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ACTIVITY REPORT
SOMMAIRE
200 - 2006
ETUC EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION
1
CONTENTS
1. Introduction and highlights 7
2. Globalisation and Europe’s Economy 9
2.1 E
conomic trends: the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
and the Lisbon Strategy, ETUC and the European Central Bank (ECB),
the Macro-economic dialogue (MED), the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) 11
2.2 Employment and labour market: European Employment Strategy, research, innovation 15
2.3 Climate change, energy, sustainable development, REACH 16
2.4 Trade negotiations and decent work 21
2.5 I
nternal market: Services Directive, cases in the European Court of Justice (ECJ)
22
3. Social Europe 27
3.1 Introduction 29
3.2 Social dialogue 31
3.3 Social legislation and labour law 35
CONTENTS
3.3.1 Working Time Directive
3.3.2 Posting Directive
3.3.3 Temporary Agency Workers Directive
3.4 Economic and social cohesion 38
3.5 Social inclusion policy and social protection 39
3.6 Services of general interest 42
3.7 Migration and mobility of workers 43
3.8 Draft European Constitution 45
4. Equality 47
4.1 Women and gender mainstreaming 49
4.2 Anti-racism 51
4.3 Disabled workers 51
5. Workers rights and participation 5
5.1 European Works Councils (EWC) 55
5.2 E
volution of the legal framework on information and consultation rights of workers 57
5.3 Company law and the European Company Statute (SE) 57
5.4 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) 60
4
6. The ETUC as an organisation 61
6.1 Affiliation and membership 63
6.2 Trade Union organisation 64
6.3 Structures and internal organisation 65
6.4 Coordination of Interregional Trade Union Councils (ITUC) 65
6.5 Youth Committee 66
6.6 The European Trade Union Institute for Research,
Education and Health and Safety (ETUI-REHS) 67
6.7 The Social Development Agency (SDA) 72
6.8 T
he European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working
Conditions (EUROFOUND), the European Centre for the Development of
Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), European Agency for Safety and
Health at Work (OSHmail) 73
7. Europe and the world 75
7.1 Enlargement 77
CONTENTS
7.2 South Eastern Europe (Balkans) 79
7.3 The International Trade Union Confederation (ICTU) and
The Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) 80
7.4 The Euro-Mediterranean Forum 80
7.5 Latin America 81
7.6 The Cotonou Agreement 82
7.7 Other international relations 82
7.8 Relations with the Council of Europe 83
7.9 International Labour Organization (ILO) 84
8. Campaigns and mobilisations 85
9. Financial report 89
10. Annexes 9
C
onsultations of the European social partners by the European Commission
concerning the social dialogue 95
W
orking programmes of the European social partners 96
F
ramework agreement on work-related stress 98
F
ramework agreement on harassment and violence at work 102
5
6
INTRODUCTION
S
ince the Congress in Prague in 2003, the ETUC has been involved in many activities of
importance to the workers of Europe.
We have been consistent champions of greater European integration with an ever stronger
social dimension. We have supported the EU Constitutional Treaty which we believe is the
most ‘social’ text of any European Treaty so far. However its rejection by the voters of France and the
Netherlands has necessitated a rethink which will still be going on by the time of our Congress in Seville.
We have welcomed 12 new Member States into membership of the EU – Cyprus, the Czech Republic,
Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia in May 2004, and Bulgaria
and Romania in January 2007. We have not favoured transitional arrangements designed to restrict the
free movement of labour.
We have mounted major campaigns including three important demonstrations:
Rome – 4 October 2003 – for a Social Europe
russels – 19 March 2005 – for the EU Constitutional Treaty and against the Bolkestein Directive
B
trasbourg – 14 February 2006 – against the Bolkestein Directive and for a fair Services Directive
S
INTRODUCTION
We have supported the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy designed to make Europe’s economy the
most competitive in the world by 2010. It is a matter of profound disappointment that this strategy has not
been pursued more energetically by Member States, some of whom have over-emphasised the question
of labour market changes.
We have opposed the biased approach of the European Commission towards a de-regulatory agenda
without sufficient regard for raising and maintaining high standards of Social Europe.
We have been concerned by the insistence of the European Central Bank on putting stability at the heart
of its work. Sometimes, this has led to growth being threatened by interest rates increases, and by some
European manufacturers being threatened by an over-strong euro.
We have engaged rigorously in the debate with those who argue that the future of Europe is restricted
to developing its single market and to making Europe’s economies competitive through weakening wel-
fare and employment rights; and also with those who argue that there is no Social Model in Europe,
only a collection of different models varying from one Member State to another. From that they draw
the conclusion that social policy is a national matter, to be left alone at European level. We will never
accept that view.
We have met and kept contact with every presidency of the EU, the Commission, every major political
group in the European Parliament (except for the far Right), European employers’ bodies and NGOs.
We have concluded framework agreements with BusinessEurope 1, CEEP and UEAPME on work-related
stress, and harassment and violence at work.
New agendas are being developed, for example, on energy and sustainable development; on lifelong
learning; on the new ‘casino’ capitalism; on equality; and on collective bargaining and worker partici-
pation. Public services and their relations with the European Single Market have also been important.
7
We have supported the formation of the new International Trade Union Confederation – a fusion of the
ICFTU and the WCL – and have provided a base for its Pan European Regional Council. We continue
to support free and independent trade unionism and human rights throughout the world and especially
in neighbouring countries to the South and to the East.
Internally the ETUC has continued to be guided by the Executive Committee and the Steering Committee,
both of which have been chaired with excellent efficiency and comradeship by Candido Mendez, the
ETUC President 2003-2007. He has been an invaluable and much appreciated help and support, ably
assisted by Manuel Bonmati.
Thanks are due too to the staff of the ETUC who responded well to the arrival of a new political team
in 2003. Their commitment and work are much appreciated. My colleagues on the political team have
also done well and I am grateful to them for their help.
We have established the Social Development Agency to mount projects for the ETUC and its affiliates.
We have merged the European Trade Union Institute, the Trade Union Technical Bureau and the Euro-
pean Trade Union College into one body which has settled down well and has attracted an increased
budget from the European authorities.
The ETUC is in good shape and remains committed and capable of representing effectively the working
people of Europe.
John Monks,
General Secretary
Brussels, March 2007
1
UNICE changed its name to become BusinessEurope
8
2. GLOBALISATION AND
EUROPE’S ECONOMY
SOMMAIRE
9
10
2. GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
2.1 Economic trends: the European However, the policy response to these calls was not ade-
quate. Instead of advancing the cause of Social Europe, the
Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
European Commission came out with the famous Services
and the Lisbon Strategy, ETUC and Directive which aimed to intensify direct competition on serv-
the European Central Bank (ECB), ices markets in Europe and, in that way, also to increase
the Macro-economic dialogue (MED), competition between workers in Europe. At the same time,
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) the slump in growth which started in 2001 was continuing
and even intensifying in 2003 because of a sudden and
exaggerated appreciation of the euro exchange rate. In a
period of less than one year, the effective exchange rate of
the euro appreciated by 20%, thereby destroying the efforts
The ETUC and the Lisbon Agenda
made to strengthen European competitiveness. Against this
background, the call from the ETUC resolution to use active
DEVELOPMENTS OVER 2003-2004 aggregate demand policies to help the economy get over
the slowdown was particularly relevant.
The Lisbon Agenda, as agreed at the Lisbon summit of 2000,
was about making Europe the most competitive region in the
world by building the knowledge society while improving the
objective of social cohesion. In fact, by stressing the impor-
PREPARING THE MID-TERM REVIEW
tance of the knowledge society for competitiveness, Social
OF THE LISBON STRATEGY
Europe is seen as a part of the solution. Indeed, a broad and
effective knowledge society can only be built on the basis With the Lisbon objectives supposed to be achieved by
of high social cohesion. The Lisbon Agenda, defined in this 2010, a mid-term review was organised in 2005. To pre-
way, is resting on three equally important pillars: competi- pare for this review, the Commission installed another high-
tiveness, Social Europe and sustainable development. This level working group under the presidency of the former Dutch
approach, together with the political commitment to restore Prime Minister, Wim Kok. Several trade union leaders were
full employment by defining the objective of reaching a 70% also members of this group. The ETUC put this opportunity
employment rate by 2010 have made the ETUC in general to good use by staying in close contact with the members of
rather supportive of the Lisbon process. this group in order to monitor the discussions as well as to
coordinate the trade union input. Also, in September 2004,
The ETUC has tried to use the platform the Lisbon Agenda a hearing was organised with the European social partners
was offering to advance the case of job creation and better during which the ETUC insisted on the need to ‘Lisbonise’ the
working conditions in Europe, as for example reflected in the Stability and Growth Pact.
resolution of the Executive Committee for the 2004 Spring
Council. This resolution, called ‘Rebalance the Lisbon Agen- In Autumn 2004, the report of the high-level group was pub-
da with Social Europe’ insisted, on the one hand, on active lished. In the public discussion that followed the publication
economic policies in order to get the European economy out of the report, the ETUC’s strategy was to highlight and insist
of the slump in growth and, on the other hand, stressed the on the points in the report that we felt to be the major weak-
importance of Social Europe as a factor for productivity and nesses of the Lisbon process, that is to say the neglect of the
innovation. A particular emphasis was put in this resolution importance of using aggregate demand policies to restore
on the perverse effects of a culture of long working hours, economic confidence amongst both investors and consum-
on the positive impact of workers’ participation in creating ers in Europe and the need to focus on the right concept of
high-performance workplaces and on the need for a secure competitiveness instead of trying to win global competition
work force. with low-wage economies by cutting wages and working
longer.
11
THE COMMISSION REVIEW AND THE RELAUNCH OF n the new 2005-2008 European Social Agenda, no
I
THE LISBON AGENDA single reference to a tangible social policy proposal
was made, thereby installing a de facto moratorium at
Mid-2004, the new Commission was formed with José
the European level. Under the guise of ‘simpler regula-
Manuel Barroso as the new president. After receiving the
tion’, attempts were made to delete the draft directive on
expert group report on the mid-term review of the Lisbon
temporary agency work. The new employment guidelines
process, the Barroso Commission started to prepare a new
covering the period of 2005-2008 no longer call upon
and slimmed down version of Lisbon. The formal logic was
Member States to fight the phenomenon of poverty wages
to say that the Lisbon process was not working because of
and ‘in-work poverty’. And recently, the Green Paper on
two basic flaws. Lisbon was said to contain too many objec-
labour law suggests that workers’ rights, such as the right
tives and it was claimed that Member States were not imple-
to job protection and the right to a regular work contract,
menting the strategy and not carrying out structural reforms of
represent ‘rigidity’ protecting the ‘insiders’ at the expense
their labour and product markets.
of ‘outsiders’.
In March 2005, the ETUC Executive Committee approved
a resolution for the upcoming Spring Council, essentially
ETUC - POSITIONS AND REACTIONS TOWARDS THE
warning European policy-makers not to make the mistake of
‘BATTLE OF IDEOLOGY’
dumping Social Europe in favour of a narrow and misguided
concept of competitiveness. In all of this policy discussion, the ETUC tried to be an active
partner, influencing policy-makers to take a more growth and
Although the March 2005 European Council conclusions, worker-friendly position. Besides the formulation of a com-
under the guidance of the Luxembourg Presidency, did refer mon European trade union point of view through relevant res-
to social policies on numerous occasions, the stage was nev- olutions (see below), the ETUC also sought to build alliances
ertheless set for the Barroso Commission to rewrite the whole with other partners, in particular the European employers.
concept of Lisbon. And in doing so, the Barroso Commission
the European policy agenda and the role the European level In the run-up to the March 2004 Council, the European social
is supposed to be taking up. partners issued a joint statement. This statement insisted on
the fact that the Lisbon Agenda, as formulated in 2000, with
irst, Lisbon (vintage 2005) is prioritising the pillar of
F its three equal pillars of competitiveness, social cohesion and
competitiveness over the pillar of social cohesion. Jobs, sustainable development, remained valid and more urgent
irrespective of the quality of jobs, are seen as the best than ever.
social policy and the best guarantee for social cohesion.
Social Europe is either said to be non-existent (‘there is no At the end of 2005, and in connection with the Hampton
single Social Model in Europe’) or to be in good shape Court Council on the European Social Model, the ETUC put
anyway. This line of thinking represents a major shift its view on the European Economic Model in a brochure
away from seeing social policy as a factor for productiv- called ‘More and better jobs’, insisting on the fact that the
ity, towards viewing Social Europe as a financial burden solution to mass unemployment does not lie in scrapping
for competitiveness. social policies but in reforming the European framework for
macro-economic policy-making.
econdly, a major delegation of responsibility for policy-
S
making accompanies this shift in contents. The role of the Furthermore, another resolution of the ETUC Executive Com-
European level is being narrowed down to opening up mittee (‘Move Social Europe up a gear’, March 2006) drew
the European marketplace for even more competition2. European policy-makers’ attention again to the fact that fair
Beyond that, it is up to Member States to implement working conditions on a European labour market and the
reforms of their labour markets in order to become more agenda of human capital are highly complementary. Instead
competitive. The key slogan of new Lisbon is national gov- of thinking in terms of giving up on workers’ rights in return
With internal ernments to implement national reforms. According to this for a mere slogan of ‘skills, skills, skills’, the real way forward
market, Services view, besides urging Member States to reform, ‘Europe’ to reform is to use strong, robust workers’ rights as a founda-
Directive, more can or should do little else other than trigger competition tion for the new social policy agenda of skills, upward mobil-
liberalisation by bringing down the barriers to trade on the European ity for workers and gender equality.
of network internal market.
industries, lighter
regulation for urthermore, this new philosophy is systematically being
F
business as implemented in practice:
key pillars.
12
The ETUC and the European Central Bank Mr Bini-Smaghi, explicitly condemning ‘insiders’ for hold-
(ECB) ing on to existing jobs and calling for the replacement
of wage formation through collective bargaining by ‘ex-
post’ profit-sharing systems. In reply, the ETUC pointed
The European Central Bank holds a key role in the European out that systems of coordinated collective bargaining
economy. By setting one interest rate and one exchange were highly necessary, especially in the face of an inde-
rate for a set of 13 Member States, the ECB can determine pendent central bank with an ambitious inflation target.
growth outcomes for the euro area as a whole, and through
this, also influence export market perspectives and growth in A resolution, discussed and approved at the ETUC Execu-
the rest of the European Union. tive Committee of June 2006, specified how the ETUC aims
to interact with the ECB with the aim of making the ECB a
Against this background, the ETUC has recognised the need friend and not a foe for European workers.
for a strategy to interact with the ECB in order to bring about
monetary and economic policies that support more and bet-
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
ter jobs and do not represent a threat to workers’ rights and
wage and collective bargaining institutions. The Macro-Economic Dialogue (MED)
Therefore, and besides the discussions with representatives
BACkGROUND OF THE MED
of the ECB in the framework of the Macro-Economic Dia-
logue, the ETUC has pursued a ‘double track’ strategy by: The Macro-Economic Dialogue was founded by the 1999
Cologne council. It brings together the major actors on
On the one hand, increasing awareness among the macro-economic policies in Europe. Its aim is to exchange
European public, governments and European Parlia- views in an informal way on how to improve the mix of
ment of the need to have a central bank in Europe that different policies (fiscal, wage, monetary policies) in order
is the guardian of price stability and economic growth to achieve and sustain high economic growth without rekin-
and more and better jobs. To do this, the ETUC has dling inflationary pressures. It meets twice a year in autumn
published a twice-yearly report on the economic situa- and spring. The MED has a technical level that prepares for
tion and prospects in the euro area, accompanied by the meeting at high political level.
policy recommendations for the ECB and ECFIN minis-
ters aimed at achieving higher growth in Europe. These
reports were accompanied by press statements echoing
their main messages. In general, these messages pointed
to the fact that workers had done their part to keep infla-
tion low and under control and that monetary and fiscal
policy now needed to act to strengthen the dynamics
of domestic aggregate demand in the euro area. These
reports can be found at the ETUC’s website, on a special
internet page.
On the other hand, holding bilateral meetings between
the ETUC and the ECB leadership. Two such meet-
ings took place at the end of 2004 and 2005. These
meetings provided the opportunity not only to be better
informed of the ECB’s analysis and thinking but also to
convey very clearly to the ECB leadership the message
that wage moderation was ongoing, that there was no
inflationary danger around the corner and that instead,
monetary and fiscal policy- makers needed to take up
or continue to take up their responsibility for providing
growth-friendly policies. Furthermore, the ETUC also con-
veyed its policy recommendations to the ECB by way of
formal letters to the ECB’s president, the ECB governing
council and the euro area finance ministers. One letter
in particular concerned the public statements made by
1
DISCUSSIONS AT THE MED 2003-2006 balisation and macro-economic policy, and the strengthening
of the MED itself.
Discussions at the MED, both at technical and at political
level, systematically focused on the economic situation, eco-
nomic prospects and the question of whether the policy mix
POSSIBLE PROSPECTS FOR THE MED AND THE ETUC
of fiscal, monetary and wage policies was appropriate and
could be improved. Typically, this discussion featured a call The growth and job potential that can be achieved by improv-
from the ECB, the Commission, ECFIN ministers and employ- ing the policy mix is vast. Indeed, developments in Europe,
ers for wage moderation. In addition, the ECB was practically in particular in the euro area, point to important failures in the
always concerned at the possibility of a resurgence of infla- coordination of the different types of economic policy:
tion. The ETUC reacted to these challenges by pointing out that
there was already wage moderation and that the implication The efforts delivered by workers in the form of wage modera-
of this was that inflation was not around the corner. The ETUC tion and structural reforms have not brought more and better
position was backed up by hard data, coming from the ETUC jobs because of the lack of active policies to stimulate aggre-
committee on the coordination of collective bargaining. This gate demand.
information could be used to trace the most recent trends and A vicious circle of insufficient monetary stimulus, low growth,
extrapolate these trends in future on the basis of an analysis of rising deficit and fiscal consolidation through raising indirect
the factors determining wage formation (unemployment, low taxes is causing self-inflicted stagflation and the phenomenon
growth, lack of bottlenecks on the labour market, the ETUC of so-called ‘stubbornly’ high inflation. Efforts to improve com-
guideline on collective bargaining taking into account the fac- petitiveness (wage moderation, industrial policy, investment in
tors of inflation, price stability and productivity increases). At research) are being wiped out by the lack of a euro exchange
the same time, the ETUC’s analysis of the wage moderation rate policy in response to its too radical appreciation.
situation allowed us to reverse the discussion and forcefully
The ETUC has, on different occasions, pointed to these short-
raise the question of what contribution the other actors (fiscal
comings and the need to build institutions that improve and
and monetary policy) would make - now that wage earners
deliver a real macro-economic policy mix. In particular, the
had done more than their part - in order to compensate for the
ETUC proposed:
fall in aggregate demand caused by wage moderation.
eepening and extending the MED at European level by
D
Another characteristic of the discussion over the past few years
linking it to similar types of institutions and discussions at
was the trend to shift the policy discussion from macro-eco-
the national level.
nomic policies to structural reforms. Here as well, the ETUC
Strengthening the degree of coordination by organising
acted to safeguard the macro-economic aspect of the discus-
regular hearings for the social partners with the Eurogroup
sion and avoid it being diverted into the issue of pure labour
of finance ministers, including the participation of the
market reform. In particular, the ETUC claimed that structural
ECB.
reforms of the labour market were necessary (provided they
were the right set of reform policies) but needed to be com-
plemented by macro-economic policy if they were to result in
more and better jobs and higher growth.
