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EUROCADRES - THE COUNCIL OF EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL AND MANAGERIAL STAFF

EUROCADRES

Eurocadres is a cross-sectoral social partner representing six million professionals and managers in Europe.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Elsi Katainen (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Dec 2025 · Digitalisation, artificial intelligence and algorithmic management in the workplace - Legislative initiative procedure

Meeting with Idoia Mendia (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Dec 2025 · Skills and employment policies

Meeting with Pekka Toveri (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Dec 2025 · Current Topics in EU

Meeting with Ana Vasconcelos (Member of the European Parliament)

19 Nov 2025 · AI

Meeting with Niels Geuking (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2025 · Digitalisation in the workplace

Meeting with Angelika Winzig (Member of the European Parliament)

28 Oct 2025 · Meeting with representative of Eurocadres

Eurocadres Urges EU to Expand Whistleblower Protection Scope

16 Sept 2025
Topic — The European Commission is evaluating the effectiveness of current whistleblower protection legislation.
Message — The group demands broadening the directive's scope to cover workplace abuse and neglect. They request mandatory trade union consultation and increased resources for support mechanisms to help whistleblowers.123
Why — A wider scope would ensure their members receive legal certainty when reporting workplace wrongdoings.4
Impact — Firms using externalized reporting services may struggle with confidentiality risks and new consultation requirements.5
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Response to Gender Equality Strategy 2026-2030

18 Jul 2025

Our feedback is contained in the attached file.
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Meeting with Kim Van Sparrentak (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Jun 2025 · Algorithms

Meeting with Leila Chaibi (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

23 Apr 2025 · HOUS related issues

Meeting with Anthony Smith (Member of the European Parliament) and European Federation of Public Service Unions

26 Mar 2025 · Inspection du travail en France et en Europe

Meeting with Li Andersson (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

6 Mar 2025 · Labour market policies

Meeting with Rudi Kennes (Member of the European Parliament)

18 Feb 2025 · Workers' rights

Meeting with Annukka Ojala (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu), Max Uebe (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu)

13 Feb 2025 · Exchange of views

Eurocadres calls for EU-wide ban on non-competition clauses

31 Jan 2025
Topic — This consultation seeks views on developing the EU single market strategy for 2025.
Message — The organization requests EU-wide regulation to remove obstacles to labor mobility caused by non-competition clauses. They suggest either limiting their misuse through soft law and sanctions or implementing a comprehensive ban.12
Why — Professional and managerial workers would achieve higher salaries and greater freedom to move.34
Impact — Companies would lose the ability to restrict staff from moving to rival firms.56
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Meeting with Kathleen Funchion (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Jan 2025 · EMPL Committee

Meeting with Idoia Mendia (Member of the European Parliament)

15 Jan 2025 · Meeting with Eurocadres

Meeting with Alicia Homs Ginel (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

15 Jan 2025 · Discussion on the State of Play of the Traineeships Directive

Meeting with Idoia Mendia (Member of the European Parliament)

26 Sept 2024 · Meeting with Eurocadres

Meeting with Idoia Mendia (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Jul 2024 · Meeting with Eurocadres

Meeting with Johan Danielsson (Member of the European Parliament) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION

17 Jul 2024 · Fackliga prioriteringar under mandatperioden

Meeting with Per Clausen (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Jul 2024 · The new mandate, Right to disconnect, AI at work

Meeting with Marc Botenga (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Jul 2024 · Workers' rights

Meeting with Rudi Kennes (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Jul 2024 · Workers' rights

Meeting with Marie Toussaint (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Jul 2024 · Corporate liability

Meeting with Marc Botenga (Member of the European Parliament)

15 May 2024 · Labour policy

Meeting with Chris Macmanus (Member of the European Parliament)

6 Dec 2023 · Workers Rights

Meeting with Kurt Vandenberghe (Director-General Climate Action) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and

28 Apr 2023 · FF55; Net Zero industrial plan; Climate risk assessment

Meeting with Alina-Stefania Ujupan (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager), Werner Stengg (Cabinet of Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager)

