industriAll European Trade Union Pharmaceuticals Sector Committee
Luxembourg, 4 September 2013
Draft Minutes
The list of participants is enclosed.
1. Welcome and introduction
Deputy General Secretary Sylvain Lefebvre welcomed the participants. Since this was the first meeting of the
Committee, he invited all those present to introduce themselves. He was pleased that a sectoral structure,
inherited from the ex-EMF system, now also existed for the pharmaceuticals sector. Aside from the meetings
of the Committee, the Secretariat was already working regularly on this topic. The pharmaceutical sector had
indeed been added to the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee (SSDC) for the Chemical Industry at the Social
Partners Conference in Dublin on 9-10 April 2013.
2. Approval of the agenda
Regrettably enough the European Commission had not confirmed its participation. The Secretariat would
then give an update on the rules and financing of the European Sectoral Social Dialogues in addition. With
this change, the draft agenda was unanimously approved.
DGS Sylvain Lefebvre went on to present the various structures and Sector Committees of industriAll Europe,
highlighting that youth was an important issue since 1 out of 4 young people in Europe was currently
unemployed.
3. Designation of the Chair of the Committee
The only application received was that of Jean-François Renucci (FCE-CFDT, FR). His biography was available
online for all members of the Committee to view. In his absence, his colleague Jean-François Chavance
introduced him briefly. He was unanimously nominated as Chair of the Committee.
It was further agreed that in his absence, DGS Sylvain Lefebvre would preside over the discussions during
this particular meeting.
4. Rules and Financing of European Sectoral Social Dialogues
The Commission’s budget had been rejected by the Parliament and then approved with some restrictions.
DG Employment was bearing the brunt of cost cuts with a decrease of +/- 12% of its resources. If we did not
receive the meeting rooms and the interpreters for free, we would not be able to meet. The rules are getting
increasingly stricter and we have to be vigilant that when we ask for interpretation in a particular language,
participants do come otherwise we will run into problems. DGS Sylvain Lefebvre therefore highlighted the
importance of strong participation in all meetings organized, and also explained the need to address crosssectoral issues in the various SSDCs, such as climate change, training, etc. There were also problems
regarding the viability of European Sector Skills Councils and industriAll Europe would need to look into this
matter with other ETUFs and the ETUC. With social dialogue in mind, he further added that the Secretariat
would seek to meet with European industry associations in the pharmaceutical sector.
5. The Pharmaceutical Sector in Europe – employment and industrial development.
In the absence of a representative of the European Commission, a round of inputs was made on the situation
on national level by Committee members from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland (PPT presentations are
available online on the intranet of industriAll Europe for these 2 countries), France, Italy, and Spain. One
observation across several countries is that the number of medical sales representatives is decreasing and
that some groups have a strategy of outsourcing R&D to smaller structures before eventually taking over the
resulting innovation. Another similar example in Finland for instance, but not only, is that American
multinationals buy local firms in order to take over the product patents and then discontinue production
locally while relocating it elsewhere where production costs are cheaper. They then keep selling the product
on the European market. In countries like Denmark blue collar workers are becoming increasingly more
skilled. The brain drain is still plaguing Europe however with scientists fleeing the continent for better
opportunities elsewhere. Biotechnology is an important evolution in R&D, with production facilities needing
to remain in the vicinity. Compared to the USA, Europe is lagging behind in this field. Participants also
discussed the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) since the chemical and pharmaceuticals
sectors have been identified as key industries for this partnership. The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA)
and European Medicines Agency (EMA) work differently, the first one being totally centralized and the other
operating more as a coordinator between national agencies. It was agreed to follow this issue thoroughly in
industriAll Europe together with the other sectors at risk.
6. Health and Safety Strategy of the European Union (208-2013)
DGS Secretary General Sylvain Lefebvre summarized the main objectives of the health policies of the
European Union (budget EUR 446 million for the period 2014-2020):

better allocation of expenses to ensure viability of health systems

new prevention programmes to promote better health and hygiene
 investment in health coverage in order to reduce inequalities and fight social exclusion
Innovation in the pharmaceutical sector plays a key role: EUR 27 billion are invested in R&D. Biotechnology
represents an increasingly bigger segment (a 6.2% increase in R&D between 2010 and 2011). The European
pharmaceutical industry reinvests 15.9% of its turnover into R&D, with a total of +/- 150,000 jobs. The world
sales amounted to EUR 770 billion in 2012 and should amount to +/- EUR 847 billion in 2016, the biggest
growth taking place in emerging countries (66% between 2012 and 2016). The loss of patents is costing
industry EUR 130 billion a year.
