Date: January 16, 2023 (Online Meeting)

Attendees at the Launch Meeting:

• Fundación Antonio Bustamante, FAB [Ángel Lozano and Carolina Naveso]
• Coalición Sindical Independiente de Trabajadores de Madrid, CSIT UNIÓN PROFESIONAL, Spain [Laura Tormo and David Ávila]
• Federazione Autonoma dei Sindicato dei Transportes, FAST, Italy [Salvatore Motta]
• KSS, North Macedonia [Veronika Velkovska and Blagoja Ralpovs]
• GSUPOIP NEZAVISNOST, Serbia [Nebojsa Pejcinovic and Caslav Gauric]

Meeting Highlights:

• Welcome and Partner Introduction: The meeting began with a warm welcome from Ángel Lozano representing Fundación Antonio Bustamante, FAB. Each partner organization introduced themselves individually.
• Project Presentation: The project’s focus is to support the public services sector in establishing European Works Councils (EWCs). It aims to improve employee participation procedures, establish EWCs, and enhance the effectiveness of existing ones in the public services sector. The project will also explore reasons for the low number of EWCs and identify their operational deficiencies.
• Secondary Objectives: Key secondary objectives include building sustainable cooperation among social partners, including representatives from candidate countries, and preparing these partners for the implementation of European legislation on EWCs.
• Project Phases: The project comprises several phases, starting with the launch meeting. The next phase, spanning six months, involves research to explore the role of worker representatives in establishing and benefiting from EWCs in participating countries. It also aims to provide recommendations for the public services sector and analyze existing EWCs’ efficiency.
• Upcoming Activities: The project includes an international seminar in Serbia (potentially in September 2023), focusing on research results, strategic approaches, EU legislation, and motivation for establishing EWCs. There’s also a learning workshop in Italy (February-March 2024) to address weaknesses identified during the research phase and improve worker participation mechanisms.
• Publications: The project will culminate in several publications, including a report based on research results, two manuals addressing identified needs, a promotional video, and articles to be published in each participating country’s online media.
• Research Methodology: The presentation outlined the research methodology, including questionnaires, interviews, desktop analysis, national reports, a comparative report, and international seminars.
• Discussion and Proposals: Representatives from Serbia and North Macedonia discussed challenges in implementing European legislation due to their candidate country status.
• Project Timeline: The proposed timeline for the project includes various phases spanning from data collection to publication, with milestones throughout 2023 and early 2024.

This project aims to enhance worker participation and the establishment of European Works Councils in the public services sector, ultimately improving the working conditions and cooperation among social partners. Stay tuned for updates on this exciting initiative.