15 Feb 2023 · Digital Skills; education package

Response to Binding standards for equality bodies

1 Feb 2023

Eurocadres, the representative of Europes Professionals and Managers, is one of three recognised European cross-sectoral social partners, and represents over six million employees. We welcome the Commissions consultation on Equality Bodies - Binding Standards. Our key recommendations for the initiative are the following: - As outlined, the wide margin of discretion given to Member States as regards the structure and functioning of equality bodies has resulted in significant differences between the equality bodies established throughout Europe, in terms of the bodies' mandates, competences, structures, resources and operational functioning. This has resulted in a varying degree from protection against discrimination from one Member State to another. This directive aims to eliminate these discrepancies, while ensuring equality bodies independence and jurisdiction through legislation, while allowing their rights in cases of intersectional discrimination. A critical element to the functioning of Equality Bodies is linked to funding, and welcome the principle of bodies not suffering cuts that are significantly higher than the average cuts to other public entities, along with pegging their annual growth to the average growth in funding provided to other entities. We agree with the Commissions proposal that resources should increase proportionally if equality bodies tasks and mandate are expanded. Where Equality Bodies find consistent acts of discrimination in a workplace, employers should be obligated to update existing measures, including existing action plans, in consultation with workers representatives and external experts. - In addition to pan-European standards and funding, Equality Bodies are often in need of sectoral expertise. With the rise of digitalisation and the use of tools such as Artificial Intelligence systems, bodies have a number of new challenges to deal with. Equality Bodies must be provided access to independent expertise to address potential risks of discrimination from third-parties where necessary and requested. - The directive does not provide guarantees of anonymity. Reassurances that data will be protected is a considerable asset in tackling underreporting. - To mitigate the lack of reporting seen in European workplaces, Equality Bodies must be compelled to provide effective and impartial reporting channels with reporting, complaint and resolution mechanisms, advertising their availability in the workplace and made available to workers in consultation with workers representatives. Underreporting in the workplace should be counteracted with the use of anonymous surveys and assessments, designed by employers and workers representatives. These surveys and assessments should be kept up to date and re-distributed with each change to working conditions. The feedback from workers should be incorporated into action plans to reduce and eradicate risk in workplaces. Workers should be guaranteed that Equality Bodies will guarantee, insofar as possible, the right to non-discrimination for those who make use of their services. These elements, if strengthened, can help to eliminate underreporting. - While the directive outlines the principle of data-sharing between Equality Bodies and organisations such as trade unions and social partners, the relationship should include assistance to bodies in offering their services to workers through their representatives. While maintaining the independence of Equality Bodies, collaboration should serve to highlight the options available to workers in need of assistance in instances of discrimination. - Where workplaces and/or employers are subject to multiple complaints, Equality Bodies shall liaise with Member States on their suitability to be recipients of public funds. Where multiple convictions arise from these claims, these workplaces/employers should no longer be eligible to receive public funds at the advice of national Equality Bodies.
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Eurocadres calls for workplace-specific rules in Cyber Resilience Act

20 Jan 2023
Topic — This consultation addresses new cybersecurity requirements for digital products and software services.
Message — Eurocadres requests specific protections for workers instead of a one-size-fits-all approach. They want tailored security information for workplace software and risk disclosures for all AI systems.123
Why — This would reduce professional liability risks and improve security for sensitive workplace data.45
Impact — Manufacturers of low-risk software would face increased documentation and compliance requirements.6
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Eurocadres demands binding EU law on work-related psychosocial risks

20 Jan 2023
Topic — This consultation addresses the promotion, prevention, and mitigation of mental health challenges.
Message — Eurocadres calls for a binding EU directive to establish minimum standards protecting workers from psychosocial risks. They demand a shift from individual responsibility to holding employers accountable for organizational work hazards. Legislation must involve workers' representatives in designing and implementing measures to eradicate workplace risks.123
Why — A binding directive would reduce the high work intensity and stress faced by managers.45
Impact — Employers would face increased liability and mandatory costs for reorganizing stressful working environments.67
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Eurocadres Urges Stronger Protections for Journalists and Media Stability

29 Dec 2022
Topic — New EU framework to enhance media freedom, pluralism, and transparent ownership across the continent.
Message — The organization calls for effective judicial protection against retaliation and illicit surveillance of journalists. They advocate for funding to stabilize working conditions and improve employment predictability for freelancers. Additionally, they request transparent disclosure of indirect media ownership and management interests.123
Why — These measures would improve the safety and job security of the professionals they represent.4
Impact — Large digital platforms and opaque media owners would face stricter public oversight and disclosure requirements.5
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Eurocadres Urges Inclusion of Workers in AI Liability Rules

