Small firms contest deal on child care

Date: 10/10/1996

EUROPE's small businesses are going to court to challenge the legality of the Union's social dialogue, just as the somewhat delicate discussions begin on the future of part-time work.

The European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) is contesting the deal on parental leave approved by the Council of Ministers in the European Court of First Instance, on the grounds that it was not properly involved in the negotiations leading up to the agreement.

The deal, which guarantees parents a minimum of three months' leave for child care purposes, was the first successful negotiation under the dialogue. It was adopted as a directive by social affairs ministers in June.

But UEAPME claims its exclusion from the dialogue is unjust and keeps a significant part of Europe's workforce out of crucial discussions.

“It is a travesty to say that UNICE (the EU employers' federation) represents Europe's small businesses and that it consults adequately with us before entering into negotiations,” said Nicholas Goulding of the Forum of Private Business, a member of UEAPME.

The Commission has also incurred the association's wrath for its insistence that it is up to the social partners themselves to decide who should be involved in their discussions.

“The Commission is continuing to wash its hands of the matter. But it is in the public interest that deals are done for the benefit of the whole European workforce, and the Commission should take the lead,” argued Goulding.

Officials representing Social Affairs Commissioner Pádraig Flynn refute these criticisms.

“It is not in our power to decree who does and who does not take part. UEAPME is involved in consultations along with all other interested parties and can participate in the sectoral social dialogue. The ultimate objective is that the thing actually works,” said one.

The Commission is also quick to point out that there are numerous safeguards written into the parental leave directive to ensure that small businesses are not adversely affected by its terms.

Officials stress that the three players responsible for negotiating the parental leave accord - UNICE, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the public employers' federation CEEP - are industry-wide bodies representative of all member states, and have adequate resources to play their part effectively.

They also point out that if UEAPME wants to press its credentials, it has the perfect opportunity to do so in the consultations which are currently under way on Flynn's recent communication on the workings of the social dialogue, which was institutionalised by the Maastricht Treaty.

UNICE points out that it has a small business committee of its own and continues to maintain that it confers with UEAPME before entering into any negotiation.

But the association says this dialogue is worthless.

“Yes, UNICE does talk to us on an informal basis, but in practice it is a waste of time,” said a UEAPME official bluntly, adding: “It is not right that such a large part of the European economy should be excluded from a major element of social policy.”

The association claims that, whatever the employers' federation may say, its basic concern is for the interests of large corporations and it can never truly appreciate the needs of genuine small business.

UEAPME believes the Dutch and Italian governments are sympathetic to its cause. But it is disappointed at the lack of support from France, despite initial indications that it was sympathetic.

A spokesman for the ETUC pointed out that the dispute was not the union's problem, but suggested that if UEAPME's court challenge was unsuccessful, it would probably find itself completely ostracised from the process.

He added that for the talks on part-time and atypical work, due to begin on 21 October, UNICE had included on its negotiating team representatives from other groups which it believed could speak on behalf of interested businesses throughout the Union.