The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP)
Recently, the efforts invested in the MED seem to be delivering
some tangible results. Although employer organisations con- POLICY DEVELOPMENTS: FROM A SUSPENSION
tinue to put too much stress on fiscal and monetary stability, a OF THE ExCESSIVE DEFICIT PROCEDURE TO
common opinion was nevertheless forged on the issue of the A NEW STABILITY PACT
ECB removing monetary support too quickly and too forcefully One key principle at the basis of European monetary union
from the recovery. In particular, the danger of a euro appre- and the economic pillar of the Maastricht Treaty is a set of
ciation damaging competitiveness and aborting the ongoing fixed rules to constrain macro-economic policy-makers. Both
2006 recovery was a shared concern and a position which the excessive deficit procedure of the 1991 Maastricht Treaty,
seemed to be implicitly supported on the finance ministers’ forcing European Member States to keep public deficits below
side as well. a certain reference value (3% of GDP), as well as the 1997
Stability and Growth Pact stressing the medium-term objective
In addition, the MED discussed specific themes such as the of zero deficit or even slight public surplus testify to this.
role of macro-economic policy in the Lisbon process and
innovation economy, the reform of the Stability Pact and the These rules on fiscal discipline posed no particular problem
strengthening of economic governance in the euro area, glo- in the late nineties when growth was robust. However, with
14
the economy after 2000 entering the slump in growth, public taken into account. However, problems remain. For example,
deficits rapidly increased and in 2004 no fewer than eight the plan to take account of future pension payments in public
countries were confronted with a deficit higher than 3%, with debt is highly controversial and biased, since the possibility
the Commission calling for structural consolidation in the midst of future tax-payers being willing to finance future pension
of an economic slowdown. payments by paying higher taxes or social security contribu-
tions is not taken into consideration. Also, the new pact is
A political crisis erupted in November 2003, when the ECFIN still dominated by the overriding aim of cutting deficits at all
council did not accept the Commission proposal to force times, whereas no institutional structures have been thought
France to cut deficits by 0.8% of GDP in 2004 and another of to allow finance ministers to make use of the strength of
0.6% in 2005. This led to a de facto suspension of the Sta- European cooperation by acting together to coordinate a fis-
bility Pact from November 2003 on. This political deadlock cal expansion.
only got unblocked in March 2005, when the ECFIN council
reached a compromise on a set of new principles recognis-
ing that the implementation of the Stability Pact also needs to
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
take the needs of the economy into consideration and not just
pre-fixed mathematical rules.
2.2 Employment and labour market:
INTERVENTIONS AND POSITIONS FROM THE ETUC
European Employment Strategy,
Behind the technicalities of the Stability Pact lies a certain ide- research, innovation
ological agenda of limiting the role of government and public
policy: if all public deficits are eliminated, the share of public
debt in GDP will be gradually but totally eliminated in the long European Employment Strategy (EES)
run. It also means that the state’s capacity to undertake pub-
lic investments by borrowing on capital markets is hindered.
During the period under review, the ETUC conducted a project
Moreover, a rigid implementation of the rule of zero deficit,
aimed at logging, analysing and evaluating the activities car-
when undertaken in a period of low and hesitating growth,
ried out by the trade union organisations - in cooperation also
can bring serious damage to the economy by prolonging and
with the employers – contributing to the implementation of the
deepening the economic slowdown. For these reasons, the
European Employment Strategy, and at offering an insight into
ETUC intervened in the policy discussion:
action at national level linked to the work programme of the
European social partners. One specific element of the project
he November 2003 Executive Committee approved a res-
T
related to the implementation of the guidelines for employment
olution with the double message that a pact to coordinate
in the new Member States and the preparation of these coun-
fiscal policy in Europe is indispensable but that the existing
tries for the European social dialogue.
Stability and Growth Pact was not up to this job because
of focusing too much on rigid and pre-fixed rules.
The project gathered data casting light on two aspects of the
n the context of the Macro-Economic Dialogue at the begin-
I
European Employment Strategy: the degree of trade union
ning of 2004, the ETUC delivered a note to the partners
participation in the definition, implementation and evaluation
involved in this dialogue, with similar messages.
of the EES, and its impact at national level, with particular
he October 2004 Executive Committee supported another
T
reference to the trade union contribution in this respect. The
resolution, welcoming a communication from the Commis-
project conclusions comprised part of the trade union input
sion on avenues to reform the Stability Pact but at the same
into the mid-term evaluation of the implementation of the Lis-
time regretting that the Commission avoided the question of
bon Strategy, specifically with regard to the employment ‘pil-
how to coordinate an expansionary fiscal policy response
lar’ (EES).
to a negative shock to the European economy.
Moreover, the project allowed us to form a network of experts
with practical experience in this field. At the end of the
AFTER THE REFORM, A NEW REFORM?
project, the proposals and concrete recommendations in the
The new Stability Pact, as reformed in early 2005, does intro- final report served as a basis for continuing reflection and for
duce a certain amount of economic logic into the rules of maintaining the dynamic already established with the aim of
fiscal policy- making in Europe. It thus represents a certain revitalising the EES through a greater trade union input.
step forwards. Factors such as the condition of public debt,
economic growth and structural reforms can now explicitly be Subsequently, in 2006, the ETUC called on the same team of
15
researchers to monitor the application of the integrated guide- tiplication des coopérations en matière de recherche doivent
lines for employment and to pursue the trade union evaluation être des priorités de l’UE;
of the success of the EES, taking account of developments
since the first report. l’articulation recherche/innovation, primordiale pour dif-
fuser dans l’économie et la société les nouveaux résultats de
The second report introduced some methodological changes. la recherche. La cohérence entre innovation, développement
Aside from a new survey sent to all the national trade union durable, modèle social européen devient essentielle pour en
bodies, and the organisation of two seminars focusing much piloter les évolutions et en maîtriser les effets.
more closely on the major questions at stake, it included four
case studies (in Hungary, Sweden, Germany and Spain) Dans ce contexte, la CES a participé aux diverses initiatives
designed to explore in detail the national conditions for apply- de la Commission et s’est exprimée à plusieurs reprises sur la
ing the EES. création d’un Institut européen des technologies en collabora-
tion avec le CESE.
The conclusions from this process focus on two fundamental
aspects: on the one hand, at present, despite all the efforts
invested, the effects of reform are few and far between, and
so a debate needs to take place on how to make further
progress in the strategy, taking account of evolutions nine
years down the line. On the other hand, the question is what 2.3 Climate change, energy, sustainable
impact the reform has had on the joint responsibility and the
development, REACH
participation of the social partners in the context of the social
dialogue. These conclusions offer some ideas to be devel-
oped over the years ahead, which will be a decisive period Sustainable development and
for reinforcing the credibility of the EES and for offering a way the environment
forward for the workers of Europe.
ETUC activities in the areas of sustainable development and
the environment have continued and expanded, building on
the work carried out by the previous secretariat and based on
Innovation et recherche the action plan adopted by the 10th Congress.
Dans sa résolution adoptée le 1er décembre 2004, la CES a The ETUC conference in Seville in 2002 identified four
une nouvelle fois souscrit aux objectifs de la Commission de important intersectoral themes for ongoing and more intensive
consacrer 3% à la recherche d’ici 2020. European trade union activity: climate change and energy;
La CES tient à faire de la recherche une priorité de l’UE et agriculture and food; chemical risks; and the skills and rights
de doubler, notamment, le budget du prochain programme of workers.
cadre (PCRDT). Cet effort de l’UE montrera ainsi la voie aux
États membres concernant: The ETUC has operated through a working group on sus-
tainable development composed of experts from the national
la révision des modes de financement de la recherche organisations and the European federations. It has focused
(rôle de la BEI et de la BERD); on the following themes: climate change; energy; chemical
products; the Lisbon Strategy; and sustainable development.
la révision intelligente du Pacte de Stabilité et de croissance
excluant les dépenses additionnelles des États- Membres dans
la recherche de l’objectif de réduction des déficits publics; Climate change
la mise en place de nouveaux mécanismes de soutien à
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE kYOTO PROTOCOL
la recherche fondamentale au niveau européen, qui devraient
IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
être prévus dans le 7ème PCRD, comme l’identification d’un
fonds pour la recherche fondamentale, alimenté entre autre The ETUC backed the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol
par une contribution des entreprises . in the European Union, following it entry into force in Febru-
ary 2005 after ratification by Russia. The ETUC has worked
la meilleure coordination des politiques nationales de to identify the elements that must be included in European
recherche, entre elles et avec celle de l’UE, ainsi qu’une mul- climate change policy in order to achieve the objectives of
16
the Kyoto Protocol, while making an effective contribution to
sustainable development. the adoption of an initial resolution by the Executive Com-
mittee in October 2006 entitled ‘Tackling climate change:
A conference took place in December 2003 in Milan to dis- A social priority - Avenues for action’. The ETUC demands
cuss the various aspects of European climate change policy. a climate change policy that contributes towards sustain-
Representatives from the national trade union organisations, able development and the creation of quality jobs, the set-
the international trade union bodies (ICFTU-WCL), the Euro- ting up of a platform for the European social partners on
pean federations, the European Commission, the private sec- climate change, unilateral targets for driving down emis-
tor and NGOs took part. The themes addressed were: issues sions by some 25% by 2020 and 75% by 2050, and the
relating to negotiations in the framework of the UNFCCC; the stepping up of efforts to reduce emissions in the domestic,
carbon market; information and participation for workers and tertiary and transport sectors;
their representatives; and the problems posed for specific sec- The ETUC is involved in the working group set up by the
tors: agriculture, transport, and construction. European Commission on the revision of the directive on
the European Emissions Trading Scheme, which is cur-
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
Based on the outcome of the conference, the March 2004 rently the major instrument of European policy in the battle
Executive Committee adopted a resolution entitled: ‘Union against climate change.
proposals for a European policy on climate change’, which
underscores the key principle that policies and measures to
limit greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union must INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS
ON CLIMATE CHANGE
work towards “sharing the load equally between all sectors
of the economy and with workers, of the economic opportuni- As part of the international trade union delegation, coordi-
ties and responsibilities arising from the fight against climate nated by the ITUC, the ETUC is following the international
change”. The ETUC calls for climate policies to be backed negotiations on climate change held under the aegis of the
up by investments, coordinated at European level, in infra- UN. Since 2004, the ETUC has been attending the annual
structures and technologies geared towards reducing energy conferences in the context of the United Nations Framework
consumption and cutting carbon emissions. It also emphasises Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The ITUC is
the need to put in place urgently the instruments required to on the verge of gaining recognition as an observer at the
anticipate and adapt to the social and employment conse- UNFCCC.
quences of the structural changes likely to flow from measures
to limit emissions.
Following this work, the ETUC wrote and published a trade
union guide to raise awareness and provide information
on the issues involved in climate change, entitled Climate
change: Avenues for trade union action.
THE EUROPEAN UNION’S STRATEGY FOR
THE POST-kYOTO PERIOD (AFTER 2012)
The international negotiations aimed at producing a successor
to the Kyoto protocol (which runs out in 2012) have yet to be
completed. While playing a prominent role in building inter-
national agreement, within the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the European
Union is making progress internally. European leaders, at the
European Council in March 2007, adopted a firm, unilat-
eral commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20%
by 2020, compared with 1990 levels, accompanied by a
series of objectives for renewable energy, biofuels and energy
efficiency.
The ETUC has undertaken a series of projects aimed at devel-
oping its expertise and advancing its position on climate
measures and policies for the post-Kyoto period, including:
17
CLIMATE CHANGE AND EMPLOYMENT Energy
There is clearly an inadequate understanding of the link
between the effects of climate change, the policies designed Energy has been at the centre of European debate since
to prevent it, and employment. That is why, in early 2006, 2005, following the hike in oil prices and the events which
the ETUC and the Social Development Agency (SDA), set up led Russia to suspend its supplies to Ukraine.
a study to examine the impact on employment in the EU-25 of
climate change and the policies and measures which would In response to the Green Paper on ‘A European strategy for
achieve a reduction of some 40% in greenhouse gas emis- safe, competitive and sustainable energy’ of March 2006,
sions by the year 2030. This study, finalised in March 2007, the ETUC set out its position on EU energy policy in the form
was financed jointly by DG Environment and five environment of a resolution adopted by the Executive Committee in March
ministries3, the Ademe (France) and the DIAC (France). The 2006. The ETUC supports the increased integration of Euro-
study was carried out jointly by the ETUC, Syndex, the Wup- pean energy policies, in order to guarantee the security of
pertal Institute and Istas, with the cooperation of Sindnova. energy supplies and access for all to affordable energy servic-
es, and reinforce the fight against climate change. The ETUC
The first part of this study explores the potential impact on eco- is critical of the pursuit of liberalisation in the energy market,
nomic activity and employment of the phenomena likely to be which is not consistent with the long-term objectives of manag-
triggered by climate change (rising temperatures, increased ing the transition to sustainable energy, energy efficiency and
frequency of extreme climatic events (storms, floods, etc), ris- security of supply in the face of vertically integrated external
ing sea levels) in a series of sectors: agriculture/forestry/fish- suppliers.
eries, tourism, finance/insurance, health, infrastructure, and
energy. It highlights positive and negative effects on employ- The General Secretary represents the ETUC within the high-
ment resulting from a modest rise in temperatures, i.e. some- level group on ‘Competitiveness, energy and the environment’
thing in the order of 2ºC, and the more substantial negative set up by the European Commission in response to the com-
effects likely if temperatures increase further. munication on industrial policy of 2006. So far, the group has
adopted three reports, relating to the internal energy market,
The second part is devoted to the impact of measures and climate policy and innovation in the energy-intensive indus-
policies to prevent climate change in four sectors: energy tries. It will complete its work in November 2007.
production; industry (steel, cement); transport; housing and
construction. The results show that sizeable changes in secto- On 6 March 2007, two days before the spring European
ral employment might arise from ambitious policies to reduce Council which was due to adopt some decisive measures for
CO2 emissions. Such policies create positive development European energy policy, the ETUC organised a conference
opportunities in certain employment-intensive sectors (renewa- entitled ‘What energy policy for the European Union?’, with
bles, energy efficiency, public transport). On the other hand, the backing of the European Economic and Social Commit-
there are risks for the sectors involved in electricity production, tee. The aim of the conference was to discuss in detail the
especially producers basing their operations on oil, coal and direction of European energy policy relating to the regula-
gas, and the steel and cement sectors. tion of the market, public services, the battle against climate
change, and democratic control.
These findings demonstrate the urgent need for a tripartite
dialogue, bringing together the social partners and the public
authorities, on the implementation of climate change policies
at all relevant levels: European, national, sectoral and com-
pany.
In order to present and discuss the findings of the study with
the parties directly involved, the ETUC organised a high-
level conference in February 2007, bringing together the EU
Employment and Environment Commissioners, environment
ministers from Spain and the United Kingdom, and representa-
tives from the European trade union federations, industry, and
environmental NGOs.
3
Spain, Italy, the
United Kingdom
(DEFRA), Belgium,
(SPF) and Finland.
18
Sustainable development SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY
The ETUC is committed to promoting sustainable mobility
THE EUROPEAN UNION’S SUSTAINABLE for workers, be it for their professional activities, commuting
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY between home and work, or job-seeking. It calls upon mem-
ber organisations to formulate demands for the compulsory
The ETUC has continued its activities in pursuit of integration
drafting of corporate mobility plans, with the participation of
between the Lisbon Strategy (2000), designed to make Europe
workers’ representatives, arrangements for the reimbursement
“the world’s most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based
of the cost of public transport used to get to and from work,
economy” by 2010, and the European Sustainable Develop-
investments in public transport and ‘soft’ modes of transport
ment Strategy, adopted at the Gothenburg Summit in 2001.
such as cycling or walking.
This was meant to represent the third pillar - the environmental
pillar - of the Lisbon Strategy.
In 2004, the ETUC signed up to the Charter of European
Mobility Week, an initiative involving the European Commis-
The ETUC has tried to push the Commission and the Member
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
sion, associations of European towns and cities, and the inter-
States to ensure that the European Employment Strategy takes
national public transport association.
account of the need to promote ‘green’ jobs and to support
innovation in technologies that safeguard the environment. To
this end, the ETUC has drafted joint statements with the Euro-
pean Environmental Bureau (EEB) and the platform of Euro-
pean social NGOs for the heads of state and government
meeting at the spring summits, where the Council is tasked
REACH: Registration, Evaluation,
with monitoring the Lisbon Strategy and the Sustainable Devel- and Authorisation of Chemicals.
opment Strategy.
Après quelque 10 ans de débat intense au plan commun-
However, the adoption in March 2005 of a revised Lisbon auAfter nearly 10 years of intense debate at EU level, the
Strategy focusing more on growth and employment marked a reform of the EU legislation on chemicals has finally been
break in that approach insofar as it abandoned closer integra- adopted by the European Parliament and the Council in
tion with the Sustainable Development Strategy. A fresh Sus- December 2006. This new regulation, called REACH, sets
tainable Development Strategy was adopted in June 2006, up a comprehensive system for the Registration, Evaluation
which will be assessed at December European Councils, and Authorisation of Chemicals. Under REACH, companies
rather than at the spring Councils like the Lisbon Strategy. manufacturing or importing chemical substances in quantities
of one tonne or more per year will be required to register such
The ETUC has been actively involved in the various consulta- substances and to demonstrate that they can be used safely. In
tions on the revision of the Sustainable Development Strategy, addition, producers of substances of very high concerns (like
and has in particular defended the need for organic integra- carcinogens or substances that are toxic and accumulate in
tion with the Lisbon Strategy, and the social dimension in each the environment) will need to obtain an authorisation before
of its priority themes. using or placing them on the market. A new European Agency
based in Helsinki will be set up to manage the REACH regula-
tion which will enter into force in the 27 EU countries in June
THE ‘INVESTING FOR SUSTAINABLE 2007.
DEVELOPMENT’ CAMPAIGN
In November 2003, the ETUC teamed up with the European ETUC welcomes the adoption of REACH and its fundamen-
Environmental Bureau (EEB) and the platform of European tal principle of shifting the burden of proof on to industry.
social NGOs (the Social Platform) to draw up a manifesto The REACH reform enables Europe to adopt a more socially
calling upon the Member States and the European Union to responsible approach to managing chemical risks. It sets
invest in goods and services which contribute to social and Europe firmly on the road to sustainable development with
environmental objectives and to social cohesion, in particular an economy that takes greater account of the health and
in the fields of sustainable transport and housing. environmental impacts of the chemicals industry. The final text
approved meets some of ETUC key expectations like meas-
The manifesto was launched at a conference in February ures to ensure the quality of the data provided by produc-
2004 in Dublin, attended by the Irish Prime Minister. ers, and measures in favour of SMEs (e.g.: One Substance,
One Registration (OSOR) principle aimed at sharing data and
registration costs or the setting up of REACH national help
desks).
19
On the other hand, the ETUC regrets that the final text falls the ETUC is still involved in different REACH implementation
short in its ability to significantly improve the protection of projects. The ETUC will continue working at European and
workers’ health. Some of the important improvements that national levels through its members to see that the reform is
were demanded by the ETUC in its Common Declaration and properly implemented and continue talking to the European
up to the last weeks of the co-decision procedure and sup- authorities and employers about ways of improving it.
ported by the Parliament have been lost following pressure
from the chemical industry. The REACH reform has been subjected to the most intense lob-
bying campaign ever mounted by industry within the European
Authorisation and Substitution principle: Despite companies institutions. The ETUC, with its balanced position, has resisted
being encouraged to phase out hazardous chemicals, they the usual blackmail claiming ‘progress in health & safety and
will be able to go on using certain extremely dangerous environmental protection = job losses’. With its impact assess-
substances even if safer alternatives are available, which ment study on benefits and its communication, the ETUC has
is inconsistent with the substitution principle defined in exist- shown that industry will avoid production losses if REACH can
ing legislation on workers’ protection. reduce occupational diseases caused by chemicals and that
substitution of hazardous chemicals will increase innovation
Chemical Safety Report: Crucial information to ensure and employment in the chemical sector (good quality jobs).
safety of workers will only be available for one third of
the 30,000 substances covered by REACH. The 20,000 With its continuous involvement in the REACH debate, the
substances produced in low volume (below 10 tonnes per trade union movement has reminded policy-makers and
year) will not need a Chemical Safety Report, which is the employers that the future of European industry cannot be deter-
tool to improve workers’ safety. mined solely by the demands imposed by competitiveness,
and that economic growth must not be achieved at the cost
Duty of Care: That general principle aimed at covering all of public, occupational and environmental health. This mes-
chemicals on the market (including those below 1 tonne sage is crucial for the reliability of trade unions in the eyes of
per year which are out of the REACH system) has been European citizens and the future of trade unionism.
reduced to a declaration of intent (a recital).