25 Nov 2022
Topic — Adapting EU civil liability rules to address damages caused by artificial intelligence systems.
Message — Eurocadres recommends postponing the consultation until the AI Act is finalized. They want workers included as claimants and a reversed burden of proof for systems.123
Why — Managers gain better legal standing and easier paths to compensation for workplace damages.45
Impact — AI developers lose trade secret protections and face higher liability across all systems.67
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Meeting with Frances Fitzgerald (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and

27 Oct 2022 · Proposal for a Directive on combatting violence against women and domestic violence

Response to Enabling factors for digital education

12 Sept 2022

Eurocadres, the representative of the cross-sectoral interests of Professionals and Managers, is one of the three recognised European cross-sectoral social partners representing six million employees. Eurocadres has been working for several years on addressing the skills gap, for which we welcome the Commission initiative. The digital transformation impacts managers and professionals heavily, and while there are some sectoral differences, the workers in the EU can strongly benefit from targeted measures proposed under the initiative. Our key recommendations for the initiative are the following. Strengthen the link between professional and educational needs Raising awareness on workers’ rights and fundamental rights already during the educational part of work life for the future professionals is crucial part of this integration. Due to this, the new digital technologies need to be integrated to educational programmes to respond to the needs of the professional life. This link should be strengthened by providing collaboration and synergies between the work-life expectations from the social partners and the educational institutions. Outside providing modules on fundamental rights, the educational courses can be integrated to training programmes, which must be able to provide support for professionals and managers in order to approach their roles in managing teams, organising working process and transferring competences in the digital era. In addition, Member States, social partners and education and training providers should work together to develop national strategies to ensure that digital and STEM competences are taught at all levels, from basic to advanced, according to sectoral and industrial needs, and to all low, medium and high-skilled workers. Also, the lack of women studying and working in STEM sectors should be tackled specifically. Further integrating fair internships to education programmes The integration of work experience or internships into university degree programmes must be implemented in a sensible manner. It is essential to provide flexible opportunities to integrate work and studies in a balanced way. Support must be provided for those institutions of higher education that wish to grant ECTS points for voluntary work and non-profit activities as well. Education and training must always bring added value to competence. However, any professional action should be accompanied with fair compensation and equal treatment, following the same rights as any person on with a working contract would have. Ensuring adequate resources for teaching and tailoring of education The educational projects need to be properly resourced to avoid overburdening the education sector. While new and innovative approaches should be considered, these should not result in jeopardising of the responsibilities of teaching staff. Respect to the working conditions and labour protection of the teachers must be met, and additional projects or responsibilities cannot be solely added to their existing responsibilities. Teachers must be able to attend qualified trainings on digital skills during their working time. Providing a strong trade union support for the skills needs The digitalisation challenges impact the work life in all its stages, making a strong participation of the social partners essential already in the educational stages. Skills development should be a right for everyone with tailored needs for different groups (e.g. unemployed, self-employees, young, women, senior, high qualified, low qualified, etc.), while their knowledge of their rights and challenges of working in the digital era (i.e. right to disconnect, surveillance of workers, data protection) are properly addressed. Bringing adequate awareness of these conditions would strengthen the Single Market and movement of labour.
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Response to Improving the provision of digital skills in education and training

