European Network for Public Services
Réseau Européen pour les Services Publics
Red europea por los Servicios Publicos
Rete Europea per i Servizi Pubblici
Europäisches Netzwerk für Öffentliche Dienste
Present : Acidus Switzerland, ACV –Openbare Diensten, ACOD Riziv Belgium, AITEC France, ATTAC Finland, ATTAC Germany, Berliner Mieter Gemeinschaft, Berlin Water Table, Campaign for the Welfare State Norway, CELSIG, Convergence des collectifs pour la défense et le développement des services publics France, CSC services publics Belgium, ESK trade union Euskadi, FERC-CGT France, FGTE-CFDT France, Fondation Copernic France, Forum Italiano Acqua, FSU France, Social Forum of Turkey, Solidaires France, Sud PTT France, UGFF-CGT France, UCTEA Turkey, Unison Newcastle UK
1st day – Themes retained for the meeting have been addressed through the presentations from various countries situations:
– Presentation of the successful campaign and alliances against the railway privatisation in Germany.
– Presentation of the campaign led by the Berlin Water Table,
– Veolia : Attac Germany, campaign project on water privatisation
– Updating on European policies and legal framework – communication of the commission, protocol 9, upcoming treaties (http://ec.europa.eu/citizens_agenda/index_en.htm)
– Norway campaign for the welfare state, how to build a national scale mobilization, best practices in Norway
– Insight on a user’s association with Acidus from Switzerland
– UK - Local struggles against the threats of Public Financing Investment , outsourcing, starting again with developing in house services
Discussions on PPP – analysis and special focus on education sector
Education – work on a draft call “For promoting genuine Public Services in Higher Education and Research”
Presentation of the Turkish common welfare situation facing an important wave of privatisations, driven by a policy dedicated to the criterias of entrance in European Union.
2nd day – Hearing of the network at the European parliament
Welcomed by the GUE/NGL group chaired by Francis Wurtz and with the presence of Members of European Parliament, Helmuth Markov, Die Linke / Germany and Gabriele Zimmer, Die Linke / Germany
Exchanges with parliamentaries on common principles and necessity of working together.
Enlargement
Necessity has been stressed to include Eastern and new incoming countries organisations in the network, the opportunities offered by the next preparatory assemblies in Berlin and Kiev could be used in this aim.
For developing the network toward Africa, members of the network could go to the counter summit Europe Africa in Lisbon to link up with African organisations. Contacts have been made with a will to participate and exchange with the network. Integrate and support to foreign organisations must be treated on a financial and practical level if we want to full fill our commitment.
Links should be made or enforced with European institution like the Economic and Social European Committee or the Committee of the Regions, European Public Services Unions
Work in common with other networks of the ESF process, charter group, Labor and Globalisation, Women, Education networks. A meeting is forecasted with those other ESF’s networks during the next preparatory assembly in Berlin, 22nd of February.
Information and documentation
With works such as the Eurothermometer or the presentations about the welfare state in Norway. Sharing these informations on the real situation of Europe has been stressed as a very important point. The goal is to go to Malmö with as much relevant and easily usable material as possible.
Themes and framework for European Social Forum – Public Services
A meeting is going to take place in Paris the 2nd and 3rd of February where the ESF’s program will be discussed, members of the network will attend. All suggestion about the themes and framework we’d like to see in Malmö about public services are welcome publicservices-network fse-esf.org
Proposals will be published on our web page Public Services network on www//fse-esf.org.
Statement about treaties
We issued a statement “Give public services their rightful place in Europe”, to be approved by the network and published for the European Summit in Lisbon and Brussels the 15 th and 16th of December.
Agenda
– Meeting of programmation for the ESF in Paris 2 and 3rd of February 2008
– Meeting of the network in Berlin the 22th of February in the frame of the European Preparatory Assembly
Upcoming events
– seminar of the Reclaiming public water network 7 and 8th of january 2008, Brussels
http://www.fse-esf.org/spip.php?article339
– june 2008 : organization by the Bahn für alle coalition of an international conference on railway