Statement of the Trade Unions and Professional Associations
from Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
FYR of Macedonia, Romania and Serbia
For the time being we are all against SEE FABA Project because, until
now, everybody from this region felt like they were forced to do something
against their will and everybody is feeling trapped inside something that doesn’t
belong to us and everybody is looking for a way out of it.
One of the reasons that lead to this situation is that the work on this
project started 2 years ago and until now there was no proper Social Dialogue
and no staff involvement. So, we cannot approve something that it wasn’t in line
with the principles agreed on most of the meetings regarding the FAB
implementation including the “Palermo Conference”.
Another reason that led to this situation is the fact that for a long period of
time, inside this project, it was a straight top-down approach imposed by the
European Commission and the Stability Pact in South Eastern Europe.
We are now welcoming the fact that, due one of our requests expressed
inside the SEE FABA Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on the 21 st of
September 2006 in Belgrade, the Social Forum is now established.
We are nevertheless concerned that this forum is created only in order to
get a good image outside and that our concerns and our input will not be taken
into account properly.
We think that the establishment of this Social Forum is a small step
towards a better cooperation in the future. In order to achieve this there will be
needed a lot of effort from both sides. Because the project had a bad start,
resistance grew in the region and we think it will continue to grow unless the
people in the region will not be convinced that they own the project. We believe
that the European Commission is now trying to convince the parties involved that
this is the case. It will be very hard to convince them and to gain their trust. In our
region trust is everything and if the trust is lost, you end up loosing everything.
Requests regarding a proper Social Dialogue inside SEE FABA
made by the Trade Unions and Professional Associations from
Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
FYR of Macedonia, Romania and Serbia
In order to establish a true and efficient Social Dialogue within SEE FABA
we believe that the following steps are to be followed:
1. We are requesting one seat with an observer status inside the
Management Committee in order to achieve a better degree of
transparency and cooperation.
2. We are requesting one seat with an observer status inside the
Governing Body for the same reasons.
3. We shall continue to have this Social Forum Meetings twice a
year, with one full day preparatory meeting for our side the day
before. The Agenda of this Social Forum Meetings has to be
commonly agreed in advance. These meetings shall be co-
chaired (like the ones done at European level) by one
representative from Management Committee side and one
representative from the Trade Unions and Professional
Association side.
4. We are requesting to be involved in the WP1: Operational
Concept Document and Concept of Operations, WP2: Airspace
Design and Operational Coherence, WP5: Harmonisation of ATC
Procedures, WP6: ATC Staff Recruitment/Training/Licensing,
because we think that our professional expertise is essential
inside those WP.