Communiqué, issue 4, 2003
Articles
- An abrupt halt to a brilliant career
- Monitoring industrial change in Europe
- Time for European-level workplace privacy regulation
- Northern Europeans most satisfied with leisure time
- Towards better living and working conditions in Europe
- Planning for the future
- Win-win effect possible with new working time arrangements
- Track record in monitoring working conditions
Previous issues of Communiqué
The Foundation’s Director Raymond-Pierre Bodin passed away unexpectedly on 4 July 2003. Hailed as one of Europe’s ‘top experts in the field of employment and labour relations policy’ (Le Monde), he had devoted himself during the past three years to developing the Foundation’s role in promoting the European social debate.
A wide-ranging career
Raymond-Pierre Bodin was born in France in 1948. A doctor in sociology, his career spanned the different worlds of civil service, university, private enterprise and, finally, a European Union organisation. He began his career at the French Ministry of Labour, and then followed a period of academic life as professor of social psychology and labour sociology at the Pierre Mendès-France University in Grenoble, France. In 1989 he became managing director of Eurotec Manducher (Klöckner Group), then human resources director of Klöckner Automotive. In 1996 he was appointed senior vice-president of human resources at Aventis Pharma, formerly Rhône-Poulenc Rorer.
The acceding country observers were introduced to the work of the Foundation in detail during a day-long induction seminar, prior to the Administrative Board meeting.
It was Raymond-Pierre Bodin’s abiding passion for better living and working conditions for all citizens which led him to seek the challenging position of Director of the Foundation, a post he took up in May 2000.
Enhancing the role of the Foundation
Raymond-Pierre Bodin believed the Foundation has a vital role to play in achieving better life and better work in Europe. During his three years at the Foundation, he threw himself into the task of re-shaping the work programme, concentrating the Foundation’s activities around fewer and more substantial research projects and establishing monitoring tools for each core research area. A direct result of these efforts is a greater visibility for the Foundation among policy- and decision-makers at European and national level.
New direction ahead
The Foundation’s Deputy Director Willy Buschak will take charge during the interim period, while the recruitment process for a new director takes place.
‘We intend to honour the commitments Pierre has made, and to work hard at the task of putting a new four-year work programme 2005-2008 in place,’ says Willy Buschak. ‘We will endeavour to maintain his vision of achieving a better life and better work for all.’