Government appeals to social partners

Download article in original language : BE0411302NFR.DOC

In October 2004, the Belgian Prime Minister presented his government's general policy statement to parliament. It included calls to the social partners to exercise pay moderation, negotiate on working hours and overtime, and engage in consultations on early retirement reform. The social partners had mixed reactions.

On 12 October 2004, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt gave the traditional 'general policy statement' to parliament, which included an outline of the liberal-socialist coalition government's projected state budget for 2005. At the end of the parliamentary debate on the statement, the Prime Minister - a member of the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, VLD) - appealed to the social partners for prudence in pay and asked them to take up the issues of working hours and overtime in their forthcoming negotiations over a new intersectoral agreement (to succeed the two-year accord for 2003-4 - BE0302302F).

On the subject of employment, the federal government’s statement underlines that it will follow the recommendations of the Higher Council for Employment (Conseil supérieur de l'Emploi/Hoge raad voor de werkgelegenheid) and the Higher Council for Finances (Conseil supérieur des Finances/Hoge Raad van Financiën). Mr Verhofstadt re-emphasised the importance of increasing the employment rate. Moreover, by spring 2005 the government would like to define a first set of concrete proposals concerning workers approaching retirement age. The government will organise a consultation with the social partners on this issue in the near future, in parallel with the intersectoral negotiations.

The government foresees submitting about 30 measures relating to retirement to the social partners. Nevertheless, it has been decided that there will be no change to the legal retirement age, nor to the current benefits linked to early retirement - though a revision is foreseen of the conditions, amounts, and duration of early retirement systems, taking account of the strenuousness of the work and cases where the worker has been the victim of restructuring. The measures submitted for discussion by the government fall into three groups. The first aims to limit the number of people taking early retirement, the second will stimulate employers to retain or hire older workers and the third to make early retirement less attractive for both workers and employers. In this last group of measures, the government would notably like to allow shorter notice periods for early retirement. The government would also like to modify the amount and duration of the complementary payment granted in case of early retirement. Finally, the government would like to review the taxation and social insurance conditions that apply.

As usual, the general policy statement provoked contrasting reactions from the social partners. For the Belgian Federation of Enterprises (Fédération des entreprises de Belgique/Verbond van Belgische Ondernemingen, FEB/VBO), while the government has succeeded in defining a balanced budget for 2005, it has not proposed any structured response to the problem of an ageing population. FEB/VBO is, though, pleased with the government’s decision to accomplish fully a reduction of social security contributions, agreed previously, worth a total of EUR 900 million in 2005. It said: 'This will allow companies to relaunch their investments and encourage them to create extra jobs.' Nevertheless, further reductions in contributions are seen as essential in order to eliminate a labour cost handicap in relations to neighbouring countries. The employers’ organisation also mentioned the 'spiralling' costs in the health sector, up by 11% in 2004, whereas 'no fundamental measures have been taken to reverse the trend'.

The Belgian General Federation of Labour (Fédération Générale du Travail de Belgique/Algemeen Belgisch Vakverbond, FGTB/ABVV) and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (Confédération des Syndicats Chrétiens/Algemeen Christelijk Vakverbond, CSC/ACV) noted that the federal budget for 2005 fully maintains previously foreseen social improvements, contains few measures that would harm the purchasing power of workers or recipients of social benefits, and announces few new social initiatives. While believing that the financial equilibrium of the social security system is guaranteed by an increase in alternative financing, the two largest union confederations nevertheless claim that no structural or sufficient financing is guaranteed for the future.

On the topic of workers approaching retirement age, CSC/ACV and FGTB/ABVV claimed that the debate seemed to be over before it had begun. According to them, the many concrete proposals made by the government leave little room for an open social consultation. Moreover, these proposals direct the consultation in a single direction: older workers should be cheaper, more mobile, more available, and finance their own retirement by extra work (through 'time savings' schemes) or by existing pay benefits (the holiday allowance and end of year bonus).

The Federation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (Centrale Générale des Syndicaux Libéraux de Belgique/Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België, CGSLB/ACLVB) notes that the government has presented very detailed proposals concerning training, work organisation, the problem of workers approaching retirement age, and the ageing population. It regrets that 'even though the proposals were all formulated in the conditional tense, the level of detail will, without a doubt, influence the consultation with and between the social partners', and considers that there can be no question, in this consultation, of having an imposed unilateral agenda.