue for commerce Social dialogue for commerce has already started informally in 1983 Mutual recognition of EuroCommerce and UNI Europa Commerce (trade union)as social partners in 1993 Commission Decision on sectoral social dialogue Committees of the 20/05/1998 and impact on SSDC for commerce: –joint request of the commerce SP to establish a sectoral social dialogue Committee further to the publication of the Commission’s Decision the 10/09/1998; –The SSDC Committee for commerce was established the 30/11/1998

4 Work programme of the social partners for The the social partners approved a new work programme for The issues dealt with will be: –Adaptation to change, vocational training and skill needs (main issue: sector skills council project); –EU Employment strategy and the commerce sector (main issue: contribute to build a better and more inclusive labour market) –Joint follow-up of EU policies with a social impact on commerce (e.g. retail action plan, social aspects of the single market act, exchange of views on the WTD…) –Health, safety and well-being at work: ( e.g.third-party violence, stress, psycho-social risks…) –Improving the effectiveness of social dialogue : (capacity building for NMS, joint follow-up of our common outcomes)

5 Capacity building activities Since the beginning of their social dialogue, the social partners for commerce have organised so-called « capacity building activities » –Main objective: help their members first in accession countries, then in the new member states and candidate countries: To improve/develop social dialogue at national level To understand and facilitate the implementation of the EU social acquis in their countries To improve the participation of the representative of these countries to the EU Social Dialogue

6 Capacity building: some practical examples National workshops on social dialogue and internal market organised with the financial support of the Commission (TAIEX) in all candidate countries between 1998 and 2005 From 2007 to 2009, we organised three workshops funded by DG EMPL (social dialogue) to exchange views between national and EU SD in: –Croatia –Turkey –Romania In 2011, EuroCommerce and UNI Europa organised separate trainings in cooperation with the training centre of the ILO, followed by a joint workshop. EuroCommerce provides advice and expertise to their members on applying for and using EU funding for various kind of projects

7 The use of EU funding for projects: some good practices (1) The main budget heading used by the social partners is the one called « Industrial relations and social dialogue » of DG EMPL The most of social dialogue committees have their meetings organised by the commission BUT EuroCommerce and UNI Europa ask funding to the Commission to organise THEMSELVES their meetings! Positive points: –More autonomy of the social partners –More flexibility for dates, locations, etc. –Possibility to have also funds for connected activities such as publications, websites, translations… –The social partners require funds for their social dialogue on a rotational and annual basis (i.e. this year EuroCommerce, next year UNI Europa)

8 Other examples of projects implemented with EU financial support 2 projects aimed to address work related third-party violence (same budget heading): –A sectoral project in 2009 – main outcome: toolkit, see: s/ec-jointhandbook_finalcorrected.pdf s/ec-jointhandbook_finalcorrected.pdf –A multi-sectoral project on the same issue in 2011: see 2 Projects on the anticipation of skill needs to address the mismatch between the need of companies and the skills of employees: –A first one implemented by EuroCommerce in cooperation with UNI Europa (PROGRESS budget heading), see –A second one, implemented by UNI Europa in cooperation with EuroCommerce aimed to establish a Sector Skills Council for commerce has just started

9 As a conclusion…. The implementation of joint projects at EU level is a very important activity in the framework of the EU social dialogue Good cooperation and rotation in the leadership of the projects (then undertaking all the financial and administrative tasks) is essential to achieve good results A permanent contact between the partners is essential for the success of the projects Projects successfully implemented = gain the confidence of the Commission and be easily elegible for future projects! Commission has just started to share good practices on project management (late is better than never ) Important to be accurate in the reporting (Commission rules are very strict!)

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