El derecho de asociación para el personal militar.
Desafortunadamente, es el caso de algunas de las “nuevas” democracias del la Europa del Este pero también el de algunos Estados como Francia, Reino Unido, Italia, Portugal y España. El Presidium ha observado un aumento de la brecha existente entre los países en los que se permite la representación de los intereses profesionales de los militares y aquéllos en los que está marginalizada. La experiencia ha demostrado que en los numerosos países en los que se garantiza plenamente el derecho de asociación de sus militares no se ha experimentado pérdida alguna de eficiencia o disciplina. Al contrario, la existencia de un diálogo permanente con las asociaciones de militares sobre asuntos sociales y de condiciones de trabajo ha ayudado a prevenir muchos problemas y ha incrementado de hecho la moral y la lealtad entre los militares.
Nuevos miembros de Italia y de Gran Bretaña.
Representantes de la Asociación Nacional de Carabineros Italianos (UNAC) y de la Federación Británica de Fuerzas Armadas (BAFF) participaron como invitados en la reunión del Presidium.
Association rights and pension issues at forefront
EUROMIL held its 95th Presidium in Cracow, Poland
EUROMIL held its biannual Presidium meeting in Cracow, Poland on 10 and 11 of May. This Presidium meeting was hosted in an outstanding way by KONWENT, the Council of Senior Officers of the Corps of Polish Professional Soldiers. KONWENT has been a full member of EUROMIL since 2004.
The Presidium is a standing committee of EUROMIL consisting of representatives of all member associations as well as members of the Board of EUROMIL. The Presidium provides impetus for the development of EUROMIL’s policy objectives. 84 delegates from 27 member associations and 22 nations were present. Among the many issues raised following stood up:
The right of association for military personnel
Implementation of the right of association for military personnel in the EU was thoroughly debated. While in several EU Member States independent representative military associations work day by day in good co-operation with national authorities for the social and professional interests of soldiers, others are excluded from this kind of right. This is unfortunately the case for some of the «new» Eastern European democracies but also for states like France, the UK, Italy, Portugal and Spain. The Presidium observed a widening gap between those countries which are allowed to represent soldier’s professional interests and those which are marginalised. Experience has shown those many countries that have granted full association rights for their soldiers have not experienced any loss of military efficiency or discipline. On the contrary, entering into a permanent dialogue with soldiers’ associations on their social and work conditions has helped to prevent many problems and de facto increased moral and loyalty
among the servicemen and -women
A workshop on military pensions with experts from Hungary, Poland and Denmark, as well as from ETUC, European Trade Union Confederation, debated best practices of pensions for military service personnel. The differences between military pension systems are numerous. In Denmark for example, military pensions are linked to the general pensions of the civil service which is not the case in Poland or Hungary where separate schemes for military pensions exist. The overall ageing of the population in European countries will necessitate changes in national pension systems in the coming decades. Thus, it is foreseeable that military pension schemes will also come under growing reform pressure. EUROMIL will provide a forum for exchange of experiences among member associations and the identification of best practice.
New partners from Italy and Great-Britain
Representatives of UNAC, the National Association of Italian Carabinieri and of BAFF, the British Armed Forces Federation participated as guests in the Presidium meeting.
