Communiqué, issue 2, 2003
Articles
- Open dialogue a prerequisite for successful CSR
- End of an era – an ode to Eric Verborgh
- Taking up the reins
- Responding to new needs for social statistics
- Better balancing of private and working lives
- Illness and inclusion
- News in brief
- Research in figures
- Inside the Foundation
Open dialogue a prerequisite for successful CSR
Successful corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the result of open dialogue involving all stakeholders and incorporating their different expectations, according to a new report marking the Foundation’s first contribution to the CSR debate.
The report looks at restructuring and subcontracting and the effects of corporate involvement in local community and economic regeneration, as well as the promotion of environmentally acceptable practices, and reveals that the inclusion of CSR on the agenda of in-house social dialogue remains limited.
The report is the result of two research projects, looking at CSR from the perspectives of living and working conditions, including a series of EU company case studies, examining socially responsible practices. It is based on the notion that the Foundation is in a unique position, due to its tripartite structure, to contribute to the CSR debate where social, economic and environmental issues overlap.
Promoting a 'CSR-friendly' dialogue
The report shows that it is not easy for the traditional players in social dialogue to practise CSR. It suggests that the social dialogue faces different options: first, the social dialogue remains based on a binary model and excludes any other parties. Second, a dialogue with other stakeholders is developed in parallel to the social dialogue and bridges are built between them. Third, the social dialogue could be opened up to a wide range of stakeholders but runs the risk of reducing employees and their representatives to one stakeholder among many.
Foundation's contribution in context
At a European level as far back as 1993, Commission President Jacques Delors called on businesses to take up the fight against social exclusion. More recently, at the Lisbon Summit in March 2000, the European Council made a special appeal to companies' sense of social responsibility. In 2001, the Commission's Green Paper launched a debate on the concept itself and 2002 saw the Commission publish a Communication on Corporate social responsibility: a business contribution to sustainable development (COM (2002) 347 final.
The report is the Foundation’s contribution to the current debate as the new Multistakeholder Forum on CSR, established by the Commission in October 2002, begins its work.
The full report is available on http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/EF0317.htm
For further information contact Teresa Renehan at e-mail ter@eurofound.europa.eu or John Hurley at e-mail joh@eurofound.europa.eu
End of an era – an ode to Eric Verborgh
'The last two decades have seen the Foundation become a professional and relevant contributor to EU social policymaking,' says Eric Verborgh, who retired as the Foundation's deputy director on 31 March.
The Foundation salutes Eric Verborgh on his retirement after 18 years of loyal and committed service and wishes him well in his new life.
During his 18-year tenure as deputy director, Eric Verborgh has overseen the growth of the Foundation from 36 permanent staff to about 100 and has guided the Foundation through two enlargement waves, in 1989 and 1995, expanding the geographical reach of the Foundation from ten to 15 countries.
'The fascinating part of working at EU level is the opportunity to discover and bridge the differences between European cultures,' says Eric Verborgh. 'It is a liberating feeling and an exciting challenge to find working solutions to these differences.'
A life devoted to improving living and working conditions
Eric Verborgh has worked on living and working conditions issues throughout his professional career. Starting as a junior researcher at the Free University of Brussels, and moving onto a senior research post at the Belgian Institute for the Improvement of Working Conditions, his knowledge of the field earned him a nomination for the post of deputy director in 1985.
'I came to the Foundation proposed by the workers' unions, but my role was not to defend workers' positions. It does not work that way,' he says firmly. 'My background has never coloured my role. I think it would be fair to say that all people at the Foundation consider their colleagues first and foremost as professionals and Europeans.'
At the helm
On the departure of the former director Clive Purkiss in 1999, Eric Verborgh took on the role of acting director in the interim period of finding a successor.
'That was an exciting period of my career at the Foundation,' he says. 'As part of a collaborative effort, I spearheaded the work behind the current four-year work programme and that is a proud testimony to my work here.'
Pursuing an active retirement
Having shared his life between Dublin and Brussels for the past 18 years, he will go on doing so in this new phase of active retirement. ‘There have been good times and some hard times, there have been compromises and sacrifices,' finishes Eric Verborgh, 'but if I was offered the opportunity to do it all over again, I most certainly would. Let me take this opportunity to wish my successor, Willy Buschak, all the very best in his new position.’
Taking up the reins
Meet the Foundation's new deputy director - Willy Buschak.
'The Foundation fulfils the needs of its target audiences more effectively and efficiently now than in the past,' comments Willy Buschak on taking up the post of deputy director on 1 April 2003. 'To a large extent, this is Eric's achievement and I commend him for the solid and unstinting work he has done to bring the Foundation to where it is today.'
