The EU needs an industrial policy for the 100 million jobs in the services sector
12.02.25
With 100 million jobs at stake, EU industrial policy should address the major transformations in the services sector, argues 7 million service workers federation UNI Europa.
As the European Commission prepares its “Clean Industrial Deal”, UNI Europa calls for a European industrial policy that addresses the major transformations the services sector in a position paper released today. The document A Smartphone without Apps: Why we need an Industrial Strategy for Services finds that services sectors are responsible for more than 100 million jobs and a major contributor to growth, producing over 60 per cent of added value in the European Union. The paper outlines several policy recommendations for an EU industrial strategy for services, including ensuring that the European Commission’s upcoming reform of the public procurement directives strengthens collective agreements in the services sector.
Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, said: “Services workers from commerce, ICTS, finance, post and logistics, media and entertainment, cleaning and private care contribute in significant ways to Europe’s economic prosperity. But they often face underpaid and undeclared work, a race to the bottom in public tenders, lack of investments and recognition. An industrial policy without services is like manufacturing a smartphone but forgetting to develop the apps. The European Commission’s industrial policy needs to address the major transformations in the services sector. It could start with the upcoming reform of the public procurement directives to ensure that public contracts are only given to companies that respect workers’ rights and collective agreements.”
Previous UNI Europa research shows that half of all public tenders across the EU are awarded solely based on the lowest price, often due to procurement rules. These rules overlook the social costs to communities and undermine Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s promise of quality jobs, quality services and increasing collective bargaining coverage to “support fair wages, good working conditions, training and fair job transitions for workers”.
On 26 February 2025, the Commission will present its “EU Clean Industrial Deal”, a broad policy plan in energy-intensive and technology development industries that will influence job security and quality. However, despite providing more than one in two (57 per cent) jobs in the EU and more than 60 per cent of total value added to the EU economy, services employment is often overlooked in EU industrial policies which focuses almost exclusively on manufacturing.
The UNI Europa position paper calls for a specialised, tailor-made policy adopted to fit the diverse sectors of service industries, from commerce, ICTS to cleaning, security, commerce, postal services, care and logistics. Many of these are characterised by high labour intensity, which can lead to precarious working conditions, especially in low-skilled jobs where reducing labour costs becomes a primary strategy to enhance competitiveness and profitability. Given this high labour intensity, an industrial policy for services should focus on increasing job quality for the service workers.
The position paper puts forward key recommendations:
- Greater investment in services: We need an EU investment program with a focus on a modern services infrastructure creating quality jobs and fostering a general pay rise in Europe, in particular for services workers.
- Implementation of sectoral collective agreements: This can create a level playing field for service providers and ensure fair wages and working conditions. This approach promotes high-road strategies where companies compete on the basis of quality, innovation and skilled labour rather than a race to the bottom on wages and standards.
- Ambitious social criteria in public spending: This means including ambitious social criteria and promotion of collective agreements in public procurement of services, which will encourage service providers to prioritise fair wages, decent working conditions and social inclusion. By promoting best practice in labour standards through public procurement, the EU can drive positive change across the services sectors and .
- Tackling undeclared work: In the EU there is a considerable demand for and supply of undeclared work in services sectors such as care, cleaning and hospitality. Undeclared work puts pressure on job quality in the sector. Implementing sectoral public policies to tackle informal work is crucial to ensuring fair labour practices and protecting workers’ rights.
- Revaluing ‘services of general interest’ (SGI): The EU should provide for adapted strategies for services of general interest, identifying access to services and the quality of employment in a wide range of service sectors such as transport, postal and logistics services, care, financial services, retail and digital communications.
The document was prepared for UNI Europa’s 6th Conference in Belfast at the end of March, where over 600 union leaders will elect leadership and discuss strategy for the labour movement in the services sectors.
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