PLENARY MEETING OF THE SECTORAL DIALOGUE COMMITTE ON SUGAR CSR CODE OF CONDUCT OF THE SUGAR INDUSTRY EIGHTH IMPLEMENTATION REPORT

CSR CODE OF CONDUCT EIGHTH IMPLEMENTATION REPORT I – ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT II – RESTRUCTURING AND CRISIS SOCIAL IMPACT III – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT 2

I – ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT  From being a net leading exporter the EU has become the 2 nd world largest importer : 15 % of domestic needs are supplied from third countries ACP/LDC imports completely liberalized (EBA/EPA) EU offers developing countries a stable outlet...  This preferential access should not be eroded by new concessions granted to third countries through FTA negotiations or at WTO ( Mercosur, Central America, South Africa, Canada, Singapore...) See presentation bilateral/multilateral negotiations in the afternoon... 3

I - ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT HIGH VOLATILITY OF WORLD PRICES VERSUS FOOD SECURITY Before the sugar reform the price on the domestic market was much higher than the World Market Price (WMP). The situation is now opposite !  Substantial changes in supply due to unpredictable climatic conditions  Brazil for inst. can considerably influence WMP through export volumes  FOOD SECURITY SHOULD BE ENSURED THROUGH ADEQUATE IMPORT MANAGEMENT POLICY EXTREME VOLATILITY ON WORLD MARKET BEFORE SUGAR REFORM (2005/06) AFTER SUGAR REFORM (Now) Intervention price(2005) Reference price (as from 2006) Intervention price Euros/t Reference price Euros/t World Market PriceAbout 400 Euros/tUp to 750 Euros/t 4

I – ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT EXPORT OF NON QUOTA SUGAR AND WTO COMMITMENTS Following to WTO sugar panel, exports of out of quota sugar limited to 1,37 million tons. Report of the Court of Auditors : Commission underlines that not all sugar exports should be kept within WTO limits, but only subsidised exports. Request : the Commission should re examine the 2005 panel conditions and lift the WTO export limit, so that EU has the same freedom to export as any other trading region in the world. CURRENT SITUATION WITH RESTRICTIONS ON EXPORT AND CONTINUOUSLY NEW ADDITIONAL DUTY FREE IMPORTS IS NOT SUSTAINABLE... 5

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTEXT OTHER REGULATORY TOPICS Situation of potential EU undersupply Report of the Court of Auditors : Commission underlines that the sugar regime incorporates the necessary instruments to deal with potential EU undersupply :  priority should be given to such market instruments over the constant granting of additional TRQs. Restructuring fund About 640 Millions remain in the restructuring fund and should be paid back to the general CAP budget although entirely funded by the sugar profession  Commission should re examine this issue... The success of the sugar reform can only be analysed in time depending of economic and social impact... See presentation in the afternoon... 6

II – RESTRUCTURING AND ECONOMIC CRISIS SOCIAL IMPACT Restructuration resulted in : The closure of about 80 factories (i.e. 45 % of factories since 2005/06) The loss of some 20,000 direct jobs Impacting about 100,000 indirect jobs Five countries completely shut down production (Bulgaria, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal, Slovenia) A number of companies are reorienting their activities (biomass or ethanol production, diversification, agro-food, retail...) Report of the Court of Auditors raises questions about the follow up of the social consequences of restructuring... Commission highlights the works of the European social partners, the existence of a Code of Conduct, and the SSDC on sugar.... See presentation in the afternoon... 7

III – IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT EIGHTH CSR REPORT EMPLOYABILITY WEB BASED TOOL Now available into 6 languages on => DE – EN – FR : Employability tab => ITA – POL – SPA : CSR tab Relevance of the project Employment/employability at the heart of the EU 2020 Strategy Recent flagship initiatives “ An agenda for new skills/jobs” – “An integrated industrial policy for the globalization era...” – “Bruges Communiqué” : Need of rapidly changing skills, anticipation of skill needs, development of skills; need of new skills, better match between needs and skills... 8

III - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT EIGHTH CSR REPORT – ESSD RECENT DEVELOPMENT RECENT DEVELOPMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL SECTORAL DIALOGUE Commission Publication 2010 on the functioning of the 40 existing sectoral dialogue committees Sugar dialogue well described Creation of a new agro-food sectoral committee As recommended by the High Level Group on competitiveness of agro-food industry in July 2009 It seems important that the sugar dialogue committee and the agro-food committee can work in parallel in an harmonized way with a view to prevent any counterproductive action within the agro food sector... 9

III - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT EIGHTH CSR REPORT IMPACT OF LISBON TREATY ON EUROPEAN SOCIAL DIALOGUE Staff working document on the functioning and potential of ESSD New Article 9 TFEU : in defining and implementing its policies, the EU shall take into account... A high level of employment, adequate social protection, a high level of education... Single Market Act : “ The Commission will first of all conduct an in –depth analysis of the social impact of all proposed legislation...” The social impact of all EU policies should from now on be systematically assessed... CURRENT USUAL ACTION TOOLS AT SECTORAL LEVEL Consultation & impact assessment of Commission initiatives... CEFS & EFFAT are regularly concerting themselves... See presentation by François Ziegler (DG EMPL) 10

III - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT EIGHTH CSR REPORT – ISO GUIDANCE In December 2010 the International Organization for Standardization published the international ISO Guidance on social responsibility The social partners will examine this new ISO CSR Guidance and propose a technical update of the Code of Conduct as judged necessary 11

III - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT EIGHTH CSR REPORT - CONCLUSIONS According to the Commission, technically speaking, the sugar reform can be considered as a success. The reality of success – in economic and social terms – will not only depend on companies and employees, but mainly on EU policy makers. The social partners did their utmost to manage the restructuring and crisis in a responsible way. They urge the Commission and all EU and national policy makers to also act in a fully responsible way and in particular to increase consistency between the different EU policies (external-internal). On this depend the sustainability of the European sugar industry and its ability to remain competitive on the market and continue offer prospects of employment and employability... 12