Marianne Vind Petersen and José Carlos Ruiz concurred with this analysis. Many jobs are lost in the
production sector in Denmark causing depression and stress and a problem for blue collar workers and
young people. Fortunately the pharmaceutical sector is doing somewhat better with Novo Nordisk
reconstructing a big factory in Denmark. As a result of the crisis and the austerity measures, the situation in
Spain is far worse as many citizens have to go to the emergencies and no longer the doctor. The system is
collapsing and chaos risks ensuing. Generics have a fair share of the market, but the health system is slowly
being privatized.
Taru Reinikainen added that Finland even sees a number of Russian companies taking a foothold on its soil in
order to have access to the EU market.
Piero Dechicu indicated that there are 67,000 direct jobs in the pharmaceutical sector in Italy. The
percentage of employees with higher education is high. With national sales of up to EUR 25 billion, 50% of
the production is exported. Roughly 10% are invested in R&D and technology. The pharmaceutical sector
and the chemical sector are dealt with jointly.
Dimitra Penidis explained in some detail the situation inside Takeda in Belgium. Herman Baele completed
the picture by explaining that the country is currently harmonising the statutes between blue collar and
white collar workers, the compromise being that in terms of protection, blue collar workers get a little more
and white collar workers get a little less. He went on to explain the current CB negotiations for the chemical
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and pharmaceutical sector, where employers claim that the salary costs are too high compared to
neighbouring countries.
Frans Stürmer explained that in Austria the healthcare is public with the assorted promotion of generics.
Essentially the sector is in good health. Profits are slightly on the down but prospects are generally good.
Many multinationals, but also independent SMEs. Wages are negotiated on national level: 0.6 to 1% is being
looked at.
Fransien de Jong said that she was completely new to the sector. The health system in Netherlands was
under pressure and the costs needed to be reduced. In big companies like Abbott, employment was also
under pressure, with social plans etc. In terms of CB, 2.5% had been demanded but 1.5% obtained.
Jean-François Chavance reported that in France, the total output in the pharmaceutical sector had decreased
by 12%. The promotion of generics was also a priority. Multinational companies were doing fairly well while
SMEs were having many difficulties. Since September 2013 there have been new social plans: Pfizer in
Amboise: 500 job losses and Fareva has now ceased production alltogether in the country. Janssen-Cilag, a
subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson has reduced the number of its medical sales representatives by 1/3rd and
Boehringer Ingelheim is considering reducing their number by 45%. The government is going to decide on a
financial plan for the health system. CB for the pharmaceutical sector is separated from the chemical sector.
The conclusion was that obvious differences exist between the various countries. However, the sector was
still relatively solid and could still create employment.
7. Restructuring – Competitiveness – Company Cases:
SANOFI
Jean-François Chavance, who had worked for 40 years with Sanofi, explained that the company used to have
a very different model than Pfizer which had a financial model. It however seemed to be changing. At the
time of the merger with Aventis, the group wanted to become pharmaceutical only, but following the flop of
one product, the management was replaced and the new team had experience both in Europe and the USA.
The company started moving away from pharmaceuticals only towards health products in general including
vaccines, etc. It took over smaller structures + R&D (e.g. Genzyme which specializes in biotechnology). It had
indeed become important to have an array of new promising products. This move proved to be a commercial
success for the company. However restructuring started taking place (medical sales representatives,
production, and distribution). Historically R&D was strong in France (50%) but in Toulouse 720 research
workers were laid off. The unions went to court and the judge said that the plan was illegal but did not
question the economic motive. Toulouse will be removed from Sanofi over a period of 5 years. The trend is
for R&D to move out of Europe.
