The President of BCCI attended a meeting of IOE members from Europe and Central Asia in Copenhagen

The President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov participated in the meeting of International Organization of Employers (IOE) members from Europe and Central Asia in Copenhagen, on 15 and 16 September. The forum was opened with a welcoming speech by Renate Hornung-Draus, IOE Vice-President for Europe. A special greeting to the participants was made by the Minister for Employment of the Kingdom of Denmark Jørn Neergaard Larsen, who discussed the challenges for the welfare state. The International Labour Organization (ILO) Regional Director for Europe Heinz Koller presented the priorities of employers.

From the agenda it became clear that the next ILO regional meeting in 2017 will be held in Istanbul. Heinz Koller pointed out that the specialized UN agency thoroughly continues to consider and seek solutions on labour topics and issues, in particular the international labour standards, and aims to protect the right of decent work and to take measures to improve the standard of living of workers.

During the international forum of the national employers’ organizations and their members, a discussion on facilitating the exchange of information was held. The participants shared experience and exchanged best practices related to business support.

During the meeting of the IOE members from Europe and Central Asia, where Bulgarian employers were represented by the President of BCCI Tsvetan Simeonov, the need of the IOE to further focus its attention on the most important issues of the economic environment was emphasized. The IOE priorities were discussed – support and protection of the interests of its members, and internationalization of business with the support of employers’ organizations.

During the forum a policy statement on the IOE priorities for the ILO work in Europe and Central Asia was reviewed. The document will be published after editing it with the proposed amendments and additions. The items on the agenda were presented and discussed.

BCCI stressed the need to oppose to two trends in the European Union – the idea of taxing production which is done by robots replacing ordinary jobs and the intention to harmonize tax rates. He pointed out that Bulgarian employers oppose this intention, their main argument being that this is a well-working system, because with the lowest tax rates we are registering not a deficit, but a surplus in the national budget.

IOE was established in 1920 and represents 150 national employers’ organizations from 143 countries. The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a member of the IOE and took part in the Copenhagen meeting as a coordinator of the Bulgarian employers’ organizations in 2016.