{"id":1336,"date":"2025-02-12T07:00:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-12T06:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unieuropaconference.org\/?post_type=news&p=1336"},"modified":"2025-02-11T15:46:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T15:46:51","slug":"the-eu-needs-an-industrial-policy-for-the-100-million-jobs-in-the-services-sector","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/unieuropaconference.org\/news\/the-eu-needs-an-industrial-policy-for-the-100-million-jobs-in-the-services-sector\/","title":{"rendered":"The EU needs an industrial policy for the 100 million jobs in the services sector"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the European Commission prepares its \u201cClean Industrial Deal\u201d, UNI Europa calls for a European industrial policy that addresses the major transformations the services sector in a position paper<\/a> released today. The document A Smartphone without Apps: Why we need an Industrial Strategy for Services<\/em> finds that services sectors are responsible for more than 100 million jobs<\/a> and a major contributor to growth, producing over 60 per cent<\/a> of added value in the European Union<\/strong>. The paper outlines several policy recommendations for an EU industrial strategy for services, including ensuring that the European Commission\u2019s upcoming reform of the public procurement directives strengthens collective agreements in the services sector.<\/p>\n

Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, said<\/strong>: \u201cServices workers from commerce<\/em>, ICTS, finance, post and logistics, media and entertainment, cleaning and private care contribute in significant ways to Europe\u2019s economic prosperity. But they often face underpaid and undeclared work, a race to the bottom in public tenders, lack of investments and recognition. An industrial policy without services is like manufacturing a smartphone but forgetting to develop the apps<\/em>. The European Commission\u2019s industrial policy needs to address the major transformations in the services sector<\/em>. It could start with the upcoming reform of the public procurement directives to ensure that public contracts are only given to companies that respect workers\u2019 rights and collective agreements.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Previous UNI Europa research\u00a0shows<\/a>\u00a0that half of all public tenders across the EU are awarded solely based on the lowest price, often due to procurement rules<\/strong>. These rules overlook the social costs to communities and undermine Commission President Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s\u00a0promise<\/a>\u00a0of quality jobs, quality services and increasing collective bargaining coverage to \u201csupport fair wages, good working conditions, training and fair job transitions for workers\u201d.<\/p>\n

On 26 February 2025, the Commission will present its \u201cEU Clean Industrial Deal\u201d, a broad policy plan in energy-intensive and technology development industries that will influence job security and quality. However, despite providing more than one in two (57 per cent) jobs in the EU and more than 60 per cent of total value added to the EU economy, services employment is often overlooked in EU industrial policies which focuses almost exclusively on manufacturing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UNI Europa position paper calls for a specialised, tailor-made policy adopted to fit the diverse sectors of service industries<\/strong>, from commerce, ICTS to cleaning, security, commerce, postal services, care and logistics. Many of these are characterised by high labour intensity, which can lead to precarious working conditions, especially in low-skilled jobs where reducing labour costs becomes a primary strategy to enhance competitiveness and profitability. Given this high labour intensity, an industrial policy for services should focus on increasing job quality for the service workers.<\/p>\n

The position paper puts forward key recommendations:<\/strong><\/p>\n