Ahead of the Informal dinner of Heads of State and Government of 23 May, CEEP calls on EU leaders to exploit the full potential of public services as the engine for sustainable growth.

“This evening you will have the opportunity to discuss in an open and informal manner what are the ingredients of the new alchemy that Europe needs to find to restore growth, jobs and confidence ”stated Hans Joachim Reck, President of CEEP. “ In this context, we offer you the full support of public services' employers and providers gathered in CEEP. Effective and high quality public services must indeed be at the centre of a new growth agenda”, added MrReck.

An open discussion will pave the way for decisions at the Council of June where we hope that the encouragement of President Van Rompuy to look at the longer term perspective with no taboos will be taken on board by EU leaders. In this context, CEEP believes that the European Social Model should regain the place it deserves, namely the centre of the scene when discussing the future of Europe. “CEEP is fully committed to playing an active role in shaping new decisions aimed at boosting the European social model” emphasised President Reck.

CEEP would like to contribute to this informal dialogue by emphasising that the regulatory framework on growth and employment has to take into account the particular nature of public services. The current economic and financial crisis has highlighted more than ever the fundamental role of Services of General Interest all over the European Union. Besides the need for social cohesion, CEEP would also like to draw the attention to the phenomena of a changing demography and the growing gap in society between the wealthy and the impecunious.

“Public services represent indeed the link between a well-performing internal market and a highly competitive social market economy: we believe that those are the key ingredients for successful decisions on a new growth agenda to be agreed in June” concluded CEEP President.

For further information, please contact:

Priya Klinkenberg- 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.