SD4EU – SOCIAL DIALOGUE FOR A UNION OF EQUALITY

Project Summary

The SD4EU (Social Dialogue for a Union of Equality) project is funded by the European Commission under the Call for proposals “Support for Social Dialogue” (SOCPL-2023-SOC-DIALOG).

The primary goal of the project is to contribute to the promotion of social dialogue, which aligns with the key objective of the call for proposals. This will be achieved by strengthening the capacity of national social partners and reinvigorating social dialogue through a new, more gender-sensitive approach. By doing so, the project enhances the effectiveness of social dialogue initiatives in addressing specific and debatable labour issues (equal pay, social protection and work-life balance). The project recognises social dialogue as a powerful tool for innovation and change, in this case in the realm of gender equality. It firmly believes that social partners can significantly contribute to advancing this cause, given their pivotal role within the labour market.

In practical terms, to reach these objectives, the project outlines two core activities that are complementary and interconnected. On the one side, transnational seminars will improve the skills of social partners, enabling them to engage more effectively in industrial relations processes. On the other, the consortium will lay the groundwork for and develop consensus on gender-sensitive practices, which social partners should adopt across all aspects of their work.

Before embarking on these core activities, the project will conduct preparatory research. This research will serve as a solid foundation for subsequent tasks and pave the way for a new social dialogue on gender equality. The research objectives are: identifying the meaning and approach to gender equality as adopted in EU public policies and law; analysing the implications of EU law on gender equality and on approach to gender across three selected topics; strengthening the role of social partners in addressing gender inequalities.

The project’s choice to tackle the challenge of gender equality aligns with the Political Guidelines presented by Ursula von der Leyen in “A Union that strives for more – My agenda for Europe”, in the European Pillar of Social Rights and the follow-up European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan, in the Porto Social Commitment and the Porto Declaration.

Expected Project Results

  • Report on the concept of gender equality in EU policies and law
  • Report on the EU approach on gender politics in selected topics
  • Report on the role of social dialogue for a Union of equality
  • Recommendations for a stronger social dialogue for a Union of equality
  • Guidelines on the methods for gender mainstreaming for national social partners
  • Roadmap towards a Union of equality

List of Participants

The project consortium is led by Confprofessioni, the Italian Confederation of Liberal Professions – a second-level employers’ association representing liberal professionals and recognised by the Italian government. The consortium comprises the following entities: European Council of the Liberal Professions (CEPLIS), from Belgium; Malta Federation of Professional Associations (MFPA); National Union of Liberal and Intellectual Professions of Belgium (UNPLIB); EQUAL Ireland Education Research and Related Services Co. Ltd; Italian Union of Workers in Tourism, Trade, and Services (UILTuCS), a national trade union. Additionally, the following organisations participate in the project as associated entities: French Union of Liberal Professions (UNAPL), University of Rome Tor Vergata; Eurocadres, the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff.

Coordinator Contact Details

Confprofessioni

Viale Pasteur, 65 – 00144 Rome, IT

(+39) 06 542 20278

sd4eu@confprofessioni.eu

 

“Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them

SOCIAL PROTECTION FOR THE SELF-EMPLOYED

Date: 15 December 2023 The project aims at strengthening social dialogue at sectoral level by building the capacity of national social partners, in order to tackle the need of self-employed professionals to be covered by an adequate social protection. It aims at giving social partners the tools to contribute to the design of social protection reforms, and to autonomously set up and manage social protection schemes, in line with Council Recommendation 2019/387. The project will first investigate existing social protection schemes for the professional self-employed and especially the changes introduced since the pandemic. The aim is to better understand which are the actors engaged in each scheme, which are the beneficiaries, which are the governance models and where the funding comes from. With a view to defining a social protection model to mainstream, best practices will be identified, approved by the consortium, analysed and validated by the working groups and finally channelled into a modelling proposal. Along this process, social partners and all other stakeholders identified by the research will be targeted by an awareness raising campaign and engaged in the working groups, which will serve as a forum for discussing and exchanging ideas. Once the modelling proposal is developed, the capacity building phase begins. The purpose is to strengthen the capacity of national sectoral social partners and promote their role in ensuring an adequate social protection for the professional self-employed. Given its nature, agreeing on a common definition of self-employment is a demanding task. At the same time, social protection includes different profiles of social assistance and social security, with extensive variations among countries. In brief, this social dialogue project entails a real understanding of both demand and supply of social protection for the self-employed. But also, more concretely, wishes to give the right tools to close existing social protection gaps. List of participants The consortium is led by Confprofessioni, Italian Confederation of Liberal professions, and composed by the following entities: CEPLIS, European Council of the Liberal Professions, from Belgium; MFPA, Malta Federation of Professional Associations; Equal Ireland Education Research and Related Services Co. Ltd. Moreover, the following organisations are participating as associated partners: UNAPL, National Union of Liberal Professions, from France; Eurocadres, Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff; UNPLIB, the Union of Belgian Liberal and Intellectual Professions. Expected project results Report on social protection systems Mapping report on best practices and problems of social protection schemes in the 27 MS Call for action Working groups report Modelling proposal   Coordinator contact details Confprofessioni Viale Pasteur, 65 – 00144 Rome IT (+39) 06 542 20278 sp4se@confprofessioni.eu

Professionals Memorial Park

Date: 11 October 2022 MFPA wanted to honour the memory of professionals on one of the premises of one of the institutions where professions undertake their training, the University of Malta. On 22 April 2022, to celebrate Earth Day, the Federation planted trees in a designated area on the University Ring Road. A short video clip showing the event may be viewed here . The project was funded by the Voluntary Organisations Project Scheme managed by the Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector. The park was then officially inaugurated on Tuesday 11 October 2022 and dedicated to the late Professor Salvinu Busuttil who was the first President of MFPA between 1971 and 1975.

About Us

The Malta Federation of Professional Associations (MFPA) was set up in 1971 by seven founding organisations. Throughout the years, the professional population in Malta increased. Today MFPA comprises 17 professional organisations as full members and other three organisations with partial membership, representing no less than 10,000 professionals in Malta.