12 Sept 2022

Eurocadres, the representative of the cross-sectoral interests of Professionals and Managers, is one of the three recognised European cross-sectoral social partners representing six million employees. We recognise the skills gap the Commission describes, which impacts workers in different sectors despite the variety of their working conditions and roles. Eurocadres welcomes the initiative to build a strategic approach for digital skills as a timely effort to address the ongoing challenges. Our key recommendations for the initiative are the following. Emphasis on lifelong learning Eurocadres has promoted an approach that focuses on lifelong learning, as meeting the goals requires that the demand for education and training needs to be reinforced through, new funding systems, quality training as well as access to training. Development of new types of models for combining formal education with on-the-job learning, can be particularly effective when executed in the context of digital skilling. Integrating a strong in-work training regime While the initiative brings welcome additions that focus on the educational institutions, the emphasis on training and learning through employment are in the core of the digital skills. The basic pedagogical knowledge is often provided through the education system and early exposure to digital systems, adaptation of the necessary technological and content knowledge is often learned when already in work life. A strong approach that further integrates the in-work training and continuous learning should be emphasized. Fair and easily accessible training and education Access to training during working hours is of utmost importance. This right to training must be guaranteed to the employee and not left to the employer's sole initiative. It should be mandatory practice that must also be extended to all members of the working community, whatever their status and whatever the size of the company, to ensure inclusion of the training regimes and to guarantee quality and respect the rules in carrying out the activity. Employers must be flexible and willing to reorganise work so that employees can attend training. Tools and services may prove useless if we do not create the conditions and opportunities to access them. This is the case especially with SMEs, which have usually limited capacity and resources to take up new training activities. It is important to remember that the right to training should not be an individual responsibility, time and financial support needs to be organised for those participating in training. A tailored approach, that takes into account the specific needs of the employees regarding their background and employment status (including different employment types, sizes of companies, socio-economic status and intersectional challenges), is a must for successful training regimes. Inclusion of the Social Partners in training planning The ongoing changes on digital work-life and their impacts on skills also call for active engagement from the Social Partners. As the demand for skills needs to be based on an equal treatment, which further calls for inclusion of Social Partners when planning both education and in-work training actions. In addition, we welcome the past efforts from the Commission side to investigate individual learning accounts and other already existing financial instruments that aim to increase adult learning.
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Meeting with Santina Bertulessi (Cabinet of Commissioner Nicolas Schmit)

16 Jul 2021 · Right to disconnect

Response to Strengthening the principle of equal pay between men and women through pay transparency

12 May 2021

Eurocadres welcomes the content of the pay transparency directive, which will increase access to information and tools to promote equal pay. Some reinforcements are still needed to close the gender pay gap. The principle of equal pay for work of equal value states that European Union member states are obliged to ensure precisely that this gap is eliminated. Therefore, the directive should be based on four pillars: 1. The obligation for all employers, of all sizes and in the public and private sectors, to adopt pay transparency policies and practices, including gender pay audits. 2. Promoting the role of collective bargaining in negotiating equal pay. 3. Address the main drivers of the gender pay gap: lower paid female-dominated sectors, lower paid jobs, unequal participation in domestic and care work and wage discrimination. 4. Provide effective access to justice, including remedies and procedures, such as shifting the burden of proof, compensation and support for victims of pay discrimination. Eurocadres considers it essential to put in place measures such as banning wage confidentiality clauses in contracts so that workers can negotiate their wages; requiring information for job evaluation in order to establish the principle of equal pay for equal work; make all employers provide information on pay (through audits) and annual action plans on equal pay; support trade unions in negotiations with employers to address the pay gap; require job advertisements to include the pay scale; prevent employers hiding behind privacy, data protection or administrative burdens to avoid wage transparency; ensure transparency of the entire wage bill, including benefits, bonuses, pensions, allowances, etc.; impose sanctions on employers who fail to take these measures. The Directive will give each worker the right to get certain information about their pay and about pay in the organisation they work in, and employers are required to publish annual reports on the gender pay gap and action plans to tackle the gap. The obligation to make a salary report and assessment is limited to organisations of more than 250 people. The upper limit is too high. The number of small and medium sized enterprises is constantly growing. The directive should cover all companies regardless of their size as to guarantee the right to adequate pay information of all employees. The limit should be lowered or alternatively the threshold should be removed. The position of small businesses could otherwise be facilitated by regulation. Provisions can be made for less frequent reporting (every 3 years) for companies of less than 10 employees. Many employers wrongly claim that disclosure of salaries would be a breach of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It would appear that the Directive aims at confirming this incorrect approach by also preventing the workers’ representatives or Gender Equality Commission from revealing necessary information on an equal pay claim too. Eurocadres stresses the urge for amendments to make it clear that GDPR cannot be an obstacle to pay transparency or to equal pay claims. The right of workers to discuss their pay with their trade union must be clarified. The directive gives a role to ‘workers representatives’ instead of referring directly to trade unions. The priority of the trade union on negotiating must be clarified. It must be guaranteed that trade unions can be involved in job category assessments and to bargain to close the pay gap, so as to prevent company superiors to set up false workers’ representatives. We demand the Directive to strengthen the role of trade unions and grant the opportunity to challenge partiality in the criteria used to determine job descriptions and assessments, salary categories as well as to establish the categories to be compared. Please find our full opinion attached.
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Response to EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work [2021-2027]

