PES Manifesto

Quality of public services = quality of life

Published Monday, June 23, 2008 at 09:06
by _EPSU_ (353 views and 0 comments)

Quality employment and quality public services and not “market obligations” should be the driving principles for the European Union in order to foster social inclusion, equality and solidarity.

The European Federation of Public Services Unions (EPSU) welcomes PES initiatives striving for better public services such as the call for a specific horizontal framework that should set out concrete quality standards and criteria. This horizontal legal framework, based on the public services protocol annexed to the Lisbon Treaty, could serve as a departure point for sectoral initiatives and could be an opportunity to give more scope for the inclusion of social and environmental criteria in public procurement contracts and in productivity indicators, to raise good administration, transparency, democratic control, to promote more gender equality and to guarantee equal access to public services.

Concerning employment, a “quality work” has to be preferred to a “flexisecurity approach”. In this respect, EPSU advocates fair working conditions, full rights and representation including better collective bargaining rights. There is also the need to do more in order to improve gender equality and to promote life-long learning especially in the hospital sector. Achieving an inclusive society where “no one is left behind” means to address the needs of those at risk of discrimination such as immigrants. Quality public services, namely good social services, healthcare services or immigration services could be the motor of a good integration.

Read the full contribution here.

Tags: employment, manifesto, public services