Communiqué, issue 5, 2004
Articles
- Quality of life in an enlarged Europe: challenges and opportunities
- Parental leave in the European Union
- Fewer redundancies, more jobs created
- Comparing quality of life in Estonia with the rest of Europe
- Industrial relations in Europe – a snapshot
- EWCs lead to better industrial relations at company level
- Highest home-ownership levels in the new Member States
- New chairman of Foundation’s Administrative Board
Previous issues of Communiqué
Jan-Willem van den Braak who has recently been appointed chairman of the Foundation’s Administrative Board has been a member of the Foundation’s Board since 1993 and chairman of its employer group since 1999. Shortly after graduating with a law degree 30 years ago, he joined the Dutch employer organisation, VNO, now known as VNO-NCW, where he has been Social Affairs Manager since 2000.
What are the Dutch EU Presidency’s social affairs goals and how can the VNO-NCW contribute to these?
The Dutch EU Presidency’s main social affairs objective is to lay the foundations for the new social policy agenda 2006–2010 in a way that reflects the Lisbon Agenda, the recommendations of the Employment Taskforce and Europe’s ageing working population. Revising the Working Time Directive – and in particular finding common ground around the issue of temporary agency work – will be an important part of this. The VNO-NCW, which fully supports the Dutch Presidency’s aims, believes that temporary agency work is vital to create a more dynamic labour market and more jobs. Unless the proposed Directive on temporary agency work is revised, we will not achieve this.
Is it in Europe’s interests to regulate and coordinate social issues at an EU level?
Over the last decade there has been a disturbing tendency towards over-regulation at EU level: EU social legislation should primarily be used to realise the internal market and to create a level playing field. In terms of coordination, the open method has proved to be a useful instrument. However, there is a danger that its main strength, notably the flexibility it gives countries to design measures around their individual circumstances, could be undermined by excessive bureaucratic detail.
What are the risks of Europe not hitting the Lisbon Agenda targets?
If we don’t achieve these targets by 2010, civil society will lose faith in the benefits of a united Europe and we will not have the competitive businesses needed to support our welfare states. It’s of the utmost importance to succeed. This year a high-level group chaired by Wim Kok recommended concrete steps to accelerate progress towards these objectives.
How do you see the Foundation moving forward?
I see it developing as a centre of knowledge for a wide range of social issues, supporting policy-makers at both EU and national level. At national level, though, the Foundation needs to make more people aware of the data it has at its disposal. It also needs to strengthen the quality and policy-relevance of its data by intensively monitoring EU policies in order to identify areas where additional information and analyses are required.