La Hulpe focuses on social progression

Organised by the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, European social partners, the Commission, Parliament and Economic and Social Committee, and Belgian officials on behalf of Member States, yesterday reaffirmed commitment to strengthening social cohesion through the signing of the La Hulpe declaration.

The nine-page document, centred on the Future of the European Pillar of Social Rights’ implementation and committing to future initiatives for the 2024 – 2029 legislative term,  confirms the Pillar of Social Rights as the guiding framework for EU social policies, while agreeing to review and update the text jointly in 2025.

“Now we move to the trickiest part of any agreement, implementation. The document offers us the opportunity to advance many crucial workplace issues, which for Eurocadres, will begin with building further on the Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health”

Ahead of the European elections, and following the breakdown in talks between European social partners on Telework and the Right-to-Disconnect in November of last year, seeing such commitment to strengthening social Europe underlines the necessity of social dialogue at a European level. Ensuring workers have updated health and safety guarantees in light of digitalisation, addressing concerns on the development and implementation of AI at work, advancing collective bargaining and advancing our social systems are critical inclusions within the final text.

As a recognised European social partner, Eurocadres fully supports the objectives of the declaration.

Reacting to the summit, Eurocadres President Nayla Glaise stated:

“La Hulpe is a symbolic place for European leaders, but with the adoption of this declaration we have moved beyond symbolism and into action.

Workers are at a crossroads in Europe, with the elections raising questions on health and safety, austerity, job content and quality, along with far-right and anti-democratic forces threatening our progressive values. While we seek to address these concerns and more, the support of the institutions and other social partners validates the work done on advancing European social dialogue.

Now we move to the trickiest part of any agreement, implementation. The document offers us the opportunity to advance many crucial workplace issues, which for Eurocadres, will begin with building further on the Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health, addressing algorithmic management at work, ensuring sustainable and quality jobs for workers and protecting our social systems throughout the EU. These are only some areas of work, with the full text giving scope for plenty of positive advancements.

We look forward to working with colleagues to deliver for Europe’s professionals and managers”.

The full text of the declaration can be found here.