“CEEP welcomes the publication of the package, in particular the clear link to public services' employers in creating new jobs”, declared today Valeria Ronzitti, Acting General Secretary, commenting the adoption of the European Commission Communication “Towards a job-rich recovery”.

“Since the start of the crisis, we have emphasised the positive contribution of public services in creating growth and employment. Therefore, we can only welcome the intention of the European Commission to support job creation in the low carbon economy and in healthcare and social services. Our members, being energy or transport providers as well as employers in healthcare and social services, are at the very heart of creating jobs in those services. However, they need the right framework conditions for job creation at national, regional and local level. That is why the real test will be to see how far Member States will include the proposals from the Commission in their National Job Plans”.

In this respect, “we welcome the intention of the Commission to pave the way for a stronger participation of the Social Partners in economic governance, both at national and European level. This will ensure the necessary coherence between economic and employment policies, at all levels. A reinforced involvement in the European Semester will bring more responsibilities for the European Social Partners. It will be challenging but in CEEP we welcome this opportunity and we are ready to take up the challenge”.

For further information, please contact:

Andreas Persson - tel. +32 (0) 2 219 27 98

CEEP gathers enterprises and organisations from across Europe, both public and private, at national, regional and local level, which are public employers or providers of services of general interest. CEEP members contribute to more than 26% of EU GDP and employ 30% of the EU workforce; CEEP is one of the three general corss-industry European Social Partners