Nevertheless, the ETUC has been present throughout the
REACH debate and has proved itself to be an important and
indispensable player in the political discussions. The ETUC
common position adopted by its Executive Committees of
March and December 2004 has been widely disseminated
to policy-makers and continuously promoted by trade union
representatives across Europe.
The ETUC has organised two successful conferences on
REACH involving EU institutions and the major stakehold-
ers (March 2005 and September 2006). In addition to the
numerous publications aimed at explaining both the REACH
system and the elements of the reform (leaflet in 12 EU lan-
guages, newsletters, etc), the ETUC and its Research Institute
have also released an important impact assessment study on
the benefits of REACH for workers’ health. The study shows
that REACH would help avoid 50,000 cases of occupational
respiratory diseases and 40,000 cases of occupational skin
diseases from exposure to dangerous chemicals in Europe
each year. This impact study has been welcomed and used
by the Commission, the Parliament and the Council.
The ETUC has also been actively involved with other stake-
holders in the Commission Working Group on the Further
Impact Assessment on REACH to investigate the microeco-
nomic aspects of the reform; and since 2004, in the Commis-
sion Working Group on the preparation for REACH. Today,
20
2.4 Trade negotiations and decent work Globalisation and decent work
The ETUC has consistently sought to work with trade unions
in the countries and regions associated with the EU and to
Globalisation and world trade cooperate with the international trade union confederations.
The concept of decent work developed by the ILO with its
The ETUC has set up a working group on the questions linked members enabled the ETUC to sign up to a number of actions
to globalisation and world trade. ETUC activities have cov- led by different partners, and to add its European weight to
ered the following subjects: the relations between fundamen- them.
tal social standards, development and European and world Decent work is a concept which covers equal access to
trade policies, the negotiations within the framework of the employment, a living wage, social protection, non-exploita-
World Trade Organisation (WTO), and the Commission com- tion and trade union rights, at the core of economic, com-
munication in 2007 entitled ‘Global Europe’. mercial, financial, social and development policy, at national,
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
European and international levels.
The ETUC carried out a study and organised a conference to
explore how the instruments of European trade policy, interna- Through its defence of this concept, the ETUC extends its Euro-
tional industrial relations and WTO agreements can promote pean activities in support of quality jobs.
fundamental social standards. It pursues these objectives in
the civil society forum of DG Trade. It responded positively to In the stance it took in June 2004 on the Commission com-
the report by the world commission on the social dimension munication on the social dimension of globalisation, the ETUC
of globalisation, and has striven to influence the communica- restated all the essential elements covered by the concept of
tion entitled ‘The social dimension of globalisation – how EU decent work.
policy contributes towards extending its advantages to all’,
adopted in 2004 following the publication of that report. This Similarly, in response to the consultation on the future of the
communication proposes some changes to internal and exter- European Union’s development policy (March 2005), the
nal Community policy. ETUC emphasised the need for consistency between the
Union’s internal and external policies, especially with regard
The ETUC established its position on the trade negotiations to work.
held under the WTO Doha development round in a resolu-
tion adopted for the WTO ministerial conference in Decem- By participating in the drafting of the opinion on ‘How to
ber 2005. The ETUC attended the ministerial conference with integrate the social aspects in the EPAs (Economic Partnership
the international trade union delegation, and participated in Agreements)’ at the EESC, the ETUC developed the funda-
the consultative group set up by the Commission during the mental principle that decent work is the essential tool in the
event. struggle against poverty (December 2005).
The ETUC reacted critically to the 2006 communication enti- This was made equally clear at the European Parliament hear-
tled ‘Global Europe’, proposing a major shift in European ing the ETUC was invited to, to examine the draft report by
trade policy. It condemned the communication for being overt- Ms Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou on Promoting decent
ly geared towards bilateralism and omitting the development work for all. The Union’s contribution to the implementation
dimension of European trade policy. It adopted a resolution of the agenda of decent work in the world (22 November
in December 2006 and responded to the consultation on the 2006).
Green Paper on trade defence instruments.
The ETUC wanted the social dialogue to be mentioned as a
major tool in the promotion of decent work both within the
European Union and outside it. Strengthening the capacities
of the social partners in the developing countries, with a view
to setting up social dialogue committees, appears indispen-
sable if these social partners are to become interlocutors with
government authorities in realising the millennium goals and
eradicating poverty.
All these points were at the heart of the project conducted
jointly by the ETUC and its international partners (WCL and
ICFTU, now the ITUC), alongside the Togo workers’ trade
21
union confederation (Confédération syndicale des travail- nating the so-called barriers between Member States. Accord-
leurs du Togo), to ‘Boost the capabilities of ACP trade union ing to the Commission, these barriers include any measure
organisations in the Economic Partnership Agreements’. (See, that makes it more difficult, costly, or less profitable for a serv-
in this connection, the chapter on the Cotonou Agreement). ice supplier from one Member State to operate in another.
The project led to the publication of a trade union guide and The original draft laid down that providers would be subject
a dossier on the subject (publication March-April 2007). only to the laws and conditions applying in the country where
they were based (country of origin principle), distanced from
In the course of many interventions and contacts with the old-style single market regulation of legal requirements and
European institutions, the General Secretary, concerned at the harmonisation.
evolution of the EU’s trade negotiations with its partners, has
consistently called for a guarantee that respect for interna- From the very beginning, the draft Services Directive raised
tional labour standards and a framework of social protection serious concerns among trade unions all over Europe. The
and development be included. He has also urged greater ETUC immediately took a critical position (17-18 March
consistency between the Union’s internal and external poli- 2004) and declared grave concerns about some of the provi-
cies, insisting that the EU should respect all its internal policies sions. It warned that they could speed up deregulation, seri-
and international instruments relating to social rights. ously erode workers’ rights and protection, and damage the
supply of essential services to European citizens.
At the World Social Forum in Nairobi (20-25 January 2007),
the ETUC participated in the launch of the ‘Decent work, The ETUC called on the European institutions to make changes
decent life’ campaign alongside the International Trade Union in the SD, in particular:
Confederation and the three NGOs Solidar, Global Progres-
sive Forum and Social Alert (Decent work/Decent life Alli- tronger and unambiguous language, ensuring that it
S
ance). This seeks to place decent work at the heart of the would in no way interfere with labour law, collective bar-
development agenda, and it will spread around the world gaining and industrial relations in Member States.
with the support of the European Commission and the ILO. he exercise of a service activity should not be regulated by
T
any country of origin principle and necessary harmonisa-
tion upwards had first to be achieved. Other solutions car-
ried a risk of downward regulatory competition between
Member States, which the ETUC could not accept.
he host country must be entitled to impose supervisory
T
2.5 Internal market measures for all services provided on its territory and for
these reasons articles on posting of workers should be
deleted.
ertain sensitive sectors such as temporary work agencies
C
and private security services should be excluded from the
Services Directive
directive, and be dealt with in separate EU instruments, to
provide for minimum standards at EU level.
On 13 January 2004, the European Commission presented a ll services of general interest, economic or non-economic,
A
proposal for a directive on services in the internal market (SD), needed to be excluded from the scope of the directive.
which came to be known as the Bolkestein Directive, after the
Internal Market Commissioner who launched the proposal, The ETUC initiated a wide-ranging public debate on the issue
Fritz Bolkestein. The Council welcomed this proposal, a cor- and started discussions with the European Parliament (EP) and
nerstone of the Commission strategy for the internal market. the Council, both responsible for the final result of the legisla-
tive process. The ETUC welcomed the fact that the EP in its first
The original proposal put all previous internal market direc- reading organised hearings on the directive and consulted
tives in the shade in terms of complexity and scope, as it was the ETUC during the various stages of its deliberations on this
not confined to individual sectors but was rather conceived proposal, something which the Commission had not consid-
of as a horizontal, cross-sectoral instrument. Interference and ered necessary, as it mistakenly did not see this proposal as a
overlaps with other Community instruments (Rome I, Rome ‘social policy’ measure (on which, according to the European
II, Directive on Professional Qualifications, Posted Workers Treaty, the social partners have to be consulted).
Directive, etc) were difficult to assess.
The ETUC organised two major Euro-demonstrations: the first
The Commission wanted to liberalise the cross-border supply attracted more than 75 000 people on 19 March 2005 in
of services, creating a single market across the EU and elimi- Brussels on the occasion of the employment summit, under the
22
slogan: ‘More and better jobs – Defend Social Europe – Stop Cases in the European Court of Justice
Bolkestein’, and represented a high point in the mobilisation
of popular opinion against the directive. The second took
place in Strasbourg on 14 February 2006, before the vote in Three cases of particular trade union interest – Laval, Viking
the European Parliament plenary session. Line and Rüffert – have emerged since the ETUC Prague Con-
gress 2003. Different actors related to the employers have
The ETUC welcomed the compromise reached by the main used Internal Market regulation, in particular article 49 of the
EP political groups in February 2006, backed by the Com- European Treaty, as a tool to circumvent or restrict national
mission and then the Council in its first reading, but criticised legislation which supports industrial action or prevents low
the Council’s introduction of some ambiguous language wage competition. The underlying interest of the employers
with regard to the most sensitive issues, such as the exclu- in the Laval case (and partially in the Viking Line case) is to
sion of labour law and respect for fundamental rights. The EP shift the balance of power between the social partners at
approved the modified Services Directive at second reading national level; however, this strategy might have repercussions
on 15 November 2006. Unfortunately, the European Peo- for social partners in all Member States. Arguments on ‘social
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
ple’s Party (EPP) and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for dumping’ have been an important element on the EU agenda.
Europe (ALDE) members did not want to support proposals to Discussions in the context of EU enlargement, the ratification
clarify those ambiguities during the second reading. Although of the Constitutional Treaty and the adoption of the Services
the Commission tried to address the demands for clarification Directive illustrate this. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in
by coming up with a declaration accompanying the adoption the meantime organised oral hearings in January 2007 on
of the directive, the ETUC regrets that the European Parliament the Laval and Viking case. Final judgements will take prob-
omitted to play its full democratic role right to the end of the ably another year. The Rüffert case was only submitted in
process. autumn 2006, so will take longer. The outcome of the Viking
and Laval Cases are important for the European Trade Union
Nevertheless, the ETUC considers this outcome to be a suc- movement’s acceptance of the principles of the internal market
cess-story for the European trade union movement, and an – and likely to impact support for continued economic and
example of good cooperation with the EP, because the major- political integration in Europe.
ity of the trade unions’ demands were met:
he country of origin principle is abolished, enabling
t THE LAVAL CASE
Member States to exercise better supervision and to apply
(or Vaxholm case), which has been given great media cover-
national rules to protect the public interest;
age, deals with the fundamental rights of collective bargain-
abour law is excluded, and in particular issues linked to
l
ing for European trade unions and, in the case of a conflict
the posting of workers;
of interests, to strike and/or to take collective action against
undamental rights to collective bargaining and action are
f
an employer recruiting its workforce in another Member State,
to be respected;
so as to ensure the protection of workers and the fundamen-
ervices of general interest and some services of general
s
tal principle of equal pay for equal work. The circumstances
economic interest, such as healthcare and social services,
in the case are the following: Swedish unions took action
are excluded;
against a Latvian construction company, Laval, over the work-
ensitive sectors, such as temporary work agencies and
s
ing conditions of Latvian workers refurbishing a school in the
private security services, are excluded.
town of Vaxholm. Laval refused to sign a collective agree-
ment, a blockade of the working place was initiated by the
For the first time ever, the ETUC has succeeded in ensuring that
trade unions as a consequence. A reference for a prelimi-
a draft directive has been brought to the attention of the Euro-
nary ruling from the Swedish Arbetsdomstolen was sent to the
pean public and the media prior to being finally approved.
European Court of Justice September 2005. An oral hearing
The ETUC will pay special attention to the transposition of the
was held in Luxembourg in January 2007. A large number
directive into national law, and monitor its proper implementa-
of Member States submitted written submissions to the ECJ
tion.
before the deadline in January 2006. A judgement from the
Furthermore, the ETUC will continue its fight for improvements
ECJ is expected later this year.
in several areas: campaigning for better European regulation
of public services and pushing for urgent adoption of Europe-
an regulation especially in sensitive sectors such as temporary
THE VIkING LINE CASE
agencies.
on the other hand deals with the reverse situation, where an
employer seeks to obtain immunity from such collective bar-
2
gaining and industrial action in view of a possible delocalisa- in order to make its arguments heard due to severe restrictions
tion of the production assets/capital/vessel to another Mem- in the EC Treaty. Only privileged applicants, basically Mem-
ber State in order to gain competitive advantages through ber States, parties in the case and European Institutions, can
cheaper labour costs. The circumstances in the case are the communicate direct with the ECJ through written submissions.
following: Viking Line is a Finnish passenger shipping com- These circumstances have made it difficult for the ETUC to
pany. It owns and operates a ferry, Rosella. The Rosella is communicate direct with the ECJ. However, the ETUC has
under Finnish flag and has a predominantly Finnish crew who been submitting its observations to the ECJ as an annex to the
benefit from a collective agreement negotiated by the Finn- trade union submission in the Viking Line case. Future Euro-
ish Seamen’s Union. Legal proceedings started when Viking pean Treaty revisions should enhance the possibility for the
decided that it would be better off if Rosella was registered ETUC to submit written submissions direct to the ECJ.
as an Estonian ship. Viking started legal proceedings for an
order to stop the ITF and the FSU from taking any action to The ECJ received submissions from 17 Member States (includ-
prevent the re-flagging of the Rosella. Viking was able to start ing EFTA states) in the Laval case. The majority supported
proceedings in England because the ITF has its headquarters the trade union view, i.e. that the right of workers and their
in London. The Court of Appeal, UK, made a reference for organisations to negotiate industrial agreements - and to
a preliminary ruling to the ECJ in November 2005. A large take industrial action in cases of conflict - is a fundamental
number of Member States intervened with written submissions, right, enshrined in international conventions, including the EU
as in Laval, before the deadline in April 2006. An oral hear- Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Constitution.
ing was held in Luxembourg in January 2007. Almost as many Member States submitted written submissions
in the Viking Line case, of which the majority supported the
trade union arguments. Ten Member States intervened in the
THE RüFFERT CASE Rüffert case, and also here the majority supported the trade
union views. Many of the written submission, which are very
is a rather recent case in the series of Laval and Viking, espe-
important for the final judgement by the European Court of
cially focusing on the difference between ‘comparable/equal
Justice, were submitted after intensive lobby activities by ETUC
wages’ and ‘minimum wages’. The circumstances in the case
affiliates on the basis of coordinated efforts.
are as follows: the company Objekt und Bauregie GmbH &
Co secured a contract for building work in Germany, which The Laval and Viking Line cases raise fundamental questions
it subcontracted to a Polish firm, with an undertaking that it as to whether EU law can – and should - restrict European
would ensure compliance with wage rates already in force Trade Unions’ basic rights to collective bargaining, to strike
on the site through collective agreement. The contract was and to take collective action. The position of the Commission
withdrawn when it was discovered that the 53 posted work- on the issues of principle at stake has until now been ambigu-
ers were in fact earning 46.57% of the applicable minimum ous. There is a need to clarify where the Commission actually
wage for the construction sector, and the Niedersachsen stands with regards to the fundamental nature of the right to
authority demanded costs. The company took legal action as collective bargaining, and, in the case of conflicts of interests,
a result. They suggested that article 49 of the Treaty prohibits to strike and to take collective action in relation to the EC
the demand to pay wages ‘that are at least at the level of Treaty. The ETUC will have to continue to follow the activities
the wages that are foreseen on the basis of the collective of the Commission and the European Court of Justice. The
agreement that applies to the place where the work is done’, ETUC must continue to develop its role, and strengthen its
because it prevents foreign service providers from competing voice, before the European Court of Justice.
on the basis of lower wages. The service provider uses article
49 EC Treaty in order to gain access to lower wages through
internal market regulation. The reference for a preliminary rul-
ing was sent to the ECJ in July 2006 by a German Court.
The ETUC has taken an active role in all these cases, partially
as coordinators of the Laval and Viking legal teams, but mostly
as lobbyists towards governments, indirectly through affiliates,
advocating Member States to submit written observations to
the European Court of Justice supporting the trade union posi-
tion. The ETUC has also set up a task force on transnational
trade union rights which have meet frequently.
The ETUC has no locus standi in the European Court of Jus-
tice, in other words, the ETUC has no direct access to the ECJ
24
25
GLOBALISATION AND EUROPE’S ECONOMY
26
. SOCIAL EUROPE
27
28
. SOCIAL EUROPE
3.1 Introduction It has been highly successful in turning the world’s bloodiest
continent of the early 20th century into a zone both of peace-
The ETUC has had to fight hard for the maintenance of the ful cooperation and economic and social progress.
European Social Model which has had many critics essen-
tially arguing that in the era of globalisation, Europe needs to It has expanded from the original membership of six nations to
become leaner, cheaper, more flexible, and more encourag- 27 and more are in the queue to join. The ETUC always sup-
ing of entrepreneurs without so much regard for social stand- ported enlargement on the premise that the social protections
ards. Social Europe has been seen by many as a barrier to we have gained will be extended to all, and that Europe’s
progress. We see it as an essential help. unity of purpose will not be undermined. The people in the
new Member States wanted to join the common European
After the ‘no’ vote in the French referendum on the EU Consti- Social Model.
tutional Treaty, the UK Presidency launched a debate on the
European Social Model. The ETUC contributed powerfully to For Europe’s trade unions, the EU has so far been a positive
that debate arguing the concept of Social Europe has been force enshrining in its work the trade union values of social
central to the development of the European Union. Social inclusion and solidarity, welfare states and services of gen-
rights and social inclusion, promoted and guaranteed by the eral interest, and worker participation and collective bargain-
public authorities, as well as social dialogue and an impor- ing. The aim has always been to balance economic dyna-
tant role for the social partners acting autonomously, have mism with a social dimension. This clearly differentiates the
SOCIAL EUROPE
been recognised as key elements of Europe and are among European model from the American way, where the contrast
Europe’s core values as defined in the proposed EU Consti- between private wealth and public squalor was again made
tutional Treaty and agreed by EU heads of state and govern- evident by the inadequate initial response of the authorities to
ment over the years. This is why Europe is supported by the Hurricane Katrina. That European balance underpinned the
ETUC. Social Europe is fundamental to preserving trade union Lisbon Strategy devised in 2000 and supported by the ETUC
and worker support for the European Union, support which today.
frankly has been slipping in some countries.
But the EU is in trouble, most notably because of the failures to
Why should this be so? It is evident that while a clear major- deal with the persistently high levels of unemployment in core
ity of citizens support the benefits of European Union mem- countries; and, recently, to secure the necessary ratification of
bership, that has been declining (among workers generally the EU Constitutional Treaty.
but among women and the young in particular). There is
disenchantment with unemployment, delocalisation, threats to This crisis in Europe is largely the result of a failure of politi-
income security including pensions, and a perceived lack of cal courage and vision. Leaders in European countries have
influence for individuals. These might turn into nationalism and failed to accept responsibility for explaining the benefits of
racism, a rejection of migrant workers, and opposition to EU integration to the citizen and have too often found it conven-
enlargement. ient to blame Brussels when things go wrong. They have also
failed to construct a political vision in which an integrated
The ETUC’s conclusion has been that it is necessary for Europe Europe is seen to occupy an essential role. This is part of a
to make its case anew, to freshen its raison d’être, and to broader and worrying trend of declining faith in the ability of
define a firm future for Social Europe including tackling unem- government to change people’s lives for the better.
ployment as a priority.
