16th of December 2014 Marc Litvine of EuropeAid presented the book “The Economic and Social Councils in Latin America and the European Union?? in the rooms of the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. At the meeting representatives of the Latin-American Social and Economic Councils were present, amongst them Social and Economic Councils of Honduras, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Brazil en Panama. They participated in the debate on the future and the challenges of the social dialogue and exchanged good practices.

3 out of 5 departments in the Flemish administration are not committed enough to equal opportunities and diversity. Social partners and the representatives of the target groups are regretting this and remind the government of the necessity to focus on the most vulnerable groups in the labour market.

In order to  monitor in an efficient way the results of the diversity and equal opportunities policy a correct definition of persons with a migrant background is needed.  As the Flemish government plans to include into the definition workers coming from EU15 (including French and Dutch workers), the social partners fear that the new target of 10% persons with a migrant background working within the Flemish administration loses its relevance. The broader definition will especially have a negative impact on the groups with the highest needs.

For the Flemish social partners ILO is the most important international partner for cooperation. It is the United Nations tripartite organization governing the field of labour and industrial relations. ILO has expresses willingness to cooperate on the projects regarding social dialogue and exchanging know how and  good practices.

Creating a greater awareness for the Europe Union together with transparent communication of the Flemish position (as a sub regional entity) is crucial. The Flemish social partners themselves will continue to engage in European projects of exchanging practices.

In addition SERV agrees with the policy note to pursue the ambitions of the Flemish Pact 2020 

Flemish Social partners are pleased to note that many of their recommendations pleading for a decisive governance are integrated in the General Government Policy note. However, they wish to insist on the effective implementation of the policy plans. Transparent initiatives and the possibility of informing and engaging stakeholders, including SERV itself, are needed. In addition SERV is putting forward specific recommendations on quality decision-making, policy communication and evaluation, transparency, innovative governance structures, long term visions and strategic planning as well as establishing links with local governance.

Compared   to  a few months earlier forecasts in  the short term have been adapted downwards,  mostly due to international trade developments, geopolitical tensions and uncertainty regarding internal policy in the Europe Union. In principle the upward potential of the (slow) economic recovery should be sound. However the stagnation of the economic growth in Germany over the last months does affect Flemish export oriented industries. The weak position of the Euro in combination with low inflation figures and recovering public finances will  probably lead to catching up with the international economic growth trends.
Concluding: growth expectations for 20015 should not be set too ambitious. Growth figures that were common before the recession of 2008 cannot be expected in the upcoming years. Moreover economic growth is not yet having positive results in the labour market.

The Flemish government developed a new  regulation on the financing of VREG (Flemish Regulator of the Electricity and Gas market). SERV suggests weighing  the new taxes against some of his alternatives and sets out the (hidden) costs, costs of implementation and concrete distributional effects. Furthermore the council emphasizes that the debate regarding the financing of the VREG is an essential part of the broad social debate on the financing of the energy policy in general.

SERV and other strategic advisory councils SARO( spatial planning) , MINA ( environment) and SALV ( agriculture and fisheries) are welcoming the actual operationalizing of the environmental licenses. However, the councils jointly express some concerns such as  the need for clarification of the processes and the timing of the licenses, as well as a coherent and transparent assignment of the competent authorities that will deliver the licenses.

7 advisory councils of the different Belgian policy levels, regional as well as federal, published their roadmap for the low carbon transition of the Belgian society towards 2050.

The method of “inter federal?? policy advising is new in the country. Employers’ organizations, trade unions, the academic world  and civil society representing environmental groups, development workers, consumers’ organizations, youngsters and women are calling all governments in Belgium to move ahead rapidly in an integrated way. Urgent measures are needed to evoke changes and steer the transition in the field of mobility, rural and urban planning, construction and buildings, energy supply and the food chain.

SERV agrees with a general reorganization in the field of social economy.
SERV recommends the minister to implement and put into operation the decree on tailor made work and local services economy.

Simultaneously SERV notes that at this moment several  elements lack concrete interpretation. The minister will set out the concrete guidelines in a later stadium.

In its advice SERV reaffirms the necessity of a sustainable and improved participation of the target group workers. Equally the individual pillar of tailormade jobs that aim to include a limited group of targeted workers on the same work floor deserves a fair implementation.

SERV also wants to stress the existing uncertainty and vagueness of the definitions of the target group workers and the budgetary impact of the reform.

SERV is missing guarantees for:

• An adequate follow up on the work floor.
• An appropriate follow up of the “enclave?? method in which specific jobs and tasks are delegated to other enterprises or organizations.
• An operational framework for the tailor made activities.
• Avoiding substitute effects concerning the group with the highest need of support

Finally SERV calls for a suitable and adapted approach of labour care.