After a first series of policy responses to the crisis that aimed at sustaining internal demand through expansionary anti-crisis packages, most European governments in a second period put in place a series of restrictive budgetary policies aimed at reducing their budgetary deficit. Within these new policies, a significant number of adjustments and reforms have been carried out in the public sector.

The aim of this conference is to better identify the nature, the scope and the effects of these public sector adjustments. A comparative volume on public sector adjustments and their effects – notably from a series of case studies – written by high-level national experts, will be used as a basis for the discussions.

The conference will be attended by all government, trade union and employer representatives and experts of 30 countries (EU27 + Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey). A conclusive session will host the highest representatives of international employers and trade unions’ representatives, the European Commission and the ILO.

The conference is organized by the ILO in cooperation with the European Commission

PROGRAM

Thursday, 21 June

08:30 - 09:30 Registration
09:30 - 09.55 Opening
Chair: Manuela Tomei, Director, Labour Protection Department, ILO

• Philippe Marcadent, Chief, Conditions of Work and Employment Branch, ILO
• Andrew Chapman, Deputy head of Social Dialogue Unit, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, European Commission)

09.55 - 10:40

• What adjustments in the public sector and what effects to be expected? (Presentation of the project and its main findings)
• Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead, Conditions of Work and Employment Branch, ILO
• The effects on inequalities: Are women most hit by public sector adjustments?
• Jill Rubery, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester

Discussion

10:40 - 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 - 12:30 Session 1: Diversity in public sector adjustments and reforms
General introduction from the Chair

• Case study 1: Significant quantitative adjustments in the public sector: Example of Spain, Rafael Munoz de Bustillo
• Case study 2: Public sector reforms started before the crisis in Sweden, Dominique Anxo
• Case study 3: Tensions between quantitative adjustments and public sector reforms? The case of Portugal, Helena Rato
• Case study 4: Public sector policies in Germany, Gerhard Bosch

Perspectives of employers’ and workers’ representatives
Discussion
12:30 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 - 15:30 Session 2: What immediate effects of public sector adjustments in the world of work?
General introduction from the Chair

• Case study 1: The immediate effects of the austerity package in Greece, Zafiris Tzannatos and Iannis Monogios
• Case study 2: Wage and employment adjustments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Jaan Masso
• Case study 3: Continuous flow of public sector reforms in Romania, Valentina Vasile
• Case study 4: Reforms and effects in public sector in Ireland, Philip O´Connell

Perspectives of employers’ and workers’ representatives
Discussion

15:30 - 15:50 Coffee break
15:50 - 17:30 Session 3: What longer term effects are to be expected?
General introduction from the chair

• Case study 1: What long-term effects from past and newest public sector reforms in the UK? Damian Grimshaw
• Case study 2: What long-term effects on employments prospects and migrations? The case of Hungary, János Köllö
• Case study 3: Structural effects in Croatia, Vojimir Franicevic
• Case study 4: What impact on the quality of jobs? Case study in the Netherlands, Wiemer Salverda
• Case study 5: Towards the strengthening of a dual labour market in the public sector? The case of France Jérôme Gautié

Perspectives of employers’ and workers’ representatives
Discussion

Friday, 22 June

09:00 - 09:15 Follow-up of debates and synthesis Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead
09:15 - 11.15 Policy Discussion (with the participation of Ministers of Labour and other high representatives from the Ministry of Labour): Public sector reforms: What optimal policy mix?
Introduction and Chairperson: Raymond Torres, Director of the International Institute for Labour Studies, ILO

• Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
• Milena Angelova, Executive Vice-President, Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public services (CEEP)

Discussion

11:15 - 11:40 Special address to the Conference
Guy Ryder, Executive Director, Standards and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Sector/ newly elected Director General, ILO

11:40 – 12:00 Coffee break
12:00 – 13:00 Round table of European social partners: The role of European social dialogue in defining and implementing public sector reforms
Chair: Maria Helena André, Parliament of Portugal
With the participation of:

Carola Fischbach Pyttel, General Secretary, European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU)

Angelika Poth Mögele, Director of policy, Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR)

Jacky Leroy, Director General of European Public Administration Employers (EUPAE)

13.00 – 13.30 Conclusions and Prospects
Chair: Susanne Hoffmann, Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, ILO

• Jean-Paul Tricart, Head of Social Dialogue Unit, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, European Commission
• Manuela Tomei, Director, Labour Protection Department, ILO

13.30 Lunch
Discussion