Moreover, in some countries, parts of the mainstream left have
The European Union was created out of the ashes of the Sec- become disillusioned with the apparent retreat from the social
ond World War to be a region of peace and prosperity; and vision of Europe consistently pursued by Jacques Delors. There
to lay to rest the ancient tribalisms and nationalisms of our has been a reaction against the one-sided emphasis on mar-
continent. ket liberalisation that has expressed itself in a growing scepti-
cism about the value and purpose of European integration.
29
Unless Europe comes to be seen as part of the solution, it will The foundation of the European project should be its common
be seen as part of the problem. values. The evidence that these exist is clear from opinion
surveys. European nations represent a diverse spectrum of
The European Union was not invented as a response to glo- experiences and ideas. Nevertheless, they are bound by a
balisation, but the fact that it exists should enable us to meet clearly identifiable set of political and social values that are
new global challenges far more effectively. This should be at the product of the continent’s unique history and culture.
the heart of Europe’s 21st century mission.
Europe’s common values resonate strongly with those that
The objective of putting an end to war in Europe is no longer have defined the trade union movement since its inception
sufficient to sustain the process of integration. It is still very rel- – solidarity, equality, social justice, internationalism and the
evant (most recently in the Balkans) but is too remote from the belief that social and economic life should be structured to
experience of many other Europeans, especially in the West meet human need. Nowhere in the world are these values
and among the younger generations. enshrined more in governance than in Europe.
At the time of the Treaty of Rome, there was a functioning Influenced by the rise of organised labour and democratic
system of international economic management, environmental ideas, European societies reflect a strong commitment to pub-
problems were national in scope, international travel and com- lic welfare and the responsibility of government to promote
munications were the preserve of élites, and states retained a social cohesion; a commitment shared by mainstream left and
monopoly over armed force.
right which includes redistributive measures, for instance, mini-
mum income and progressive taxation.
The modern challenges of volatile global markets, climate
change and environmental degradation and international
The European vision of international order is based on support
terrorism could not have been foreseen. Yet, by constructing
for multilateralism, the rule of international law, global govern-
a transnational political space, the countries of Europe have
ance through legitimate institutions, and solidarity between
created a framework within which solutions to these problems
rich and poor. Are these values still relevant? Or are they
have become possible.
unsustainable in the era of globalisation and the emergence
of huge new economies, especially China and India?
To argue that globalisation is either good or bad is too sim-
plistic. Its social and economic impact has been too uneven
It is clearly time for a period of serious reflection, followed by
for that sort of judgement to be possible. On the one hand,
courageous and ambitious actions.
it is a consequence of the ambitions of ordinary people to
have access to the best of what the world has to offer. On the
The debate on the future of Europe and the European Social
other, it creates new forms of insecurity and social disruption
Model is now engaged. The ongoing battle has been
that need to be remedied. This can only be done by collective
described as a fight between those who want a modern Euro-
action at an international level.
pean Social Model, a political and social union on the basis
If Europe, with the strongest set of common institutions and val- of a social market economy and social rights, and those who
ues of any international organisation, is not to form the basis want only a free trade zone, characterised by a less regulated
of this project, then what is? free market with weak institutions. Is this interpretation right?
The purpose of an integrated Europe should be to manage While this crucial and currently wide difference in percep-
the process of globalisation in ways that maximise its benefits tions exists, while many employers, supported by politicians,
and minimise its costs, by ensuring that there are as many including of the centre left in some countries, are arguing for
winners as possible and compensatory measures for those more ‘business Europe’ (less ‘red tape’, lower social stand-
who lose out. It should seek to restore the primacy of politics ards, more de-regulation, more liberalisation, less trade union
over markets and thus the ability of Europeans to control their influence), it is going to be impossible to find a new base for
own destiny. European progress. The gap in ideology is too wide. If work-
ers feel that Social Europe is being wound down, they will
What is striking about globalisation is that the nations that regard Europe as a whole as a threat, not as a support.
have benefited most have been those with sufficient geopoliti- Their natural reaction would be resistance and opposition.
cal presence to regulate the terms of their interaction with the
outside world to their advantage. No European country is big The ETUC therefore regards it as vitally important that the
enough to achieve this on its own. Europeans can only do it Council of Ministers, the Commission, the Parliament and the
by acting collectively. social partners, with civil society included, secure as wide a
0
measure of agreement as possible on the way forward for However, a number of activities which had been planned
Social Europe; and that common platforms are forged. were not completed during the 2003-2005 time frame, such
as updating the joint declaration on racism.
Finally the fact is that there is increasingly one labour market
in the EU, the integration process being led in sectors like con-
struction, catering and some transport functions but spreading
more widely. So, common standards are both necessary and Framework Agreement on
desirable. To pretend they are not is to invite hostility and Work-Related Stress
opposition to the single market and to the EU.
Economic and social matters go hand in hand, and the bal- Work-related stress has been recognised at international, Euro-
ance between the two is part of the social contract entered pean and national levels as a concern for both employers and
into as part of the construction of the single market. A major workers. Having identified the need for specific joint action
consequence of this view is that a common framework of on this issue and anticipating a Commission consultation on
robust European legislation is needed. work-related stress, the European social partners included this
issue in the work programme of the social dialogue 2003-
2005.
ETUC, UNICE/UEAPME and CEEP began negotiating an
autonomous interprofessional social dialogue framework
agreement on work-related stress on 18 September 2003.
3.2 Social dialogue The agreement was signed on 8 October 2004, following
approval by their respective decision-making bodies.
Work Programme 2003 - 2005 The agreement must be implemented by all member organisa-
tions of ETUC, UNICE/UEAPME and CEEP in accordance
SOCIAL EUROPE
From 2003 – 2005, the work carried out in the social dia- with the procedures and practices specific to management
logue arena was largely based on the content of the first and labour in the Member States, as specified in Article 139
autonomous work programme 2003–2005. This work pro- of the Treaty, and this within three years after its signature (i.e.
gramme was a very important starting point as it reaffirmed before 8 October 2007).
the autonomy of the social partners as well as their capacity
jointly to identify and deal with issues of common concern. The overall aim of the agreement is to increase the aware-
Although the results achieved have not always been totally ness and understanding of employers, workers and their rep-
satisfactory, in terms of the different instruments used and fol- resentatives of work-related stress and to draw their attention
low-up given, the overall evaluation of the process is that it is to signs that could indicate problems of work-related stress.
positive albeit with room for further improvement. The objective of this agreement is to provide employers and
workers with a framework to identify and prevent or manage
Among the issues which have been tackled under this work problems of work-related stress. It is not about attaching blame
programme are the negotiation of a framework agreement on to the individual for stress. The agreement also notes that work-
work-related stress; the completion of a framework of actions related stress can be caused by different factors such as work
on gender equality; follow-up work and an evaluation of the content, work organisation and the working environment.
framework of actions on lifelong learning; monitoring the
follow-up of the framework agreement on telework; lessons The agreement proposes a number of possible measures to
learned on European Works Councils; identification of the prevent, eliminate or reduce work-related stress:
orientations on restructuring; updating a joint declaration on
disability; discussions on possible joint actions on the age- Collective or individual measures/or both;
ing workforce, organisation of a joint seminar to discuss the The elaboration of a specific plan, with the necessary evaluation
issue of undeclared work, and a host of activities specifically and revision;
focused on the new Member States, the overall aim of which The possibility of calling upon external expertise when neces-
was to assist the social partners in these countries in the EU sary.
social dialogue process.
It also includes a detailed plan for the implementation and
More detailed information on a number of these activities is follow-up of the agreement and commits the members of the
listed below. European organisations to implement the agreement. The
1
Social Dialogue Committee is responsible for monitoring on the four priorities identified. After four annual reports, the
implementation on an annual basis and for preparing a report European social partners will evaluate the impact on both
after four years.
companies and workers.
In order to assist affiliates in implementing this agreement,
the ETUC together with the ETUI-REHS organised a series The first joint annual report was completed in November
of regional meetings and a final conference which sought 2006 and as a first attempt at such an exercise, the results
to promote and explain the content of the agreement, high- have been positive. A total of 19 out of 26 countries replied,
light potential difficulties and provide a checklist of potential as well as a small number of sectors. Many colleagues
actions and activities which should be carried out at the vari- agreed that the reporting exercise had been constructive and
ous levels in this process. An interpretation guide has also
positive and served to highlight a vast range of actions being
been developed and disseminated widely and an interactive
undertaken. The report is also seen as a useful working tool
section of the ETUC website has been devoted to the agree-
and one which, to a certain extent, obliged social partners at
ment and its implementation.
national level to tackle the issue of gender equality.
In terms of dissemination and visibility of the FoA, the ETUC will
Framework of Actions on Gender Equality look into the possibility of organising a mid–term event with
the employers. This should take place at the end of 2007. In
Negotiations on the Framework of Actions on Gender Equality addition, a conference held by the German Presidency in the
began in April 2004 and concluded in February 2005. Early in the first half of 2007 offered an important opportunity to present
proceedings, it was agreed that the framework would focus on four and to disseminate the joint work developed by the European
priority areas on which national social partners should take action social partners.
during the next five years. They are:
Addressing gender roles and segregation
Promoting women in decision-making
Supporting work-life balance Telework
Tackling the gender pay gap
Under Chapter 12 of the European autonomous Framework
Au cours des premières réunions, une série d’études de cas de
chacun des quatre domaines prioritaires a été présentée. Les Agreement on Telework, signed by the EU social partners on
outils pratiques et mesures résultant de ces cas ont été utilisés 16 July 2002, a formal final joint implementation report was
dans tout le texte afin de mettre en lumière les manières dont due by June 2006. At the Social Dialogue Committee (SDC)
les membres pourraient prendre des mesures dans l’avenir. meeting of 7 March 2006, the European social partners
En termes de mesures et de suivi, les partenaires sociaux ont decided to set up a joint drafting group which would prepare
convenu de promouvoir ce cadre d’actions à tous les niveaux. this joint European report on the basis of joint national reports.
Les partenaires sociaux sectoriels nationaux et européens
These latter were required to cover the following aspects: the
dresseront un rapport annuel de mesures prises dans les États
process followed when implementing; the content of the initia-
membres concernant les quatre priorités identifiées. Après
tives taken; the effects of the EU agreement in the country,
quatre rapports annuels, les partenaires sociaux européens
évalueront l’impact sur les entreprises et les travailleurs. including at sectoral and company level; the choice of instru-
ment used and why; the role of the social partners in the proc-
During the early meetings, a series of case studies in each ess of implementation; the difficulties encountered, as well as
of the four priority areas was presented. Practical tools and explanations of solutions found or reasons why problems per-
measures from these cases have been used throughout the sisted. These reports were integrated into the European report
text to highlight ways in which members could take action in
adopted at the SDC meeting of 28 June 2006 and officially
the future.
presented at a press conference attended by Commissioner
Spidla on 11 October 2006
In terms of actions and follow-up, the social partners have
agreed to promote this framework of actions at all levels. The (see: http://www.etuc.org/a/2914).
national and European sectoral social partners will draw up
an annual report on the actions carried out in Member States
2
It is apparent from the report that numerous and wide-rang- adopted. These reports focused especially on the four priori-
ing dissemination actions and implementation actions/results ties jointly established by the European social partners:
have been conducted throughout Europe by the affiliated
organisations of the signatory parties. Dissemination activities o identify and anticipate competences and qualifications
t
both at the national and European level ranged from publish-
needs;
ing the agreement in newsletters, brochures and on social
to recognise and validate competences and qualifications;
partner websites to joint or separate information seminars. As
to inform, support and provide guidance;
to the actual implementation results, it is worthwhile to note,
for instance, that in no fewer than nine countries an interpro- to mobilise resources.
fessional collective agreement has been concluded. A further
noteworthy aspect is that in eight countries the government, It was widely agreed that the work developed around the
while not the primary addressee for implementation of this framework of actions has created impetus for change, sup-
agreement, became, in its capacity as legislator, involved in ported pre-existing social partners’ actions on competence
one way or another. development, and helped bring about concrete actions to
promote lifelong competence development in all Member
However, the true added value of the report undoubtedly lies States. The follow-up work has also enhanced perception of
also in the reference in the conclusions to ‘action point 8’
competence development as a shared interest for employers
of the work programme 2006-2008. Indeed, the reporting
and employees and helped find concrete ways to modern-
on implementation revealed several aspects which should
ise education and training systems. In most countries, it has
be reviewed in this forthcoming discussion on how to further
strengthen the impact of the European social dialogue and its clearly led to increased understanding and better coopera-
results. It concerns amongst others: tion between social partners as well as to a sense of shared
responsibility.
The highly diverse national implementation processes;
T
he lack of translations of the European agreement into differ- At the European level, the social partners were for example
ent languages; able to influence the content of the Maastricht and Helsinki
SOCIAL EUROPE
The ‘nature/status’ of the EU agreement; Communiqués adopted in December 2004 and 2006
The route and instruments chosen by social partners;
respectively, which represent the European roadmaps for
Problems related to social dialogue structures and partners;
vocational education and training policies. The social part-
The role of public authorities;
ners believed that the process of policy coordination at the
T
he need for (European) social partners to reflect further on
European level would gain in clarity, effectiveness and attrac-
delivery mechanisms.
tiveness for stakeholders if it were more focused on fewer
Accordingly, no real evaluation of the impact of the European priorities – as is the case in the European social partners’
agreement on telework is yet possible and another assessment framework of actions.
of the degree of protection enjoyed by teleworkers throughout
Europe should be considered in a few years’ time. As for the The influence of the framework of actions on the social part-
impact of this agreement in relation to the future of the Euro- ners’ activities will continue in the future, depending on the
pean social dialogue, no time should be lost and exchanges ability of the social partners at all levels to disseminate and
of views between the European social partners should start as
raise awareness of the results of the evaluation exercise.
soon as possible!
The European social partners believe that the four priorities
identified in 2002 remain valid and essential building blocks
Lifelong learning to improve the functioning of Europe’s labour markets. The
ETUC and the employers’ organisations have reaffirmed the
need to continue their dialogue and to deepen their discus-
The development of the European social dialogue in the
sions on the lifelong development of competences and quali-
area of lifelong learning was based on the annual follow-up
fications alongside the need to look at lifelong learning in
framework of actions for the lifelong development of compe-
tencies and qualifications, adopted in 2002. Three annual the wider perspective of the functioning of labour markets in
reports based on country reports prepared by social partners Europe.
at national and sectoral level and a final evaluation report
drawn up by the European social partners in 2006 were
Social partners’ joint programme in the These actions will be maintained and further developed in the
new Member States context of the social partners’ work programme 2006-2008.
This time, actions will be taken in the EU-27 and in the can-
didate countries.
This joint programme represents an innovative way of joint
work by the European social partners in the context of EU’s
enlargement to ten new Member States.
Work Programme 2006-2008
It includes four different types of actions developed for and in
the new Member States.
Discussions on the 2006-2008 work programme began in
2005 and were quite difficult on a number of levels. From the
The objective of the first action was to support the participa-
outset, ETUC insisted that at least four framework conditions
tion of social partners in the new Member States in the differ-
must be respected: a joint discussion on the quality of the
ent activities related to the European social dialogue, from the
results of the social dialogue and of its instruments; the need
elaboration of a national position on issues discussed at the
to have a flexible work programme that would concentrate
European level to the implementation of the results of the Euro-
exclusively on the autonomous issues of joint concern to the
pean social dialogue, through the different instruments (mainly
social partners, excluding future Commission initiatives; the
framework agreements and framework of actions)
need to include at least one issue for negotiation (ETUC pro-
posed three possible topics for negotiation: LLL, transnational
National seminars were organised in the eight central and
collective bargaining, access to the labour market of disad-
eastern European Member States, in order to inform about the
vantaged groups); and the need to concentrate on issues
European social dialogue and to identify the objective needs
where the social partners have a specific responsibility, such
of social partners. At the end of each seminar the national
as adaptation to change, flexi-security and others.
social partners have drawn up a joint plan of action, includ-
ing specific actions to be developed by both partners sepa-
The final work programme reflects many of our concerns and
rately as well as jointly. On the occasion of a second series
sets out an ambitious plan for the coming years. Some of the
of seminars, these plans were evaluated and updated by the
elements contained are in fact leftovers from the 2003-2005
national social partners.
programme, such as the negotiations on violence and harass-
ment at work, but a number of new issues have also been
The second action included the elaboration of a national included. The work plan does not claim to be exhaustive and
study on economic and social challenges, the industrial rela- the social partners may decide to update it in light of EU
tions systems and the restructuring process undergone during developments.
the transition period. Ten countries were part of this part of the
project and the studies were elaborated by a team of exter- The overall aim of this new work programme is to enable
nal experts. The studies were presented and discussed during the European social partners to contribute to and promote
national seminars organised in each country. The final results growth, jobs and the modernisation of the EU Social Model
of this project were presented on the occasion of a joint semi- and for that reason, its focus is on Europe’s major economic
nar where a synthesis report, with the main trends and main and social challenges. Finally, this work programme reaffirms
differences between the 10 new Member States and the 15 the autonomy of the European social partners.
former members of the EU, was presented and discussed.
Among the key issues outlined in the work programme are the
The third part of the project was dedicated to the reinforce- plans to undertake a joint analysis of the major challenges fac-
ment of the competences of the social dialogue actors in the ing Europe’s labour markets, looking at topics such as macro-
new Member States. It consisted in the organisation of train- economic and labour market policies, demographic change,
ing sessions as well as on the participation at sessions of life long learning, competitiveness, integration of disadvan-
negotiations of the European social dialogue. It also included taged groups in the labour market, balance between flexibility
the development of a competence evaluation tool to be used and security and undeclared work. Based on the findings of
by national social partners. this analysis, the social partners will issue joint recommenda-
tions to EU and national institutions, will prepare a framework
The last action included in this joint project consisted in the of actions on employment and will negotiate an autonomous
creation of a resource centre, web based, including infor- framework agreement on a topic to be decided.
mation on the European social dialogue activities, EU pro-
grammes as well as the results of the joint project.
4
In addition, the work on capacity building in the new Member tions for internal consultation and was discussed and adopted
States will be continued and enlarged to cover the old EU-15, by the Executive Committee in March. The employers’ organi-
further reporting exercises on telework and stress, as well as sations carried out the same procedure, and the agreement
gender and life long learning will be carried out. The social was signed at the end of April 2007.
partners will attempt to develop a common understanding of
the tools and instruments used to implement such agreements
at the various levels with a view to develop further the Euro-
pean industrial relations system.
Although the work programme did not go as far as the ETUC 3.3 Social legislation and labour law
would have liked in all areas, it represents an important step
forward in the social dialogue process and provides us with a
sound basis for further developing our work in this area. In the area of social legislation, the period of 2003-2006
was one of defensive action. Little if any progress was made
in terms of new legislation.