PFIZER
Dimitra Penidis reported that the strategy of Pfizer is based on 3 pillars: innovative products, vaccines &
oncology, and generics. For Belgium and Luxemburg this represents 2,500 jobs. Some units deal with
production (Puurs), logistics (Zaventem), and sales (Luxemburg). The company wants to save USD 17 million
in 2014. Again their strategy is based on a financial model; 30% of their products are produced by
subcontractors. Fareva in Amboise for example is a subcontractor and suffers from the repositioning
strategy. Zoetis shares have been exchanged against Pfizer thereby pushing up the share price.
José Carlos Ruiz indicated that in Spain, both Pfizer and Sanofi have been shedding jobs for 1 ½ year.
Following the new reform, they no longer need to present their European accounts but just the accounts of
the local plant, which makes it much too easy for them to justify restructuring.
When closing the discussion, Sylvain Lefebvre reminded those present that in terms of R&D it would be
important to follow-up on the issue of nanofibres.
8. The Pharmaceutical sector and European Sectoral Social Dialogue
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Assessment of the Dublin Conference
DGS Sylvain Lefebvre reported on the plenary meeting and the Social Partners Conference of the SSDC for the
Chemical Industry, which took place in Dublin on 9 and 10 April 2013. The pharmaceutical sector is a key sector
in Ireland and 2008 was a very difficult year for the country. It was a pity that no Irish representative was
attending the meeting today so as to give a more detailed explanation. The conference, which took place at the
premises of Eurofound, was organized in the form of roundtables on “employment and development”,
“competitiveness of the chemical and pharmaceutical industries”, and “responsible restructuring”. Several
national reports were also presented by employers and employees from France, Germany, Poland and Spain.
Place of the Pharmaceutical sector in the SSDC for the chemical industry
Our social partner ECEG represents the chemical sector mainly and less that 40% of the pharmaceutical
sector. It was decided in Dublin that the pharmaceutical sector would be integrated in the SSDC for the
chemical industry. We now have to look into how we will carry these activities. Shortly after the conference,
Eurofound initiated a representativeness study for this SSDC, which officially covers the chemical,
pharmaceutical and rubber industries. Representation however differs from country to country: sometimes
pharma and chemicals are covered by the same agreements, sometimes not. Social partners therefore
sometimes differ. Some fine tuning and adaptation of the SSDC may therefore have to take place in this
respect. This committee will celebrate its 10th anniversary at the end of 2014 and this will be the right time
to lay the roadmap for the future.
9. CCMI Working Group on the future of the pharmaceutical sector in Europe
DGS Sylvain Lefebvre reported briefly on the role of the Consultative Commission on Industrial Change
(CCMI) of the European Economic and Social Committee ( EESC) and explained that this body had decided to
launch an own initiative on the future of the pharmaceutical sector in Europe. He had had a meeting with
Enrico Gibellieri recently, who had since asked the CCMI for this working group to be set up.
It was agreed that it would be important to look at this in relation to the health costs/policies and that the
Committee should follow up on the initiative of the CCMI.
10. Discussion and adoption of the draft action plan
The draft action plan had already been distributed to the Executive Committee. No amendments had been
received from the Pharmaceutical Committee. No detailed discussion was therefore needed, and it was
unanimously approved by the members present, with the acknowledgement that other issues could be
added in the future, depending on new developments that needed attention.
11. Nominations for the Select Working Party
The Chair explained the purpose of the SWP. It was a system inherited from the EMF, and, as in other
committees, it was meant as a sort of pilot group for our activities. The nominations received: Jean-François
Renucci as Chair of the Committee, Alfons de Potter as Chair of the SSDC for the Chemical industry,
Alexandra Krieger (IG BCE, DE), proposed in her absence by Franz Stürmer, Marianne Vind-Petersen (COIndustri, DK) + Taru Reinikainen (SSDC for the chemical industry, Trade Union PRO, FI), both to be confirmed
by the Nordic unions, and Fransien de Jong, to be confirmed by Benelux, were provisionally approved. It was
important for unions from Southern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe to also be represented. The
SWP had to operate in English. Costs of attendance were not covered by industriAll Europe but most
interaction would be made by e-mail if possible.
There being no further business, the Chair closed the meeting, stressing the importance of ensuring a high
participation in these meetings attending in big numbers, so as to guarantee the active representation of all
sectors/regions in this Committee.
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