SD Paper

Social partners

• Workers' representatives: industriAll European Trade Union
• Employer's representatives: Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI)

Social dialogue in this sector covers activities defined by NACE (Rev. 2), classes 17.1 and 17.2: 

• manufacture of pulp, paper & paperboard
  
• manufacture of articles of paper & paperboard.

The EU paper industry employs about 650,000 people (Eurostat, 2014 Labour Force Survey data) in some 20,000 firms (Eurostat, 2013 Business Statistics). The sector - including 520 pulp, paper and board-producing companies and 1000 paper mills – accounts for 25% of world production.

Major challenges include:

• falling demand for certain products (e.g. newsprint)
• the shift towards CO₂-neutral energy production

The move to more efficient use of raw materials, combined with the need for a forest fibre industry that manufactures pulp, paper and other wood-based products to contribute to a low-carbon economy, will lead to a demand for new skills and qualifications. This means more training  and retraining for the workforce.

Key areas

The Committee is currently focusing on:   

• skills & qualifications, education & training
• health & safety – updating good practices
• EU industrial policies (e.g. climate & energy policy, the circular economy)
• competitiveness (e.g. discussing innovation & technological development, the bioeconomy)
• EU trade policy.

(copied from EC - Sectoral social dialogue)

(Image: Smurfit Kappa)