Agreement on Violence and
Harassment at Work W
3.3.1 ORkING TIME DIRECTIVE
Negotiations on an autonomous Agreement on Violence and In 2003 the Commission published a Communication fol-
Harassment at Work began on 7 February 2006 and con- lowed by a consultation with the Social Partners at European
cluded successfully on 15 December 2006. Discussions were level, as well as with the wider public by internet (a form of
very difficult from the outset and serious problems remained consultation the ETUC strongly disagrees with), about possible
till the very end. However, the assessment of the final out- revisions. In its consultation document, the Commission made
come, given by the members of the ETUC’s negotiation team clear that it was very hesitant about ending the opt-out, while
was positive – a number of our key concerns have been fully putting forward proposals to allow for even more flexibility
SOCIAL EUROPE
reflected in the final text and the ETUC delegation, with the with regard to other aspects of working time, such as on-call
exception of two, recommended the endorsement of the text work.
by the ETUC Executive Committee at its meeting in March
2007. In its response, adopted by the ETUC Executive in March
2004, the ETUC took a clear position on the key issues that
In terms of content, the agreement fully respects the ETUC would be central to the debate during the procedure to follow.
mandate. The agreement condemns all forms of harassment The ETUC urged the European institutions to take courageous
and violence at work, it aims to increase the awareness and steps to establish decent working hours for a decent wage
understanding of employers, workers and their representa- throughout the EU. The ETUC stressed that it envisaged a mod-
tives of workplace harassment and violence, and to provide ern working time policy at national and the European level
employers, workers and their representatives at all levels with that would combine flexibility for employers with real choice
an action-oriented framework to identify, prevent and manage for workers: the choice of healthy working time, sufficient hours
problems of harassment and violence at work of work to earn a decent living wage, a maximum number of
hours per day and/or week that would allow workers, male
The agreement notes that while harassment and violence are and female, to take care of their family or community, and
due to unacceptable behaviour by one or more individuals flexibility in working hours to be able to adapt working life to
and can take many different forms, some of which may be obligations and responsibilities outside the workplace, includ-
more easily identified than others, the work environment can ing learning and leisure.
influence people’s exposure to harassment and violence.
A number of measures to prevent, identify and manage prob- The ETUC demanded:
lems of violence and harassment in their various forms are set an end to the ‘individual opt-out’, and a progressive reduction of
out in the text, which also ensures that employers, in consulta- long working hours;
tion with workers and/or their representatives, will establish, on-call hours in the workplace to be recognised as working
review and monitor these procedures to ensure that they are time;
effective both in preventing problems and dealing with issues extension of the reference period for calculation of the average
as they arise. 48-hour working week to be allowed only on the basis of collec-
In January 2007, the text was sent to ETUC member organisa- tive agreement;
5
provisions for workers to adapt working time to their needs, and and on-call work, but accepted the amendments on reference
to be able to combine work and family life, i.e. flexibility rights periods and reconciliation of work and family life.
for workers;
o group of workers to be excluded from health and safety protec-
n On the basis of this revised proposal, several EU presidencies
tion, including managers and ‘family workers’; have tried to negotiate a political agreement in the Council,
etter monitoring and enforcement of working time regulation.
b but in vain. Over the course of time, the proposals put forward
have tended to further weaken the directive.
On the basis of the first round of consultation, the European
Commission came up in May 2004 with a draft proposal for
revision of the WTD, as a basis for the second round of con-
sultation, which was considered by the ETUC as an ambigu- 3.3.2 POSTING DIRECTIVE
ous and unbalanced text. In its position adopted in July 2004,
The Posting Directive, adopted in 1996 with the aim of pro-
the ETUC expressed its strong concerns about the direction
viding a climate of fair competition (a level playing field) and
taken by the Commission, giving in to the pressure from some
respect for the rights of workers in cross-border service provi-
Member States, not taking ECJ judgements seriously, and run-
sion, has played an increasingly important and central role in
ning counter to fundamental principles in various EU Charters
recent years.
and Treaties obliging the EU to a progressive reduction of
working time. The ETUC warned that the WTD should not be
In the autumn of 2003, the Commission consulted the ETUC
watered down for purely ideological or economic reasons.
on its evaluation report on the transposition and implementa-
tion of the directive. The Commission concluded that there
In September 2004, the Commission had already presented
were just a few practical difficulties that would disappear in
its proposals for revision, proposing that inactive on-call time
the course of time. In December 2003 the Executive Com-
would no longer be considered as working time, allowing for
mittee of the ETUC adopted a fairly critical position on this
reference periods for calculating the average maximum 48-
report, setting the scene for a debate that would continue
hour working week to be extended to 12 months without the
over the following years. The ETUC pointed out that in many
safeguard of collective bargaining, and also weakening the
rules on compensatory rest and keeping the opt-out in place. Member States the industrial relations systems and collectively
agreed working conditions were under pressure from posting
This proposal was unacceptable to both the ETUC and the EP, practices which led to unfair competition and failure to respect
since it failed totally to take account of their positions. There- workers’ rights, and feared that the problems might increase
fore, at its Executive Committee of October 2004, the ETUC with enlargement. The ETUC criticised the evaluation proce-
adopted a plan for immediate action to be taken vis-à-vis the dure for not sufficiently taking into account the social partners’
Council and the EP, in cooperation with all relevant NGOs views and experiences, and the important role of collective
and other possible allies, in order to mobilise support for the agreements in the implementation.
ETUC’s point of view.
The ETUC demanded a more thorough evaluation, taking due
At the next stage, close cooperation between the ETUC and account of the experiences and views of the social partners
key MEPs in the European Parliament from various political at all relevant levels, and especially those in the construction
groups, supported by extensive lobbying by ETUC affiliates sector. The ETUC called on the Commission to increase its
of their respective national MEPs, ensured first of all a clear efforts to monitor and enforce compliance with the directive,
vote in the Employment Committee in favour of the Cercas to look into examples of good practice in Member States in
draft report, and later a victory in plenary on 11 May 2005. tackling unfair competition and social dumping arising from
Although the final position of the EP contained some compro- subcontracting through introducing joint and several liability or
mises on important elements of the WTD, especially regard- ‘chain responsibility’ for main contractors, and to present, as
ing on-call time and reference periods, the overall outcome soon as possible, adequate proposals to simplify and improve
was considered by the ETUC as a balanced package that the existing directive.
could be supported, also because important improvements
were proposed such as the phasing out of the opt-out, and At the beginning of 2004, the EP adopted a position on the
the introduction of a right for workers to adapt working hours Commission’s implementation report, supporting the ETUC’s
to their work-life balance needs. views and demands, and calling on the Commission to con-
duct more in-depth research in close cooperation with the
However, on 31 May 2005, when the Commission presented social partners, and to submit a new report by the end of
its revised proposal to the Council it failed to take on board 2004.
the amendments adopted by the EP with regard to the opt-out
6
On the eve of EU enlargement to the east, this amounted to to implement the guidelines. The ETUC gathered responses
a worrying and divisive message. Worrying, because many from a great many affiliates, and on that basis drafted a let-
trade unions and workers in the so-called ‘old’ Member States ter, together with the EFBWW, in which it drew attention to
expected major problems with the enforcement of labour the list of concrete proposals for improvement as adopted
standards and working conditions once the borders for work- by the EP, and summarised the key messages from affiliates,
ers and services from the ‘new’ Member States were opened, clearly demanding better implementation and enforcement at
and proper enforcement of the Posting Directive was seen as national level and stronger coordination by the Commission.
one of the few legal instruments to cope with this situation. They all stressed that the various requirements mentioned in
Divisive, because the message was that these mechanisms the guidelines, such as the need for a representative on the ter-
were not so much to protect workers, but were deliberately ritory, prior registration or declarations, and keeping of social
put and kept in place to make it difficult for service providers documents, had to be seen as pre-conditions for cross-border
in the new Member States to operate in the old ones, and mobility of services to work properly, and not attacked as
compete on the basis of their lower costs (i.e. lower wages). ‘obstacles’ to free movement.
From then on, the discussion about the implementation of At the end of this four-year period of struggle, it remains to be
the Posting Directive was closely linked to the debate on the seen in which direction the Commission’s policies and activi-
Services Directive, and also to the debate on enlargement ties on the Posting Directive will develop. It is also clear that
and the transitional restrictions put in place by many ‘old’ the ETUC and its member organisations will have to continue
Member States on the free movement of workers (but not on their fight for a stronger EU framework of ‘rules of the game’
services!). for mobility of workers and services, to ensure fair competition
and respect for workers’ rights, labour law, and industrial rela-
In its December 2005 position on the transitional measures tions systems in Member States.
for free movement of workers, the ETUC referred to the impor-
tance of strengthening the Posting Directive in the broader
framework of providing a firm and fair set of ‘rules of the
game’ at EU level, to support cross-border mobility of workers, 3.3.3 TEMPORARY AGENCY WORkERS DIRECTIVE
SOCIAL EUROPE
both in the framework of free movement of services and free
movement of workers. Little progress was achieved on temporary agency work dur-
ing the period between the Prague and Seville congresses.
In the same period, one of the battles that was won in the The draft directive remained blocked within the Council, and
fight over the Services Directive (see above par. 2.6) was the blocking countries got the support of some important new
the deletion of the articles that would have prohibited certain Member States after enlargement, putting the emphasis on
mechanisms to enforce the Posting Directive. However, those the need for flexibility and as little regulation as possible. The
political groups and representatives of new Member States draft directive was mentioned by the Commission in its ‘Better
that had great difficulty in accepting this part of the compro- Regulation’ proposals of 2005, threatening to withdraw the
mise package made the Commission promise to come up with measure altogether.
guidelines on how to deal with the ECJ jurisprudence on this
issue. This led in April 2006 to the Commission presenting The ETUC did a lot of work, together with affiliates and espe-
two documents: one being the Commission’s final conclusions cially UNI-Europa, to counter this development, and especially
on the implementation of the Posting Directive. The other one to demand that temporary agency work should be excluded
was a communication with a set of guidelines on how to inter- from the draft Services Directive. Since this was achieved in
pret the ECJ jurisprudence. The Commission also announced 2006, it is clear that the pressure has been building on the
that it would assess Member States’ progress on all aspects temporary agency sector to acknowledge that a regulatory
covered by the guidelines within 12 months. framework at EU level is necessary. There need to be mini-
mum standards for the protection of workers, to prevent down-
In the autumn of 2006 the EP prepared a resolution on the ward competition throughout the EU, to offer companies a
application of the Posting Directive, based on a report by level playing field for fair competition, to counter fly-by-night
Elisabeth Schroeder (Greens) which was adopted by an agencies and abusive and manipulative use of agencies and
overwhelming majority in the EP in October 2006, taking on subcontractors in cross-border service provision. For the ETUC,
board the critical views and concerns of the ETUC. the principle of equal treatment in essential working conditions
such as wages and working time remains the central issue to
At the end of 2006, the European social partners received a be safeguarded in any new draft directive.
questionnaire from the Commission, inviting them to comment
on measures taken by governments and the social partners
7
3.4 Economic and social cohesion Consequently, we regret that the new Structural Fund regula-
tions fail to define clearly the principles of partnership, and
A prominent feature of the period concerned has been the once again hark back to national rules and practices. The
ongoing debate, launched by the Commission in 2001, on Council did not accept the ETUC proposal to work at Euro-
the future of the policy for economic and social cohesion in pean level, just as it rejected the proposal aimed at obtaining
the enlarged European Union. The end result was the adop- better financing for the activities of the social partners.
tion by the Council in July 2006 of the new regulations on the
Structural Funds for the period 2007-2013. As to the European Social Fund (ESF), the ETUC backed the
proposal by the Commission whereby, under the convergence
From the outset, the ETUC has been actively involved in the objective, at least 2% of ESF resources should be assigned to
debate. In its second contribution, adopted by the Execu- capacity-building and to activities undertaken by the social
tive Committee on 13-14 October 2004, the ETUC again partners. We regret that the final text of the ESF regulation
demanded the strengthening of the Community’s structural refers only to ‘an appropriate volume of the ESF resources’.
policies in an enlarged Europe, insofar as the principles of
cohesion and solidarity are enshrined in the Treaty and con- We likewise regret that the European Social Fund is the only
stitute two of the principal means for integrating peoples and one to ensure the active participation of the social partners on
territories. its European Committee. We feel that this involvement repre-
sents a major added value, making it essential that provision
It follows that there must be even greater complementarity be made for the same type of participation in the other struc-
between the Union’s structural policies and the other areas tural funds, at both European and national levels. Moreover,
of Community policy, ensuring that all EU policies include the European social partners should be regularly consulted on
the crucial aspects of economic and social cohesion and the proposals relating to regional policy.
drive for quality employment. That being so, the ETUC attach-
es great importance to the explicit reference to the Lisbon and With regard to the EU’s financial resources, the level of invest-
Gothenburg agendas in the general regulation adopted by ment under the previous planning period was already relative-
the Council. ly modest compared to the positive results achieved, notably
in terms of improving the situation of the less favoured regions
In parallel, the ETUC has supported the consolidation of and moving towards genuine convergence.
implementation around three priority themes: convergence;
regional competitiveness and employment; and European ter- Considering the ambitions vested by the Member States in
ritorial cooperation. the EU, and the objectives of enlargement and the Lisbon
and Gothenburg Strategy, the ETUC insisted that the level
The ETUC has likewise backed the strategic approach pro- of resources could not be maintained unchanged. It has to
posed by the Commission and more particularly the establish- be admitted that in the framework of the financial perspec-
ment of an annual strategic dialogue with the European insti- tives adopted by the Council for the period 2007–2013, the
tutions which will examine progress on the strategic priorities amount allocated to cohesion policy is inadequate to allow
and the results obtained. On that score, we wish to stress that the EU to achieve the ambitious objectives put forward with a
in order to be able to deliver their contribution, the European view to progress on the construction of Europe.
social partners have been consulted on the global strategic
document for the cohesion policy, although we regret that this
Finally, the ETUC supported the Commission proposal for the
consultation was conducted simply within the framework of
setting up of a Globalisation Adjustment Fund (GAF), outside
the ‘public’ consultation launched by the Commission.
the financial framework, making it possible to respond swiftly
to problems facing workers due to restructuring operations,
through support for training, redeployment or re-employment.
However, we have called for the GAF to be available for
The principle of partnership relocation and restructuring operations inside the EU as well
as outside, and to be consistent with the programmes of the
The ETUC firmly believes that partnership is a fundamental Structural Funds for setting up permanent supervision systems
element in guaranteeing the success of Structural Fund inter- involving the social partners, businesses and local authorities,
ventions. It is important to continue the approach based on a whose role will be to examine economic and social changes
quality partnership by getting all the social partners involved at national, regional and local levels, and to anticipate future
in every phase of the funding operations. developments in the economy and the labour market.
In a similar vein, the ETUC has also called for the social part-
8
ners at the various levels to be involved at every stage in The ‘rationalised’ OMC: towards greater
managing the actions conducted in this framework. consistency and effectiveness
The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) was launched at
the Lisbon Council in 2000, in order to spread best practice
and ensure the greatest possible convergence vis-à-vis the
major EU objectives. It was designed as a method for flexible
3.5 Social inclusion policy and
governance, intended to supplement the existing Community
social protection method and other processes based on the Treaty, such as the
Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPG) and the European
In accordance with the resolution adopted at the Prague Con- Employment Strategy (EES).
gress in 2003, the development of quality social protection Over time, the Commission has taken the view that the cur-
for all, on a basis of solidarity, has formed an ETUC priority rently fragmented organisation of the OMC process should be
over the past four years. replaced by a unified structure covering social protection as
Most of what the ETUC has been doing in the area of social a whole, and organised in principle around three pillars cor-
protection has related to the continued implementation of the responding to the three areas of social integration, pensions,
Open Method of Coordination (OMC) in different areas (pen- and long-term healthcare.
sions, the battle against poverty and social exclusion, and
long-term healthcare), while taking account of its evolution (the The Council accepted the proposal that a ‘rationalised’ OMC
‘rationalised’ OMC). be set in place. The key instrument in the new, rationalised
process is a joint report on social protection, drawn up by the
Similarly, the ETUC has continued its involvement in the Pen- Commission and the Council, to evaluate progress in accom-
sions Forum, esppecially with a view to securing a directive plishing all the common objectives. This report replaces the
on the portability of complementary pension rights, as well as ‘Report on social protection in Europe’ drafted in response to
its commitment within the Council of Europe on the Council’s the decision to set up a social protection committee.
social cohesion strategy, European social security codes and
SOCIAL EUROPE
The report in its new format appeared in 2006.
the Council’s Social Charter Governmental Committee. After discussion in the social protection working group, the
ETUC approved this change, although it did stipulate that “this
During this period, the ETUC has worked consistently with the rationalisation must also allow the reinforcement of the various
Social Protection Committee (SPC), not only through contact existing OMCs, by incorporating them better into the national
with the SPC bureau but also at meetings of the committee as policies. The NAPs, in particular, cannot be simple activity
a whole, in Amsterdam on 5 November 2004 to explore the reports, they should become genuine action programmes,
theme of pensions, and on 19 October 2005 in Glasgow on geared to the achievement of pre-established objectives.
the implementation of the ‘rationalised’ OMC. Their evaluation on the basis of the qualitative and quanti-
tative indicators by the Social Protection Committee and by
These meetings with the full committee have demonstrated that the Commission should make it possible to set some orienta-
the SPC recognises the role played and the place occupied tions/recommendations. The ETUC considers it essential for
by the ETUC in the field of European social protection. this coordination to lead to upwards convergence.”
As part of the implementation of the European strategy to
combat poverty and social exclusion, there have also been
frequent and productive contacts with the organisations form-
The pursuit of the reform of pensions
ing part of the Platform of Social NGOs, as well as with the
systems: towards greater fairness
European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN) and the European Dis-
ability Forum (EDF).
and solidarity
Finally, the ETUC has waged a victorious campaign to get The second National Action Plans (NAPs) on pensions were
health services and social services of general interest exempt- discussed in the Member States, and at the fourth Round
ed from the Services Directive. Table against Social Exclusion and Poverty held in Glasgow
in October 2005. The ETUC reiterated its demands on the
reform of pension systems, namely its support for strong pub-
lic (legal) pension schemes based on solidarity within and
between generations. This support is rooted in the observa-
9
tion made by the Commission itself on the basis of the NAPs, that businesses in the various Member States make productive
which reveal that “17% of people aged over 65 live on an investments, in other words that they invest in research and
income which is below 60% of the median income in the development, training and so on, rather than making financial
country in which they live”. Differences naturally exist between tools their priority.
countries. The ETUC has also spoken out against another paradox
which concerns the conditions for access to jobs and those
The ETUC has the impression that the more pension schemes relating to departure from employment. What we find today
become ‘financial’ (private), the less security they offer, where- is that young people tend to be entering stable employment
as public schemes, managed by the social partners and the later and later, and leaving it earlier and earlier (once they
users’ representatives, offer greater security because they offer reach the age of 55, workers are the first and major victims
the tools: of redundancies).
With regard to young people in particular, the ETUC pro-
to adapt resources to needs poses specifically that they be able to combine access to an
o allow the constitution of ‘reserve funds’, virtually everywhere
t early paid job with quality, effective training at the start, as
across Europe, provided that these funds are rendered secure in it states in its response to the Commission on ‘Demographic
terms of their destination and their utilisation, and are not used ageing and employment strategies’.
for other purposes.
It is for this reason that the ETUC has made it a priority – and
committed its organisations to do likewise – to concentrate on Towards quality healthcare for all
the reform and reinforcement of public pensions, so that they
offer their beneficiaries sufficient resources with which to live
In 2005, the Open Method of Coordination began to
in dignity, as well as ensuring that the complementary systems
be applied in the field of long-term healthcare. The 2006
which now exist everywhere do indeed remain ‘complemen-
National Action Plans of the ‘rationalised’ OMC have thus
tary’ to the public and/or legal schemes and do not become
addressed that subject.
the prime source of income for retired people.
The EUC has supported this extension of the OMC, because
healthcare is one of the core elements for the reinforcement of
social cohesion and the construction of social Europe.