No newcomer to Foundation affairs
Former Confederal Secretary of the European Trade Union Congress (ETUC), 51-year-old German Willy Buschak is no newcomer to the Foundation and its work. He has played an important part in the Foundation’s progress through his role as coordinator of the Administrative Board over an eight-year period until 2000. He therefore brings with him a deep knowledge and understanding of the Foundation's key areas of work.
'Enlargement is going to be a big challenge for the Foundation, as for all other EU bodies, but the Foundation is in a strong position to meet this challenge. My role will be to support the director in building on the successes of the past as we move to tackle this new future,' says Willy Buschak.
Responding to new needs for social statistics
Eurostat wants to work with the Foundation to satisfy the growing demand for a broad range of statistics in the social field.
The statistical office of the European Communities (Eurostat) intends to strengthen its activities in the field of social statistics, reflecting a growing demand from social policymakers in Europe. During a visit to the Foundation on 25 March 2003, Gabrielle Clotuche, Director for Social Statistics at Eurostat, identified a range of opportunities for closer collaboration with the Foundation.
Werner Grünewald (left) with Gabrielle Clotuche from Eurostat and Robert Anderson, Foundation research coordinator, in the sun outside Loughlinstown House.
'We want to better serve the needs of users of our data, covering labour statistics, but also health statistics, social security, demographic data and migration and mobility,' said Gabrielle Clotuche, following discussions with the Foundation's research coordinators. 'There are also common interests for Eurostat and the Foundation, as producers of data, to improve both quality and accessibility. Eurostat and the Foundation share the challenges created from enlarging the European Union, in exploiting existing data, expanding data collection and developing new ways for making databases accessible and user-friendly,' she continued.
Better balancing of private and working lives
A growing number of people are choosing to move away from the traditional pattern of education–work–retirement and are seeking flexible solutions to balance their working and private life and improve their quality of life
Faced with a rapidly ageing population, changing family patterns, and increased emphasis on competitiveness due to globalisation, European social policymakers are forced to come up with solutions to optimise the labour market and at the same time improve the quality of life for individuals. As an appropriate response to these pressing political challenges, the Foundation’s project, A new organisation of time throughout working life, looks at how employees can improve their quality of life by better combining their working and private lives. This long term perspective, which takes into account the fact that choices made at one stage in life have a direct impact on opportunities later in life, differentiates from previous Foundation reports on time issues.
'While the project aims to highlight and promote best practice in modernising the organisation of working time in companies,' comments Hubert Krieger, research manager in the Foundation's Living Conditions unit, 'the ultimate goal of the Foundation's work is to formulate concrete policy recommendations for such a change.'
For further information, please contact Teresa Renehan on e-mail ter@eurofound.europa.eu
Illness and inclusion
There is increasing focus on developing policies and services to promote the social inclusion of people with chronic illness or disabilities.
About 17% of Europe's general population and 15% of those of working age have a chronic illness or disability and these groups are often dogged by persistent poverty, according to a new Foundation report on Illness, disability and social inclusion to be published in May. The report highlights the fact that many physical, legal and administrative barriers for these groups remain and that segregation starts at an early stage, with children often pushed into parallel education networks or otherwise excluded from mainstream society.
Promoting social inclusion focus of increasing attention
National Action Plans for both employment and social inclusion have, in the past, emphasised disadvantages associated with illness and disability. A Council Directive in November 2000 established a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation and prohibits any discrimination based on disability. The development of policies and the delivery of services to promote the social inclusion of people with chronic illness (physical or mental) or disabilities, are the focus of increasing attention. The social inclusion of people with disabilities or illness is essential to achieving the objectives of the Lisbon summit of high levels of employment and promoting a more inclusive society.
Higher unemployment and lower wages
The Foundation's new report is intended to give an overview of key issues to fuel the debate and increase the attention dedicated to people with disabilities and chronic illness, particularly those of working age. It reveals that income, education levels and unemployment status are all linked, to some degree, to chronic illness and/or disability. Moreover, disabled people have twice the rate of non-participation in the labour force as non-disabled people of working age and the unemployment rate of persons with a severe illness or disability is about three times the level of non-disabled persons. People with chronic illness or disability also receive lower wages than non-disabled.
The report recommends improving current policies in several ways including:
- increasing dialogue at local level and with social partners
- increasing input from disabled groups into planning and policymaking
- ensuring 'universal design' agreement to improve access to facilities
- integrating disabled children into mainstream education
- mainstreaming the disability perspective into all policy spheres
The full report will be available on the Foundation's website Eurofound in May.
For further information, please contact Teresa Renehan on e-mail ter@eurofound.europa.eu
News in brief
Working time differences remain substantial
Average weekly working hours remain longest in Greece, Finland and Belgium, and shortest in France, the Netherlands and Denmark, according to a recent report from the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO).