26 Nov 2020

Eurocadres welcomes the initiative of the European Commission to work towards a new EU OSH Strategic Framework but finds that the Roadmap published is lacking greatly as regards references to work organisation, and combatting psychosocial risks, violence and harassment which must take a central place in the upcoming strategy. As much as 60% of all lost working days can be attributed to work-related stress and psychosocial risks. 79% of managers express concern about work-related stress. More than half of all workers, 51%, in the EU report that work-related stress is common in their workplace. In Europe, only the cost of depression due to work is estimated at 617 billion euros per year. Already well before the pandemic Europe was in the midst of a stress epidemic and COVID-19 has only contributed to worsening the mental health situation. Too little is done in European workplaces to improve the situation. The Roadmap points to 23% of all establishments in the EU-28 not carrying out assessments. In COM(2004) 62 final the Commission pointed out that “concerning the practical implementation of the provisions related to the risk assessment […] There is hardly any consideration of psychosocial risk factors and work organisational factors.” (p. 16). Little points to any improvement of the situation since then. For managers, our members, the stress situation is especially dire, in particular taking into account that managers are in most cases the ones supposed to be carrying out the risk management. 42% of managers find it more difficult to tackle psychosocial risks than other OSH issues. 61% of female managers have sleep problems. 20% of all managers experience anxiety – the highest share of all occupations. Managers experience the highest level of work-life balance conflicts. Managers and professionals also have the highest work intensity and longest working days. Social partners have assumed the responsibility to address the issue. The autonomous framework agreement on work-related stress from 2004 has however not managed to improve the situation in any other way than increasing the awareness about stress and psychosocial risks. Throughout the past decades we have seen numerous campaigns, guidelines, tools and sharing of best practices on the topic, e.g. by EU-OSHA. The Commission has repeatedly clarified that psychosocial risks fall under the responsibilities of employers to assess and mitigate and are no different to physical risks. The situation has not improved, instead we see a rise in mental ill health, accelerated during the pandemic. The workplace can of course not provide all solutions to the mental health crisis. Being such a central part of our lives, it must however be part of the solution, instead of being part of the problem. 89% of employers state that complying with the legislation is the main reason why they manage occupational health and safety. The main reason for addressing health and safety in establishments. Legislation is an immensely important driver in OSH. And yet, only a few member states have clear legislation about psychosocial risks. It is therefore time to follow the development of a few member states (e.g. Belgium, Denmark, Sweden) where dedicated regulation on work organisation and psychosocial risks have been developed. A key component of the work of the Commission in the field of occupational health & safety at work the next few years should be to tackle the stress epidemic by proposing a dedicated directive which addresses psychosocial risks, violence and harassment and improves work organisation. As part of the European Mental Health Alliance – Work & Employment, we also refer to our joint Alliance contribution (Ref.F1290783, sent in by EuroHealthNet). All statistics sources available at https://endstress.eu/sources/ Eurocadres is one of the three recognized cross-sectoral social partners on the EU level representing employees and is the initiator of www.EndStress.EU jointly with the ETUC.
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Meeting with Piet van Nuffel (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)

20 Mar 2018 · Whistleblowers protection

Meeting with Antti Timonen (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

16 Feb 2018 · Eurocadres position paper for 2019 European elections

Meeting with Filomena Chirico (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen) and Transparency International Liaison Office to the European Union

29 Jun 2017 · EU whistleblowers protections initiatives

Meeting with Antti Timonen (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

31 Jan 2017 · EU-priorities of Eurocadres and Akava for 2017

Meeting with Isabelle Perignon (Cabinet of Commissioner Věra Jourová)

14 Dec 2016 · whistleblower protection

Meeting with Julie Fionda (Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen)

16 Jun 2016 · Skills

Meeting with Michel Servoz (Director-General Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion)

4 Mar 2016 · Discussion about the role of Eurocadres as one of the social partners

Meeting with Aura Salla (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

9 Jan 2015 · Skills and education in labour market