This is why the ETUC is in favour of a bold approach in its
The fight against poverty and social exclu-
objectives and solidarity in its financing of this question of
sion through the development of quality long-term healthcare.
jobs As a result, the ETUC campaigned to get healthcare excluded
from the Services Directive, together with social services, in
Another field in which the ETUC has been active over this order to preserve their specific character and to recognise
past period is the fight against poverty and social exclusion, and guarantee the social role played by such services.
particularly in the domain of the ‘quality’ of jobs. More specifically with regard to long-term healthcare, it
ETUC findings show that whereas before, access to a job teamed up with the FERPA, in late 2005 and 2006, to mount
used to be the best way out of poverty and/or social exclu- a campaign in the form of an ‘Appeal’ addressed both to
sion, that no longer applies and today there is a rising pro- the national political decision-makers, via its members, and
portion of ‘poor workers’. the European political decision-makers (Commission, Social
Not so long ago, the ETUC persuaded the European employ- Protection Committee, European Parliament, EU Presidency,
ers to negotiate some European framework agreements to etc), in support of putting long-term healthcare on a perma-
alleviate the effects of precarious employment, in particular nent basis of solidarity and defining ambitious objectives in
through granting the workers concerned a certain number of this area.
social rights. But the fact still remains that an effective fight This campaign was also launched and conducted in partner-
against poverty and social exclusion requires stable, quality ship with the Confederation of Family Organisations in the
jobs, in other words jobs that enable workers to live rather European Union (COFACE), the European Disability Forum
than merely ‘surviving’. (EDF) and the European Transnational Network for Social
The ETUC reaffirmed this view at Tampere, at the Fifth Round Inclusion (RETIS).
Table against social exclusion and poverty, in October 2006,
when it stated that “the real defence against poverty and social
exclusion remains quality employment”. Admittedly, we can-
not have quality jobs unless there is growth; but this implies
40
Improving mobility by allowing 3.6 Services of general interest
the portability of complementary
pension rights The ETUC has continued to work to defend services of gen-
eral interest (SGIs) or services of general economic interest
(SGEIs) – the terminology used to describe public services in
When it comes to the preservation and acquisition of migrant
the jargon of the EU. These are recognised as being essential
workers’ rights with regard to legal social security schemes,
to sustainable economic development and social and region-
there is a mechanism for the ‘coordination’ of these rights
al cohesion in Europe. That is why the ETUC considers access
through a European regulation, commonly referred to by its
to public services to be a fundamental right and a pillar of
number as regulation 1408/71.
the European Social Model. Our activities have focused on
In 2004, following a revamp and improvement, supported
getting these services excluded from the draft Services Direc-
and welcomed by the ETUC, this regulation became regula-
tive on the one hand, and on the other, the establishment of
tion 883/2004.
a legislative basis which would allow their mission of general
Its application was likewise extended, following pressure from
interest to be guaranteed.
the ETUC, to all non-European workers benefiting from a legal
work contract within the EU under regulation 859/2003.
However, there is no similar provision in place for professional So the ETUC has asked the European Commission to propose
pensions (complementary pension schemes). a framework directive so as to guarantee these services and
The ETUC has been campaigning for over ten years in sup- allow them to evolve and modernise. That is why the ETUC
port of mechanisms guaranteeing complementary pension has launched a campaign in favour of a framework directive
rights for migrant workers, for whom this lack of security has by way of a petition seeking to collect 1 million signatures,
been identified as an obstacle to mobility. calling for ‘quality services accessible to all’. This petition is
In October 2003, in response to the submission of the Com- available on the home page of the ETUC website.
mission under Articles 138 et seq. of the Treaty of the Union,
the ETUC came out in favour of negotiations between the The ETUC has consistently called upon the Commission to
social partners on the acquisition, preservation and transfer of present a draft framework directive which would give public
complementary pension rights, in the framework of the social services the legal security they require, but with no success. In
SOCIAL EUROPE
dialogue. But in the face of UNICE’s refusal to start negotia- the absence of legislation, the ETUC has proposed a mora-
tions on this point, the ETUC argued for a legislative initiative torium on liberalisation. In its efforts to change the approach
from the Commission. of the European institutions, the ETUC has teamed up with a
After discussions in October 2004 in the Pensions Forum, number of organisations which shared its point of view, in par-
chaired by the Commission and with vice-chairs from the ticular the CEEP and some NGOs. Until now, only the posi-
ETUC and BusinessEurope respectively, on which the ETUC tion of the EP has addressed our concerns (the Herzog report
has six seats, the Commission formalised a proposal for a in 2004 and to some extent the Rapkay report in 2006). Our
directive broadly reflecting the proposals from the ETUC as work has delivered a significant result: in fact, the draft Consti-
framed in the resolution adopted by the Executive Committee tutional Treaty adopted in October 2004 reinforced the legal
on 16 October 2003. basis for the adoption of a European legal framework.
But in the face of hostility from several Member States and
some professional pension scheme managers, which were On 20 September 2006, the ETUC Executive Committee
more inclined to focus on the financial aspects than to take adopted the text of a draft European framework directive on
account of any social aspects of such a measure, this pro- services of general economic interest, as a working basis.
posal has gradually, over the months, begun to be emptied Other organisations, including the CEEP and the Party of Euro-
of its content, to the point where it may become no more than pean Socialists (PES), have done the same.
an ‘empty shell’.
The ETUC, for its part, is continuing, notably at European The salient points of the proposal stipulate that services of
Parliament level, to defend complementary pension rights for general interest are to take priority over the rules of the market,
migrant workers, but there is no doubt that other initiatives will that the Charter of Fundamental Rights must be respected and
need to be taken over the months ahead to retain the maxi- that the principle of subsidiarity and the responsibilities of the
mum social content in this proposed directive.
public authorities must define how these services are to be
delivered at every level.
It is important for the ETUC that the users, the unions and con-
sumers be consulted and involved in the regulatory methods,
and that a commitment be provided regarding the involve-
41
ment and consultation of workers and their representatives at cerns could be placed at the centre of debates in the run-up to
every level, in the context of the social dialogue. the European Parliament elections of June 2004.
On 29 April 2006, the Commission published a communica- In June 2004, the ETUC confederal secretary and several
tion on ‘the implementation of the Community’s Lisbon pro- members of the ETUC migration working group took an active
gramme: social services of general interest in the European part in the ILO conference in which a ‘general discussion on
Union’. The ETUC welcomed this communication, which it migration’ was scheduled. The conclusions of this debate,
saw as a first step towards the creation of a European frame- laid down in the ILO Resolution concerning a fair deal for
work for SGEIs, but it considered the Commission’s approach migrant workers in a global economy, were quite satisfactory
to be too restrictive. from a trade union point of view, as they clearly established
that any policy on migration should be based on recognition
Concerning healthcare services, the consultation process is of the rights of migrants, that a campaign was necessary for
ongoing. The ETUC is in favour of a common approach to the ratification of the international UN and ILO conventions on
social services, including health, in order to avoid problems migration, and that the ILO should take the lead in developing
which might arise if different rules were to be applied to serv- more proactive policies on migration.
ices by means of an arbitrary distinction (some of them being
both social and health-related). Moreover, as to patient mobil- The European Commission presented its Green Paper on Eco-
ity, the ETUC encourages the search for solutions in the frame- nomic Migration in January 2005, seeking feedback from
work of regulation 1408/71. a wide public on EU policies regarding legal migration as
adopted by the Council in Tampere in 1999, and the The
Hague programme on Europe as ‘a space for liberty, security
and justice’ in November 2004. At its Executive Committee
of March 2005, the ETUC adopted its position on this Green
Paper, ‘Towards a pro-active EU policy on migration and inte-
3.7 Migration and mobility of workers gration’, highlighting the following key messages:
In October 2003, the ETUC Executive Committee adopted The ETUC welcomed the Green Paper, because it addressed
an action plan for an ETUC policy on migration, integration, an issue that was at the top of the political agenda in many
and combating discrimination, racism and xenophobia. This Member States. It agreed with the paper’s analysis, that immi-
action plan had been developed as the first part of a two-year gration in itself is not a solution to demographic ageing, but at
project, launched in 2002, on trade union action to tackle the same time more sustained immigration flows could increas-
religious and racial discrimination, and was presented also ingly be required to meet the needs of the EU labour market
as a tool to implement par. 2.e. on ‘Mobility, immigration and and ensure Europe’s prosperity.
social integration’ of the Action Programme adopted at the
ETUC Congress in Prague. On the occasion of its adoption, According to the ETUC, it was high time to adopt a more
the existing temporary working group on migrant workers and pro-active EU policy on migration and integration, based on
ethnic minorities, set up to accompany the project, was trans- recognition of the fundamental social rights of current citizens
formed into a more permanent working group to deal with the as well as newcomers, and embedded in strong employment
wider issues of migration (from outside the EU) and mobility and development policies. This policy should be agreed in
within the EU, as well as with integration and non-discrimina- close consultation with the social partners. It should open up
tion of migrants and ethnic minorities. possibilities for the admission of economic migrants by pro-
viding a common EU framework for the conditions of entry
In the second part of the project, from September 2003 to and residence, while preventing a two-tier migration policy
July 2004, in 13 out of the 15 ‘old’ Member States, national that would only facilitate migration for the highly skilled while
seminars took place to discuss the ETUC action plan, and to denying access and rights to semi- and low-skilled work-
discuss its follow-up at national level. The ETUC confederal ers. It should be tough on employers applying exploitative
secretary responsible for migration and mobility took part in employment conditions and sanction those who profit from
most of these seminars. these abusive situations, including traffickers in human beings,
rather than penalising the workers who are their victims. And
In February 2004, the ETUC organised, with the financial it should create ‘bridges’ leading out of ‘irregular situations’
support of the Commission, a conference, ‘Ensuring trade for undocumented immigrant workers and their families, while
union concerns are placed at the heart of the EU’, involving respecting their basic human rights. Such an integrated policy
some 60 members of the ETUC women’s committee, migra- should at the same time acknowledge the major importance
tion committee and youth committee, to discuss how their con- of strengthening the European Social Model in providing and
42
maintaining basic protection for all Europe’s inhabitants, to support of citizens and workers in many Member States for
counter increasing feelings of social insecurity among millions the European project, and demanded that measures be taken
of workers that might feed into racism and xenophobia, and at national as well as at EU level.
to help the trade union movement play its cohesive role.
As 2006 had been declared the ‘European Year of Work-
In April 2005, with the financial support of the Commission, ers’ Mobility’, the ETUC was invited to many seminars and
the ETUC held a conference on organising and protecting conferences throughout the year, and its representatives used
domestic workers, many of whom are increasingly from a the opportunity to present the ETUC’s position to wider audi-
migrant or ethnic minority background (see par. 4.1. of this ences within and outside trade union circles, and especially
report). its demands for a supportive EU legal framework.
In November 2005, the ETUC migration working group In March 2006, the ETUC, together with PICUM (the Platform
convened in Dublin, to discuss an ILO-EU project to address for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants),
racial discrimination in the workplace, linking this discussion organised a conference for around 100 participants from
to the follow-up of the ETUC project on racial and religious trade unions, NGOs and academics, at International Trade
discrimination. Union House in Brussels, to exchange experiences and dis-
cuss strategies to protect undocumented workers in Europe.
In December 2005, the ETUC Executive Committee adopt- One conclusion was that trade unions would have to rethink
ed a Resolution, ‘Towards free movement of workers in an their strategies on organising workers, as the undocumented
enlarged European Union’. At the time of the EU enlargement migrants were clearly ‘outsiders’ that would have to be taken
of 1 May 2004, 12 of the 15 ‘old’ Member States introduced on board.
transitional measures. Before 1 May 2006, the Council had
to review the functioning of these transitional provisions on In summer 2006, the ETUC published a press statement in
the basis of a Commission report. This report was due to be response to the Commission’s communication on illegal migra-
published in January 2006. In its resolution, the ETUC wanted tion, and reacting also to recent cases published in the press
to contribute to formulating the next steps, in a period in which disclosing situations of semi-slavery in agricultural areas in
Europe. The ETUC called for enforcement of minimum labour
SOCIAL EUROPE
a hot debate was also taking place on the detrimental effects
of free movement of services in the EU in the framework of the standards and decent working conditions, to combat labour
so-called Laval and Viking cases before the ECJ, and the final exploitation, as a priority in tackling irregular migration. In
stages of the Services Directive debate (see par. 2.6.). autumn 2006, the ETUC was informally consulted on the EU
policy plan on legal and illegal migration, and especially on
The ETUC decided that it was of key importance in this situ- the draft directive on employer sanctions.
ation to develop clear and consistent policies and messages
about the free movement of workers and services in the EU,
putting the emphasis on the need for proper conditions to be
in place in Member States with regard to equal treatment
and the respect of host country rules and industrial relations
systems1. In its resolution, the ETUC acknowledged that the
transitional measures had been introduced by Member States
to protect their labour markets, and that in some countries affil- 1
The resolution
iates had reported positive effects because they had reduced was adopted
the pressure of migratory flows from the new Member States. with some mem-
However, many other ETUC affiliates had reported adverse ber organisations
effects, as the transitional measures had created and main- voting against,
tained a situation of second and third class citizenship for because they
workers from the new Member States. This had stimulated had difficulty
unfair competition on wages and working conditions, an with the clear
increase in undeclared work and false self-employment which messages on the
disrupted local and sectoral labour markets, and exploitation need to replace
and discriminatory treatment of workers from the new Mem- the transitional
ber States. The ETUC expressed serious concerns about the measures as
protection of workers and industrial relations systems, arising soon as possible
from increased cross-border mobility and the emergence of a by proper
European labour market, threatening social cohesion and the conditions.
4
3.8 Draft Constitution be under continuous attack from some governments and also
from the business side. With the campaign on the services
After the Convention and the IGC, the ETUC convened an directive and the result of the vote on the EP’s first reading in
ETUC conference to make an assessment of the results, fol- February 2006, the trade union movement came back on the
lowed by an extraordinary Steering Committee open to offensive.
all ETUC affiliates (13 July 2004). After intense and long
debates, the ETUC positioned itself in favour of the European The ETUC convened a Workshop on the European Consti-
Constitution and decided to support it by an overwhelming tution 27-28 March 2006 in Berlin. In his communications
majority for a number of good reasons (see ETUC Resolution to the Executive Committee 6-7 June 2006, ETUC General
13 July 2004/Executive Committee of 3-14 October 2004). Secretary John Monks stated: ‘The ETUC has itself organised
On the positive side, the ETUC put the reinforcement of social an earlier workshop in March in Berlin to consider the cur-
values and principles (such as solidarity, equality and gender rent difficult situation following the rejection of the proposed
equality, non-discrimination, etc.), of the social and employ- Constitution by the voters of France and the Netherlands. That
ment objectives (‘full employment’, ‘social market economy’), meeting generally supported the need for new initiatives to
the recognition of the role of the social partners, the incorpora- re-start the adoption of the proposed Constitution and consid-
tion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and the right of ini- ered particularly the idea expressed by Chancellor Merkel for
tiative for citizens; and on the negative side the incoherence a Social Protocol to be added to the present text. The idea of
between Part I and Part III which was never really discussed in such a Protocol was welcomed as Mrs Merkel had implicitly
the Convention, and the length of the Constitution, the core of acknowledged trade union concerns about the future of Social
which is Parts I, II and IV (which was never discussed either). Europe and that the people of France and the Netherlands
had voted ‘no’ to reflect their opposition to Europe becom-
The big event was the French referendum on the Constitution. ing a leading edge of globalisation rather than offering help
The ETUC was very involved in the French campaign in favour and protection. There was less clarity on the content of such
of the Constitution and participated in a large number of meet- a Protocol and a recognition that it would be difficult to have
ings. The ETUC found itself sometimes in an embarrassing agreement, for example with UNICE, around a progressive
situation, as a number of the concerns raised echoed the dis- text.’ The Executive Committee backed proposals outlined by
cussions in the Convention. In the Convention, the ETUC on John Monks. ‘We need a stronger social dimension aligned to
several occasions repeated that a stronger social dimension is the Constitution,’ he said. ‘People have many concerns about
necessary, that the British restrictions imposed on the Charter issues like jobs, restructuring and globalisation.’
are unacceptable, that the contradictions between Part I and
Part III had to be resolved by putting Part III in line with Part The ETUC campaigns for trade union rights to Europe-wide
I. These concerns voiced by the ETUC – together with some industrial action to defend workers’ interests, as well as more
Socialist and Green members – inside the Convention were information and consultation within companies. ‘Social provi-
now used as arguments against the ETUC accepting the out- sions along these lines are necessary to get the active support
come of the Convention and the IGC. of workers around Europe,’ said John Monks. In the ETUC’s
view, the Constitutional issue cannot merely be put to one
After the double ‘no’ in France and in the Netherlands, the side, as some politicians seem to wish. It respects the decision
Council prescribed a period of reflection without any clear of the 18 EU Member States that have already ratified, and
objectives and the EU entered a serious crisis. It can emerge remains consistent in its support for the existing text, as the best
from this crisis strengthened or weakened. The public debate available option. The ETUC reiterated its support for the Con-
moved away from constitutional matters to issues closer to stitution while stressing the need to strengthen its social dimen-
the concerns of citizens and workers, like delocalisation and sion, for instance by adding a Social Protocol on social and
restructuring. Therefore the ETUC called upon the European economic governance to the Constitution. The ETUC remains
Council to recognise that there will be no chance of gaining attached to the main parts of the Constitution, in particular
popular support without a successful economy and an effec- the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the social objectives and
tive social dimension, that there is a need to restore confi- values as well as the role of social partners: it is crucial that
dence in Europe by promoting Social Europe and to integrate the ETUC should be associated with any re-discussion of the
the social dimension in European politics (ETUC Declaration, Constitution from an early stage in a way which is at least as
14-15 June 2005). The ETUC voiced concern that some gov- participative and transparent as the Conventional Process in
ernments are opposing every positive European initiative in which the ETUC played a part. (Press releases 07/06/06,
the social field. After the referenda, trade union leaders and 16/06/2006)
trade unionists saw the ground being cut from under them
as the social dimension of the European Union, on which For the ETUC it was clear that in France a strong majority and
trade union support in Europe has been based, appeared to in the Netherlands a strong minority wanted a more ambitious
44
Constitution – and the ETUC can only be on the side of those
who ask for a European integration with a stronger social
dimension strengthening Social Europe.
From a trade union perspective, four options seem to be pos-
sible:
The first one is to write off the Constitution as dead and buried
and to continue integration on a low level. Immobility or steps
backward would be the consequences of this option.
The second option would be to continue the reflection period
until new ideas come up and to continue the ratification proc-
ess in parallel, as a majority of Member States have already
ratified. Either the same text would be put to a vote again or
an answer would be expected from France and the Nether-
lands on how to resolve their problems: for instance through
declarations on Social Europe and/or on subsidiarity. For
the time being, the pause seems to be effectively a stand-
still, while globalisation goes ahead and little reflection takes
place outside the inner circles of the EP, some Member States
and some think tanks.
The third option would be to relaunch the process with a new
Convention to revise the Constitution: not to rewrite it from
scratch but to take on board the consensual points – the core
SOCIAL EUROPE
parts of the Constitution, Parts I, II and IV – to review them with
the aim of having a more ambitious Constitution, and try to
find new compromises on the disputed parts.
A fourth option would be to start with economic governance
and more social and fiscal coordination – if not possible
together with all Member States then perhaps inside the Euro-
group, with clear conditions so that each Member State can
decide if it wants to adhere or not.
A consultation amongst affiliates on the possible options is
ongoing and a workshop on the European Constitution is
scheduled for February 2007 to prepare the ETUC position
of the Congress.
45
46
4. EQUALITY
47
48
4. EQUALITY
4.1 Women and gender mainstreaming structures differ across countries and comparisons with previ-
ous studies were not always possible.