The report also shows average collectively-agreed weekly working hours throughout the EU and Norway remain stable at around 38.2 hours, with no major reduction in working time over the last four years. However, working-time reduction is still a central demand for the trade union movement, according to the new report.
The full report is available on www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2003/03/Update/TN0303103U.html
'Better work and life' conference
The Foundation is co-organising a conference with the Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs in Greece Greek government, currently holding the EU presidency, in the northern city of Alexandroupolis on 12-13 May 2003. The conference will gather 180 decision makers from Europe and beyond.
'We want to highlight quality aspects of work, employment and life of citizens in an enlarged Europe,' says Stavroula Demetriades, research coordinator of the Foundation’s industrial relations team.
For further information, please contact Marina Patriarka on e-mail mpa@eurofound.europa.eu
Irish labour minister calls for cooperation with the Foundation
The Foundation should have a ‘direct and significant input’ into the forthcoming Irish EU Presidency, according to Ireland’s Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment with special responsibility for Labour Affairs Frank Fahey visiting the Foundation on 25 February.
Minister Fahey said he hoped the Foundation would contribute to work over the next twelve months on issues such as access to employment for people with special needs and women’s access to the labour market.
What is your quality of life?
This is the question that will be answered by citizens of 28 European countries in a Foundation survey to take place in May and June of this year. The survey on living conditions and quality of life in the 15 Member States and 13 candidate countries, focuses on employment, economic resources, family life, community life, health and education looking at the views and experiences of Europe’s citizens.
The survey will allow the Foundation to map and understand differences across Europe associated with factors such as age, gender, health and income.
For further information, please contact Teresa Renehan on e-mail ter@eurofound.europa.eu
Research in figures
End to upward trend in agreed pay
Average nominal pay increases declined in 2002 for the first time in three years. This 0.3 per cent downturn to only a 3.5 per cent rise last year, marks an end to the upward trend in pay increases since 1999 and is a direct result of calls for wage moderation at EU and national levels.
The full report is available on www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2003/03/Update/TN0303102U.html
Average collectively agreed pay increases, 2001 and 2002 (%)
Source: EIRO
Inside the Foundation
Handing over to the next generation
Jean Lapeyre, the deputy general secretary of ETUC, participated for the last time as coordinator of the workers' group at the Foundation's 69th Administrative Board meeting on 28 March 2003.
'I have been working with the Foundation for the past 17 years,' said Jean Lapeyre in his parting remarks to his colleagues on the Administrative Board gathered in Dublin, 'and now it is time for me to let in the next generation of people who will continue to build this European body into something more extraordinary than it is today.'
Eurofound web survey underway
The Foundation's web team will launch a user survey on the Eurofound website. The initiative is two-pronged. The first focuses on accumulating user feedback through a wide-scale survey to take place during June 2003.
The second involves expert assessment of Eurofound against the general technical standards and accepted good practice of web design and communication. The results will form the basis for developing the Foundation's web future strategy.
COMMUNIQUÉ
Communiqué is published by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin 18, Ireland.
The Foundation is an autonomous body of the European Union, established by Regulation (EEC) 1365/75 of the EU Council of Ministers of 26 May 1975.
Director: Raymond-Pierre Bodin
Deputy Director: Eric Verborgh
Communiqué is published 6 times a year, in English and French. Any item may be reproduced without further permission if the source is acknowledged.
Communiqué is available free of charge. It is also available for free download at www.eurofound.europa.eu/newsroom.
Editor-in-chief: Elisabeth Lagerlöf
Editor: Måns Mårtensson, e-mail: mans.martensson@eurofound.europa.eu
Original language: English
Circulation: 15,500
EF/03/37/EN
FURTHER INFORMATION
General information, enquiry services Tel: +353-1-204 3100, e-mail: information@eurofound.europa.eu
Måns Mårtensson, Press Officer Tel: +353-1-204 3124, e-mail: mma@eurofound.europa.eu
Information Liaison Officers: Camilla Galli da Bino, EIRO Tel: +353-1-204 3125, e-mail: gdb@eurofound.europa.eu
John Hurley, Working Conditions Tel: +353-1-204 3209, e-mail: joh@eurofound.europa.eu
Marina Patriarka, Industrial Relations Tel: +353-1-204 3115, e-mail: mpa@eurofound.europa.eu
Teresa Renehan, Living Conditions Tel: +353-1-204 3126, e-mail: ter@eurofound.europa.eu
Gregorio De Castro, EMCC Tel: +353-1-204 3229, e-mail: gcf@eurofound.europa.eu