The EESC calls for greater relevance to be given to economic, social and cultural rights, in particular to the protection of labour standards enshrined in the ILO Conventions which it considers a key pillar to democracy development.
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The Commission proposal for a directive on the enforcement of the directive on posting of workers is one of the proposals intended on the one hand to strengthen the rules on posting of workers and on the other to codify the existing legislation governing the right to take collective action in cross-border situations. The EESC welcomes the intention to enforce the existing directive, focusing on better implementation and effective administrative cooperation among Member States. The original Directive plays a key role in promoting a climate of fair competition between all service providers (including those from other Member States) by guaranteeing both a level playing-field and legal certainty for service providers, service recipients, and workers posted for the provision of services.
"The opinion is therefore based on the realisation that the handicap beleaguering Europe now is not so much delays in building its internal market as the need to establish a strong economic, industrial and technological identity in the context of globalisation. The EESC believes that discussion therefore needs to consider all the costs of non-Europe resulting from the failure to complete European integration.
The approach advocated in the opinion seeks to reduce costs, optimise expenditure, maximise opportunities and provide an appropriate response for meeting current challenges and finding a positive way out of the crisis which will benefit everyone.
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The EESC stresses the usefulness of the Youth Opportunities initiative and is ready to get involved in implementing the initiative by cooperating with the social partners and civil society organisations and through joint action with stakeholders to promote it. The EU's austerity policy and the lack of a clear and generally recognised growth policy could jeopardise the success of the Youth Opportunities initiative, therefore it is vital to create an appropriate economic and financial environment. The EESC emphasises the importance of appropriate education, training and careers advice and believes that it is appropriate to support first work experience and on-the-job training. Quality apprenticeships, placements in enterprises and traineeships are an important means for young people to acquire skills and work experience. The first job should guarantee a set of minimum employment standards. The creation of new high-quality jobs must remain a priority.
With the number of pensioners growing faster than the working population and an economic crisis putting additional pressure on the national budgets, the EU Member States need to find ways of delivering fair, safe and sustainable pensions. Following on from a consultation on European pensions systems in 2010, a new policy paper on sustainable pensions proposes mainly to link retirement age with life expectancy, restricting early retirement, to close the pension gap between men and women and to develop private pension schemes. In its opinion on that White Paper, the EESC recommends that Member States focus their reform efforts on increasing the revenues that fund their pension systems by boosting employment, improving the mechanisms for collecting contributions, and tackling undeclared work and tax evasion.