Gender equality The response rate was very poor: a total of 30 national con-
federations (out of 81) replied (37%), compared to an 87%
response rate in 2002. The European Industry Federation
Gender equality policy within the ETUC has continued to be
based on the dual approach – i.e. specific gender equality response rate was also disappointing, with only 4/12 (33%)
policies as well as gender mainstreaming activities. As in the replying.
past, the Women’s Committee of the ETUC has played a very
central role in all gender equality developments since 2003. The findings were quite mixed and showed that less than half
of those who replied have an equality plan implemented.
Over the past few years, the Women’s Committee has under- However, 43% of trade unions are trying to ensure meetings
gone a number of changes, both in terms of size, having are held at times convenient for women. Most trade unions
expanded to welcome colleagues from the new and candi- have a gender equality structure in place but often they are
date countries, but also in terms of its presidium. Following the
advisory only. Regarding gender mainstreaming in collec-
2003 Congress, it was agreed to extend the mandate of the
tive bargaining, half of those questioned promote training
then presidium, headed by Fotini Sianou. In 2005, Vivanne
measures, few have any guidelines and levels of commitment
Goergen was elected as the new President.
vary a lot. However, 43% have developed mechanisms to
The Women’s Committee continues to remain active in a encourage mainstreaming. Budgets for gender mainstreaming
number of areas both within and outside the ETUC, such and gender equality have largely been found to be inad-
EQUALITY
as the ETUC Steering and Executive Committees, various equate and a certain backlash is observable, as the diversity
working groups and committees of the ETUC, the EU’s advi- approach seems to be gaining ground often to the detriment
sory committee on equal opportunities and its many working of gender equality.
groups on specific themes, and the European Women’s Lobby
(EWL), where until September 2006, the ETUC was a board Based on the findings of the mid-term review, the Wom-
member. en’s Committee decided that more work was necessary in
this area and a new project was launched. Its aim was to
A wide variety of specific gender equality issues have been
identify tools or instruments which could help realise gen-
tackled by the Women’s Committee since 2003 and include
der mainstreaming both within the ETUC and its member
the following:
organisations. This was to be done via an updated pic-
ture of the current situation of women in trade unions, and
trade union policies to promote gender equality and to
identify a mapping exercise / user-friendly survey which
Internal ETUC gender equality policies
could be used on an annual basis to provide a compara-
tive overview of progress. A conference was organised
The main focus of the work on internal ETUC gender equality
just before 8 March 2007 in Berlin, to present the findings
policies has been based on the follow-up to the Equality Plan
and to determine recommendations which will be put to
which was adopted during the 2003 Congress. This plan is
the ETUC Congress.
based on a dual approach – how to take specific actions on
gender equality and how to ensure gender mainstreaming is
carried out. A mid-term review of progress was carried out
in 2005/6 and although it is not a hugely detailed piece of
work, it serves to act as a snapshot of how things look. There
were a number of limitations with this work – terminology and
49
External Gender Equality Policies Consultation on reconciliation of work,
private and family life
LEGISLATION AND LEGAL PROPOSALS
New directive on gender equality in all areas outside work The ETUC was consulted on the issue of reconciliation of work,
– based on Art 13. private and family life in autumn 2006 and welcomed this consulta-
tion as an important step towards addressing the issue of reconciling
The ETUC was actively involved in lobbying activities on private and professional life and as an important element in dealing
this directive for a number of months before its adoption with the demographic challenge facing the EU.
and although not all of our concerns were taken on board,
a number of them were. The directive was adopted on 13 Although much has been done in the past both from a national and
December 2004. This is the first directive about equality an EU perspective: Barcelona targets on childcare in 2002, Guide-
between men and women dealing with issues outside employ- line on reconciliation in the Integrated Guidelines for Growth and
ment and social security. The scope is limited, as it does not Jobs 2005, the Roadmap for Gender Equality 2006 which high-
deal with all goods and services (media, advertising and lights the issue and the European Pact for Gender Equality 2006,
education were excluded). The most controversial part of this which commits Member States to achieve the Barcelona targets,
directive concerns gender-based actuarial factors in pension improve care facilities and promote parental leave for women and
systems (i.e. leading to higher premiums for women because men – and by the social partners: negotiation of the Parental Leave
of higher life expectancy). Despite compromises reached on Directive, Part-time Work Directive and more recently the Framework
this, the directive establishes a principle that sex should not of Actions on Gender Equality, which highlights the issue as one of
play any role, i.e. establishing non-discrimination as a rule. the four priority areas for action – much remains to be done.
The ETUC’s approach to this issue is two-pronged in that it has both
a gender equality and an employment dimension to it, both of which
must be considered in tandem if progress is to be made.
Recasting the equality directives
Our response to this consultation can be divided into the following
The European Commission planned to simplify the existing categories:
body of equality legislation at the EU level, which is mainly
a technical exercise. However, the ETUC has been involved The need to upgrade certain parts of the existing legislation
in this process, although initially it was consulted via an open (Maternity Directive, Parental Leave Directive);
web consultation, which we rejected on the basis of not
respecting the specific position and role of the social part- The need to introduce new legislation in certain areas (paternity
ners. leave, care for dependents);
Campaigns and initiatives to encourage men to avail of leave
arrangements and provisions;
Proposal to establish a European Gender Working time policies and arrangements for women and men;
Institute
Initiatives to ensure that commitments made at the EU and Mem-
ber State level to reach certain targets (Lisbon, Barcelona, Gen-
The ETUC was actively involved in the debates and discus-
der Pact) are met.
sions surrounding the establishment of a European Gender
Institute. In principle, under the right conditions, the ETUC sup-
The European Commission has indicated that based on the
ports the idea. However, two key conditions must be taken
results of this first stage consultation, it will put forward some
on board:
concrete proposals for EU action in 2007.
A clear role for the social partners, as members of the board;
he role of the institute should be to provide assistance
T
and expertise to policy-makers, but should not be a policy-
making body.
50
Gender Mainstreaming Activities 4.3 Equal opportunities for disabled
workers
Gender mainstreaming policies within the ETUC and outside
are an essential element of the ETUC’s gender policy. For With regard to the problems faced by disabled workers, fol-
that reason, efforts have been made to gender mainstream a lowing the declaration of the Thessaloniki seminar in March
wide range of issues include the Lisbon Strategy and employ- 2003, ETUC acttivity has tended to concentrate on the issue
ment policies in general, the working time debate, health and of the right to long-term healthcare.
safety at work, migration and immigration policies etc. The That is why, as already mentioned, joint work - in particular
following examples serve to highlight the type of work done: with our partner the European Disability Forum - has continued
over the year 2005–2006, resulting in the launch of a direct
‘Appeal’ to political decision-makers.
This ‘Appeal’ stressed the urgent need for a number of rights
4.2 Anti-racism to be recognised as fundamental for people needing long-
term healthcare, such as:
In 2002, the ETUC launched a large-scale project on anti-
discrimination and anti-racism at work, entitled ‘Trade Union he right to respect and to recognition of the human dignity
t
Action against Racial and Religious Discrimination’. The main of the person concerned;
priority of the project was to find ways to remove discrimi- he right to the existence of, and access to, support struc-
t
natory barriers to participation in decision-making and the tures and services;
democratic process. he right to access and participation in civil life.
t
The overall goal of the project was to examine how trade
unions in Europe have responded to the problems faced by
recent migrant workers and their descendants. In particular
we wanted to carry out an analysis of the extent to which
this issue is covered in collective agreements as well as to
provide an overview of the numbers of people from religious
and racial minorities who are involved in the decision-making
process of trade unions.
EQUALITY
In order to do this, it was necessary first to carry out a detailed
assessment of the situation to date across the EU Member
States. Data were gathered from ETUC-affiliated organisa-
tions via a questionnaire, results were analysed and compiled
into a report. Based on the findings of the report, an action
plan was prepared, which included initiatives to tackle dis-
crimination systematically in collective agreements as well as
to increase the representativeness of persons from minorities
in trade union decision-making structures (given the clear link
to the presence of persons in decision-making bodies and the
extent to which issues of concern to them are tackled in col-
lective agreements and trade union actions). The action plan
was adopted by the ETUC Executive Committee in October
2003 and sets out three chapters:
European policy on migration;
A
I
nternal trade union structures which promote equal treat-
ment and rights for all workers irrespective of racial or eth-
nic origin, religion and nationality;
he role of the ETUC and its institutions.
T
A series of national seminars were then organised, to facilitate
an exchange of information and to raise awareness of how to
use the good examples at national and regional level.
51
52
5. WORKERS’ RIGHTS
AND PARTICIPATION
5
54
5. WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND PARTICIPATION
5.1 European Works Councils tion and consultation rights and the right to be represented in
the workplace must be considered as two faces of the same
coin. Such representative bodies enjoy a wide range of rights
Assessment of the legal European (experts, resources, meetings, etc). Please see also paragraph
iii below.
framework
WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND PARTICIPATION
So the EWC Directive (and other directives on the right to be
European legislation offers a sustainable legal framework informed and consulted on strategic decisions) allows employ-
on information and consultation of employees. It seems that ees and trade unions to make progress from many points of
the spirit which has inspired EU policies, aiming at impos- view. But it does not mean that European trade unionists can
ing social dialogue and accompanying change in compa- be completely satisfied by their experience so far.
nies instead of conflict-based industrial relations, found fertile
ground and gave good results. Having said that, we should
also be aware that an area exists where the effectiveness of
information and consultation rights has not met trade union
Lessons to be learned
expectations yet: the right to be informed and consulted on
strategic choices of companies.
An in-depth analysis shows that EWCs are suffering from a
Today, European Works Councils have been established in weak strategic position within the complex network of indus-
about 750 of over 2,000 companies falling under the scope trial relations developed in large multinational groups. Despite
of the EWC Directive, representing 70% of the workforce that the sometimes obstructive attitude of companies, EWCs have
should benefit from its provisions. A detailed qualitative/quan- sometimes been able to fulfil their potential, showing they are
titative analysis of the EWC agreements is available in the able to accompany change and proving their social value.
Analysis of the SDA Infopoint database ‘EWC agreements’ However, the shift from a passive approach to a proactive one
available on www.sda-asbl.org requires workers’ cohesion, shared views and objectives.
About 10,000 employees are involved in transnational trade The directive met a real need for workers, who were sponta-
union activities. neously inclined to look beyond national borders, and some-
times still today they have high expectations that EWCs, with
Somehow, European trade unions reached the objective of their limited powers, cannot always fulfil.
establishing a European model for information and consulta-
tion of employees: The heterogeneity of representation models has been an
impediment to the harmonious development of EWCs. An
n companies with a national dimension, employee repre-
i ‘ethnocentric’ approach to diversity brought about competi-
sentative bodies in the workplace – established in accord- tion between representation models within EWCs and, today,
ance with national legislation and TU practices – can enjoy is still jeopardising their internal cohesion and, in some cases,
a common set of information and consultation rights. causing open conflicts between delegates.
in transnational companies, information and consultation
rights are exercised through a new transnational body in The ETUC, together with its members, is leading a debate on
which employees of each country involved are represented in the industrial relations model they intend to propose to their
accordance with their own model of representation. counterparts, mainly in multinational enterprises, covering
themes such as employee participation, information, consulta-
European legislation on information and consultation rights tion rights and transnational collective bargaining. Again, this
is extremely important to trade union rights. Thanks to this entails the definition of a clear framework of competences for
legislation, employee representation bodies must be estab- European trade unions and EWCs in the field of industrial
lished in companies with more than 50 employees. Informa- relations management within multinational enterprises.
55
each country concerned to belong to the former; the direc-
Two more lessons: EWCs offer European trade unions an tive had set a maximum membership of 17, which at the
opportunity to get into companies, reducing the distance time corresponded to the number of countries covered by
between them and workers. European trade union federa- the directive;
tions, through the EWCs, become less abstract and more ecognition of the right of national and European trade
r
tangible entities, thus sowing the seeds of the enhancement of unions to belong to SNBs and EWCs, and to make use
workers’ transnational cooperation based on European union- of their own experts, not only during the scheduled meet-
ism. EWCs must become stronger, if they are not to be the ings.
weak link in the industrial relations chain.
In December 2006 the European Commission introduced a
Experience shows that the trade union and labour protection- proposal of directive to update directive 94/45 in accord-
related provisions included in national legislation are too frag- ance with the new institutional settings of the EU.
mented, considering Europe as a whole, and hardly appli- The ETUC reacted negatively, stating the directive needed to
cable at a transnational level. This is why some cases have be submitted to a wider revision including at least the follow-
been recorded of exclusion or manipulation of European-level ing points:
entities by businesses. In order to preserve the effectiveness of
EWCs, external constraints are required. nformation and consultation must take place ‘in good
i
time’ in accordance with the legal meaning defined by the
These should function in two directions: European Court of Justice and fixed in some more recent
rade unions must operate within EWCs, and work to be
T directives (namely dir. 2001/86/EC and dir. 2002/14/
present on them. EC).
WCs must have a specific role in a European industrial
E wider and unconditional role for trade unions must be
A
relations system. explicitly recognised. It operates in two ways: i) giving
local trade unions the right to appoint their members; ii)
Restructuring initiatives are real examples of the need for Euro- giving the European Industry Federations the right to be
pean trade union action. This is a request coming from the represented.
bottom, and we must provide an answer by strengthening the he threshold of employees coming within the scope of the
T
European Federation without conveying the impression to take directive should be reduced from 1000 to 500 employees.
the exercise of representation mandates away from working
places These are only the most urgent demands. Looking at the expe-
rience gathered in the past years, the ETUC has adopted a
comprehensive platform for the revision of the directive which
is regularly updated in the light of recent developments.
Revision of Directive 94/45
The European Commission was required, not later than 22
September 1999, to review its operation ‘in consultation with
the Member States and with management and labour at Euro-
pean level’, with a view to proposing ‘suitable amendments 5.2 Evolution of the legal framework
to the Council, where necessary’. The Commission has begun on information and consultation
consulting the social partners. UNICE and CEEP have said rights of workers
they are opposed to a revision of the directive. The ETUC, in
contrast, has repeatedly called for an urgent revision. The European Union learns from its setbacks: European direc-
tive 2002/14/EC, dubbed the ‘Renault Vilvorde’ directive,
The European Economic and Social Committee has identified is the first in which the EU has extended to every Member
three main points which it feels should be taken into consid- State the obligation to provide a procedure for effective,
eration for a rapid updating of directive 94/45: ongoing and regular information and consultation for workers
oordination of the information and consultation provisions
c on recent and probable developments in the undertaking’s
of directive 94/45 with those dealing with the same ques- activities, financial and economic situation, the evolution of
tion. employment and in particular of decisions that might lead to
n adjustment to the number of worker representatives
a major changes in the organisation of labour.
on the Special Negotiating Bodies (SNBs) and EWCs to
reflect EU enlargement and the right of representatives of
56
As a vital complement to the ‘employment’ and European participation achieved up to that point – above all, European
Works Council Directives, in many Member States directive Works Councils and the directive on workers’ participation in
2002/14/EC represents the essential and in some cases the the administrative organs of future European companies (SEs)
sole foundation for the employee’s right to information and – were more strongly related to how the micro-level of enter-
consultation, filling a legal gap and paving the way for a
prise policy, promotion of innovation and structural transforma-
higher degree of harmonisation of social laws in Europe.
tion could be influenced and better organised.
Moreover, the directive changes the landscape of labour law
and collective bargaining in those Member States in which
workplace representation takes place exclusively through
either the trade unions (as in the case of many new Member European corporate governance and
States, with the exception of Hungary and Slovenia) or elect- company law – ETUC position on the action
ed representatives. It also paves the way for the setting up plan of the European Commission
of employee representation in undertakings that hitherto had
no access to this because, for example, they had no trade
WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND PARTICIPATION
union representation. It does not, however, enable all small Since the ‘Action plan on modernising company law and
and medium-sized enterprises to be covered, mainly because enhancing corporate governance in the European Union’ was
the thresholds proposed are too high. launched by the Commission in May 2003, it is not clear
A 2006 ETUI-R report on the implementation of European whether the workers’ voice is considered as being an essen-
directive 2002/14/EC shows, however, that the objective tial part of European corporate governance or not. The ETUC
is only half achieved, because many Member States have has not left it to managers and investors – nor the European
adopted a minimal interpretation in their transposition meas-
Commission – alone to define what companies do for society.
ures or have not transposed the directive, feeling that the
Workers’ participation is not a private affair in the hands of
existing domestic measures offer adequate protection (Aus-
employers. It is a public matter which, if necessary, must be
tria, Germany and France). This report demonstrates that the
domestic laws in question should have been amended to com- politically imposed against the wishes of employers and inves-
ply with the provisions of the directive. tors. That is why the ETUC felt it right to intervene in the details
There is no doubt that directive 2002/14/EC, looking of the debate on European corporate governance.
beyond the simple issue of information and consultation, The ETUC resolution entitled ‘Corporate Governance at Euro-
could become the keystone in the edifice of worker involve- pean Level’, was adopted on 14-15 March 2006. The reso-
ment in the management of the undertaking in the European lution states that the ETUC and its affiliates strongly support the
Community. It makes a substantial contribution towards the objective of creating a highly productive European economy
consolidation of Community labour law. Even so, the right to and a Social Europe, as laid down in the Lisbon Agenda.
information and consultation, a European social value and a
That agenda speaks in favour of a ‘high road’ strategy and
major and fundamental trade union right, remains a fragile
against a ‘low road’ strategy for industrial restructuring and
acquis in the European Union, calling for a mobilisation of all
wealth creation. However, following the ‘high road’ of a high-
the bodies concerned.
ly skilled, committed workforce and high productivity requires
the acceptance by European companies of the broader notion
of social quality, rather than just a narrow approach geared
towards serving shareholders. In this connection, companies
need to respect and consider the interests and wishes of their
5.3 Company law and the European employees very carefully in order to achieve a high level of
Company Statute (SE) economic performance.
EU company law initiatives should therefore endorse the
Workers’ participation in Europe as a part of an appropriate emergence and evolution of a European model of corporate
corporate governance corresponding to the objective of set-
governance, fostering company boards’ orientation towards
ting up a Social Europe is one of the highest priorities of trade
long-term value creation, high-trust labour relations( workers’
unions in Europe, underlined by the ETUC Congresses in Hel-
participation in companies’ decision-making processes and
sinki 1999 and Prague 2003. The Prague Congress of 2003
societal responsibility.
was strongly influenced by the Lisbon Strategy. The question
of how economic requirements of international competitive-
ness can be harmonised with the aims of the European Social
Model (and environmental sustainability) played a more sig-
nificant role than previously. The legal instruments of workers’
57
Corporate governance in the public debate European Company Statute – transposed
launched by the Commission and European into national law, first SEs with worker
Parliament board-level participation established
To provide intellectual support for implementing the action The transposition of the SE statute was required by October
plan, the Commission launched a European Corporate Gov- 2004 and since then companies can – on a voluntary basis
ernance Forum in October 2004. Fifteen high-level experts – decide to set up this new legal structure for governing a
from all over Europe were appointed without any proper con- European company. But before it can be registered officially
sultation with the social partners. Luckily, Emilio Gabaglio, there is a legal requirement to conclude an agreement on the
former General Secretary of the ETUC, accepted the Commis- form of worker participation if the new company. The ETUC
sion’s invitation to be a member of the forum, giving workers’ in its Action Programme adopted by the Prague Congress
voices a chance to be heard on this highly important issue sought workers’ representation at the `highest level and identi-
in shaping the future of the European internal market. The fied presence in the boardroom of an SE as exercising a
ETUC naturally complained, on this and on all subsequent ‘European mandate’.
occasions, about the fact that consultation with the social part- By January 2007, 56 SEs had been registered, but only 12
ners according to Art. 138 of the EU Treaty was completely have an agreement on workers’ involvement. An agreement on
ignored. worker participation concluded with the new European com-
Since the forum was constituted, it has worked to a strictly pany Allianz SE in Munich on 20 September 2006 marked a
structured agenda without specifically considering workers’ milestone for Europe’s trade unions, as the ETUC stated in its
interests. In order to open the debate to a broader perspec- press release of 25 September 2006. For the first time ever, a
tive, the role of employees as stakeholders in corporate gov- large company – employing some 160,000 workers in virtu-
ernance was placed on the agenda of the forum meeting in ally all EU Member States – expressly subscribed to a system
June 2006. Referring to the outcome of the conference organ- of European management comprising significant, mandatory
ised by the ETUC in May 2006 in Vienna, Emilio Gabaglio worker participation. Mandatory worker participation is not
stressed the view of the trade unions that it is important that the a historically obsolete model, as many employer federations
process of enhancing corporate governance in the EU Mem- repeatedly claim! Moreover, it does not hamper companies in
ber States takes into account the body of acquired rights in the applying the European Company Statute Directive. Under the
field and does not lead to a dilution of these rights. European legislation on SEs, not fewer but more workers in
The Directorate-General for Internal Market and Services, on Europe will benefit from effective participation rights.
