Brussels, 29 October 2009

Speaking note Carl Cederschiöld CEEP President

1. The sky under which we are meeting today is certainly
bluer than last spring, but still not blue enough. There
are clear indications of a second round of crisis effects.
And there is still no readily available crisis concept to
face it: Monetary policy has largely exhausted its room
for manoeuvre. Fiscal balances have already been
affected far beyond agreed limits, and there is no
consensus on how income policy should be handled. In a
nutshell: the macro‐economic tool box is rather empty.
2. Therefore, the answer must be found elsewhere, namely
in structural reforms and long term goals. Public
employers therefore call for emergency rescue measures
for specific sectors of the economy to be phased out.
Public services’ providers are performing during this
crisis both as stabilisers of the economy and of labour
markets. We provide the infrastructure for private
business prosperity but we cannot keep this on if extra
pressure on public budgets is maintained.

3. In this context, we echo colleagues that call for a swift ratification and implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

This will be a fundamental step also for CEEP whose
long‐standing demand is finally recognised at the highest
level of European Legislation: I am referring to the
insertion of Services of General Economic Interest in the
horizontal provisions of the Treaty. We are very glad that
this is accompanied by the recognition of the essential
role and wide discretion of regional and local actors in
providing, commissioning and organizing Services of
General Economic Interest as close as possible to the
needs of the users.

4. This acknowledges the importance of our way of “doing
business”, namely by bringing the concept of solidarity
into a highly competitive social market economy. It is
upon this concept that CEEP is building its contribution
to the EU 2020 vision.

In that regard, we are also looking forward to finalising
with ETUC and our employers’ colleagues the joint
recommendations on the Post 2010 Lisbon strategy. We
will join BUSINESSEUROPE in stressing the central role
that education should play in the new strategy to strive
for closer connection between education systems and
the needs of the labour markets. We are doing so
through a new CEEP sectoral federation representing
education employers at European level.

5. Finally, CEEP members are committed to pursuing their
fight against climate change. We have recently awarded
a CEEP‐Corporate Social Responsibility label to a German
regional energy company which invested one billion
Euros to deliver 100% green electricity to their 600.000
customers. This could be an element, but a strongly
needed business‐friendly framework for reaching the
20% carbon reduction is still to be set. President
Barroso’s decision to set up a Commissioner for Climate
Action is an important step into the right direction. The
impact on “green jobs” creation should be at the centre
of this portfolio.

However, CEEP feels that this is not enough, and calls
again, as done since 2008, for the setting up of a
consultative mechanism on climate change directly
involving the European Social partners. It is too late for
us to influence the Copenhagen Summit: We ask you not
to make it too late for us to influence the
implementation of the Summit results!