On 22nd of August 2007, a first meeting of the recently founded Federation of European Employers in the Social Sector (F.E.D.E.S.) took place at the BAG WfbM headquarters in Frankfurt. Representatives of three national umbrella organisations which included French and Hungarian colleagues were present to discuss the legal foundations and basic principles of the association that has been brought into being by the French Association of Friends and Relatives of People with Disabilities (FEGAPEI) last December. Together with the umbrella organisations of other member states, F.E.D.E.S. aims to become involved in the European integration policy.

For this reason, F.E.D.E.S. wants to become an acknowledged partner of the Social Dialogue, as provided in the articles 138 and 139 of the EC Treaty. The BAG WfbM considers its FEDES membership as a possibility to contribute in form and content to the politics of the European institutions concerned. To this end, national federations closely cooperating with the BAG WfbM came together and conferred on the F.E.D.E.S. charter in Frankfurt.

The close cooperation between organisations is due to several initatives of the BAG WfbM during the years 2004 and 2005. At this year's workshop fair in Nuremberg, the cooperation could finally be fixed in a written agreement. As a consequence, the newly founded federation can already build on established forms of cooperation. The BAG WfbM is therefore glad that their preliminary work of the past two years has proved to be successful and expects even better results for the sake of persons with disabilities in the future.