20 December 2005, launched a public consultation on future
priorities for the Action Plan on the Modernisation of Compa-
ny Law and Corporate Governance. The consultation closed
on 31 March 2006. The ETUC took an active role and urged
European Cooperative Statute
the European Commission to move forward by accelerating
harmonisation and stepping up its monitoring of European
company legislation, in line with the objectives set out in the The entry into force of the Regulation and Directive on the
action plan, and to promote the legitimate position of workers Statute of European Cooperatives animated the debate on the
as privileged stakeholders. role of social-oriented entrepreneurship in Europe and the role
The ETUC stressed in particular that simplification and mod- of employees in the governance of such companies.
ernisation of the EU’s regulatory environment must not be The ETUC and the European Confederation of Worker Coop-
allowed to curb workers’ existing rights to information and eratives, Social Cooperatives and Social and Participative
consultation. Enterprises (CECOP) decided to investigate, within coopera-
On 26 June 2006 the European Parliament adopted a ‘Report tives of workers, the impact of the new EU regulation and take
on recent developments and prospects in relation to com- stock of employee participation schemes in Europe.
pany law’ (the so-called Szejna report). Although the report A joint project ‘For the full involvement of employees in the
explicitly accepted that European freedom of movement for European Cooperative Society’ enabled CECOP and the
employers and capital should not be separated from its social ETUC to share views on the need to combat job losses,
dimension and addressed the need to consider the involve- relocation and social exclusion in Europe, the importance of
ment of employees in further measures aimed at developing promoting, monitoring and supervising the highest possible
European company law, the ETUC was not fully satisfied with standards of worker participation – which is considered as
this notion. The ETUC did not succeed in its political interven- a fundamental right in the EU – and to take the most from
tions to underline the essential need for a European dimension the experience and potential of workers’ cooperatives and
and framework for worker involvement. worker ownership to provide long-term sustainable employ-
58
ment, to root economic progress at local level, to provide jobs 5.4 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
for disadvantaged workers, to offer economically sustainable
solutions to enterprises in crisis or threatened by closures and Over recent years, CSR has been recognised as a new form
to establish particularly high standards of worker participation of management of commercial operations. It fits within a glo-
and democratic corporate governance. bal context, with international reference standards enshrined
These ideas were developed at a European conference held in the directives of the United Nations and the Organisation
in Brussels on 15 and 16 June 2006. for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and
in the conventions of the International Labour Organization
(ILO).
Further European company law CSR applies to a whole string of activities by enterprises, and
more particularly to multinationals which operate in line with
The position the ETUC adopted in March 2004 covers the very different social and environmental agendas. But it is a
voluntary system, and as such, it has no objective, coherent
WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND PARTICIPATION
basic demands regarding further European company law.
The ETUC urges all EU institutions to be fully in accordance and transparent criteria which would allow workers, consum-
with the historic compromise achieved with the SE directive ers and the other interested parties to measure the perform-
regarding all legal provision in respect of cross-border com- ances of an enterprise.
pany structures. Therefore, the 10th directive on cross-border
mergers, as well as the envisaged 14th directive on the trans- Since 2000, the European Union has been committed to the
fer of registered offices, must not withdraw from this compro- development of a European framework for CSR, equipped
mise. Unfortunately, the Commission missed the opportunity with tools to evaluate the standards. In late June 2004, the
to conduct a proper hearing of the social partners according Multistakeholder Forum, covering all the parties interested
to Art. 138 when drawing up the 10th directive. However, in Corporate Social Responsibility (the CSR Forum) reported
worker participation rights are safeguarded in principle, but on all these questions. The unions played an active role and
at a lower level compared with the SE directive. noted the conclusions drawn as a further step in the debate
Another initiative of the European Parliament led by the PPE required on the subject.
concerns the creation of a special European Statute for Private
Companies (EPCS) particularly addressed to small and medi- Moreover, in this context, at its Executive Committee in June
um-sized enterprises. The ETUC reacted by declaring that the 2004, the ETUC approved a series of priorities for CSR in
Europe.
future implementation of an EPCS should not be a threat for
existing systems of employee involvement. An ETUC resolution
In the view of European unions, adopting CSR is in the long-
on the subject was adopted in October 2006 claiming that
term interest of enterprises. Indeed in the context of a growing
even an EPCS should contain a provision for transnational
awareness among consumers around the world, companies
information and consultation of workers. The regulation should
improve their image and gain new customers. But CSR must
contain a negotiating provision as well as a ‘before-after’ pro-
not be just a simple public relations exercise - it needs to be a
vision concerning participation rights in case of an SPE with
sustained and continuous effort. CSR must not mean that dia-
cross-border dimension analogous to the one embodied in
logue with workers belonging to trade unions is sidestepped,
the SE directive. Furthermore, the EPCS should not undermine
and it must not represent an alternative to legislation on labour
existing provisions at national level.
or to collective bargaining.
Under the two projects carried out over the past term, the
ETUC has affirmed that the major focus of CSR must be the
EU takeover directive – no European
quality of industrial relations within a company. In fact it would
reference for workers’ rights be paradoxical for a company which did not apply collective
bargaining agreements or did not respect the terms of a con-
Finally, the ETUC is not happy about the rules on workers’ tract to be considered as ‘socially responsible’. An enterprise
involvement in the takeover directive (13th directive of Euro- cannot publicly claim to be responsible unless it first applies
pean company law) being applied to further pieces of legisla- the strictest standards internally.
tion in European company law. According to this directive,
workers have to rely on their national rights to information, The ETUC organised a range of events in 2004 and 2005
consultation and participation, which are effective only in to bring together ETUC member organisations to agree on
dealing with the social consequences after management deci- common principles and activities, resulting in a study on the
sions are made. potential benefits of CSR for trade union objectives.
59
On 22 April 2006 the European Commission issued com-
munication 136 ‘Implementing the partnership for growth and
jobs: making Europe a pole of excellence on Corporate Social
Responsibility’. This communication created a rift between
trade union positions, as stated during the Multistakeholder
Forum, and the institutional European approach. In a letter
to the European Commission and the European Parliament,
the ETUC stated its disappointment about the method and
contents of the communication.
The European Commission and stakeholders were unable to
bridge this gap during the preparation of the first follow-up
meeting of the Multistakeholder Forum. This took place in Brus-
sels on 7 December 2006. The forum did not achieve any
progress in terms of cooperation among stakeholders. On
the contrary, NGOs decided to leave the Forum one month
before the event and the ETUC stated its opposition to this
unilateral and ineffective approach to CSR.
60
6. THE ETUC AS AN
ORGANISATION
61
62
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
6.1 Affiliation and membership have been arranged with the European political parties to
study their electoral programmes and draw their attention
The ETUC has in membership 81 national confederations, to the rights, expectations and demands of the more elderly
and 12 European Industry Federations. Since the Prague voters;
Congress in 2003, the Executive Committee accepted into ERPA has campaigned among members of the European
F
affiliation USDA, Andorra; UATUC, Croatia (which was previ- Parliament to draw their attention to the condition of retired
ously an observer organisation); LANV, Liechtenstein; LPSS, and elderly women in Europe: European policies are fail-
Lithuania; USM, Monaco; UNIO, Norway; OPZZ, Poland; ing to take adequate account of more than 50 million
and USO, Spain. It also approved the affiliation of EuroCOP female citizens;
as a European Industry Federation, and of CTUBiH, Bosnia- he commitment, through the ETUC, of retired people
t
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
Herzegovina as an observer member. against the draft directive on services in the internal mar-
ket. Two open letters have been sent to the members of the
Altogether, the ETUC represents the interests of some 60 mil- European Parliament and the Ministers for Social Affairs to
lion workers from a total of 36 countries in Western, Central point up the damage done by the liberalisation of essential
and Eastern Europe. services in terms of the quality of life of European citizens,
notably retired citizens;
The ETUC also maintains a cooperation agreement with he petition sent to the ‘Petitions Committee’ of the Europe-
t
EUROMIL that represents the interests of military personnel at an Parliament to demand that EP committees should consult
European level. the organisations most representative of retired people at
European level when they look at questions of everyday
The ETUC organises a Balkans Trade Union Forum and a concern to retired people and elderly people.
Euromed Trade Union Forum. Their work is described else-
where in this Activities Report.
EUROCADRES
European Federation of Retired and Elderly In November 2005, the second EUROCADRES Congress took
Persons (FERPA) place, which debated and approved political and organisa-
tional resolutions as well as modifications to the Constitution.
The FERPA has always been committed, at European level, The Congress elected an Executive Committee and six vice-
to being ‘the voice’ of retired people and elderly citizens in presidents and a new president. The new president is Carlo
the defence of their rights. The FERPA fights, within the ETUC, Parietti, from the leadership of Italian Agenquadri-CGIL.
alongside young people and workers for a more social
Europe of greater solidarity. The FERPA views this as a trade
EMPLOYMENT
union battle, but also a cultural battle, to assert the social,
economic and trade union role of retired people. Retirement In November 2005 we launched StartPro, a EUROCADRES
is a new phase in life, not the end of any form of individual platform to support our member organisations.
and collective commitment.
The activities over these past four years have focused on the
defence of rights, notably: EDUCATION AND TRAINING
he FERPA action to value the role of retired people in
t
EUROCADRES has a recognised status which allows us to
society, democracy, the economy, local communities and
highlight quality in higher education, openings to economic
families;
and social life and the need for mutual recognition of qualifi-
in the framework of the ‘Europe is us’ campaign, meetings
cations and diplomas.
6
The EQF (European qualifications framework) aims at cover- 6.2 Unionisation campaign
ing the various areas of education and qualifications. We
hope that its implementation will involve the social partners Since the Prague Congress, the ETUC member organisa-
effectively and foster better cooperation between the different tions have expressed their determination to play an active
directorates-general of the European Commission. role in unionisation and organisation within the framework of
the ‘Reinforcement of the ETUC and of trade union identity’.
For example, the action programme for 2003-2007 invites
MOBILITY the ETUC to ‘support unionisation strategies, targeting in par-
In 2006 we participated in the ‘European Year for Mobility’ ticular the groups under-represented and young workers who
and contributed to the draft EU directive on improving the represent the future of all unions’.
portability of pension rights by guaranteeing supplementary
pension rights for mobile workers. At the two Summer Schools in 2005 and 2006, this com-
mitment was renewed and the leaders of the European trade
The website has been renewed and all the information in the union movement were able to share their concerns and their
handbook has been made available for the general public, at expectations.
http://www.eurocadres.org/mobilnet
The ETUC therefore launched a strategy towards this end,
organised around an initial series of activities. In order to
GENDER EqUALITY plan for the achievement of these objectives, a first European
project was launched in early 2006 and will finish in the
E
UROCADRES was involved in negotiations with the employers
course of 2007.
on a framework of actions on equality at work. The text also
deals with promoting women in decision-making. The chapter
The ETUC is not itself responsible for unionising in workplaces,
on women in decision-making contains essential recommen-
nor is it in regular touch with workers. By contrast, its role lies
dations such as promoting competence-based gender-neutral
in the coordination of activities, exchanges and policies.
recruitment in enterprises and retaining women in companies
in order to avoid loss of competence.
This first project has five essential objectives:
o support recruitment strategies;
t
All the documents can be found on the website:
to identify and collect good practices (within the national
t
http://www.eurocadres.org/EN/action/equal/
confederations and the European federations);
to allow the recruitment experts within our organisations to
t
meet up and exchange views;
WORk/LIFE BALANCE AND WORkING CONDITIONSL
to communicate a positive image of trade unions, to organ-
t
The ‘long hours’ culture among professionals and managers ise a European campaign and develop a toolkit;
is the biggest problem in terms of work/life balance. Unfor- to develop a European unionisation network.
t
tunately the revision of the European Working Time Directive
does not take this into account. New ways of working, e.g. These activities kicked off in January 2006 with the setting up
teleworking, would benefit the environment via more efficient of an internal ETUC reflection group, involving all the depart-
use of buildings, and promotion of an enhanced work/life ments concerned at the political, research, training and com-
balance and flexible working hours could help. munication levels. Some bilateral meetings have also been
held at the request of member organisations. In addition, two
researchers have taken on a study of the current situation relat-
RESPONSIBLE EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT ing to European unionisation.
During 2003 EUROCADRES drafted and discussed its ‘Mani-
festo for Responsible European Management – An invitation These status reports were presented at an initial working semi-
to discuss the European Management Model’. nar in Warsaw in December 2006. The second one was
held in Rome in February 2007. The purpose of these semi-
Our network on Responsible European Management finished nars, for national experts on unionisation, was to exchange
a project in 2006 on ‘Tools, Instruments and a Curriculum for good practices on themes relevant to specific groups.
REM’.
In addition, these seminars helped us to develop a European
campaign to be launched in 2007. This campaign will be
carried out with the aid of two tools: a unionisation kit (poster,
leaflet, sticker) and a video.
64
Finally, Congress will be a forum for debate on this topic, and Over this period, the ITUCs have been very actively involved
an opportunity for the ETUC and its organisations to set them- in the campaigns and actions run by the ETUC, in particular
selves a quantitative objective which might be broken down the Euro-demonstrations and the campaign on the proposed
across national action plans over the four years ahead. Services Directive.
During the past four years, under the coordination of the ETUC,
the ITUCs have continued to develop and reinforce their three
major priorities for action: the free movement of workers and
the cross-border EURES; employment policy and the Structural
6.3 Structures and internal organisation Funds; and to a lesser extent, the social dialogue.
During the period under review, the Executive Committee met Regarding the free movement of workers, the ETUC has coor-
15 times, and the Steering Committee met 32 times, under dinated the ITUCs to ensure a coherent participation within
the presidency of ETUC President Candido Mendez from the EURES network, to establish the state of affairs in terms of
UGT, Spain. obstacles to the free movement of workers, and to define com-
mon priorities. The ETUC has likewise organised an annual
The 2003 Congress elected John Monks as General Secre- seminar aimed at all the EURES trade union advisers on topi-
tary, Maria Helena André and Reiner Hoffmann as Deputy cal themes relating to free movement and social security.
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
General Secretaries, and Walter Cerfeda, Joël Decaillon,
Jozef Niemiec and Catelene Passchier as Confederal Secre- In 2006, as part of the European Year of Worker Mobility,
the ETUC and the ITUCs emphasised the essential role which
taries. In addition, 39 staff members work in the ETUC sec-
EURES can play and the work of the EURES trade union advis-
retariat.
ers in partnership with the public employment services, with a
view to ensuring quality mobility and freedom of choice. We
The Executive Committee set up Standing Committees to deal
made a request to the Commission to increase the number of
with Economic and Employment issues; and with Collective
EURES cross-border partnerships and give them an adequate
Bargaining Coordination and Worker Participation, as well
budget. It is crucial for the Commission to review the role of
as Working Groups to cover Lifelong learning; Sustainable
this network, and to reinforce the EURES cross-border partner-
Development; Social Protection; Social Policy and Legislation;
ships as promoters of cross-border social dialogue.
Migration and Inclusion; and Trade and Globalisation. Other
groups were also constituted to help in the development of
With regard to the Structural Funds, the ITUCs have been
policy.
actively involved in the debate opened by the Commission
on the future of economic and social cohesion policy in the
enlarged European Union. It is particularly important to note
that the Council has adopted the Commission’s proposal, on
the basis of the experience with the INTERREG initiative, to
create a fresh objective devoted to pursuing the harmonious,
6.4 Coordination of the Interregional balanced integration of the Union territory, supporting coop-
Trade Union Councils (ITUCs) eration between its various component parts on questions of
Community importance at the cross-border, transnational and
In accordance with the statutes, the ETUC Executive Commit- interregional levels. The positive trade union experience of the
tee on 8 December 2006 adopted the revised internal regula- actions led by the ITUCs, including in the border regions with
tions of the ITUC Coordination Committee. The major change new Member States, has shown that this is the way forward.
relates to the setting up of an ITUC Steering Committee, to
meet regularly when convened by the President in coordina- In terms of sectoral work, a number of ITUCs have collabo-
tion with the ETUC secretariat. rated with the regional and sectoral unions, especially in the
event of mergers and/or restructuring operations by border
Since the 10th Congress, two ITUCs have merged (the bor- companies, to define some proposals at the territorial level
der regions of France/Italy/Switzerland). Three ITUCs bring- which might prevent dumping linked to mobility, promote flex-
ing together all the regional trade union organisations of the ibility and security with regard to working and social condi-
national confederations affiliated to the ETUC in the border tions, the recognition of skills and qualifications at the profes-
regions concerned (Austria/Czech Republic, Hungary/Slov- sional level, and head off problems in terms of social service
enia/Croatia) have been set up. At present there are 42 provision.
ITUCs. Some ITUCs have also contributed to the operation of coop-
65
eration structures allowing for the creation of cross-border or II) information (received and then disseminated by the partici-
interregional centres of competitiveness, to adapt to and even pants) regarding:
anticipate changes in the labour market. uropean trade unionism’s contribution to European citizen-
E
ship and identity,
he role of young people in this movement: how do things
t
stand? What action is needed? How to communicate with
young people, both unionised and non-unionised?
6.5 Youth Committee
The activities of the Youth Committee revolved around four The profile of young people within
methods of work: debates on issues such as employment or the union movement
globalisation; in line with the Prague commitments, a reflec-
tion on trade union identity and more particularly the role of The reflection on trade union identity in the above two projects
young people in the union movement; giving young people a led the Youth Committee to develop two innovative commu-
higher profile; and finally, partnership with other youth organi- nication tools for the development of its activities and its pro-
sations. file.
The first took the form of a campaign entitled: ‘The first time,
alone, it’s much more difficult’, on the subject of youth unioni-
The role of young people in the union sation. A campaign kit was also produced, with a set of three
movement posters, stickers and leaflets.
This campaign was strongly backed by the youth departments
With regard to the role of young people in the union move-
of our member organisations.
ment, two projects were conducted.
In addition, the Youth Committee has developed a website to
The ETUC Youth Committee held a conference in March
showcase its activities. Discussions are currently underway on
2003 on young people and trade unions entitled: ‘Our future:
the improvement and extension of this site.
our unions!’. During this event, we discussed membership and
involvement of young people in unions.
It must be recognised that not a great many young people
take part in or are committed to this type of so-called tradi-
Reflections on various topics
tional organisation. Before suggesting possible solutions, we
were interested in finding out why the trade unions have so During this mandate, the Youth Committee has chosen to high-
little appeal to young people. light two topics of particular concern to young Europeans,
namely globalisation and employment.
This conference thus focused on two main topics:
- the European dimension of unionism;
- the values represented by national or regional trade union GLOBALISATION
models. Over recent years, our work on the enlargement of the Euro-
pean Union, our participation in the various social forums and
Following on from this experience, another project was the debates within our organisation in relation to projects like
launched, this time focusing more on the role and participa- Euro-Med or Mercosur have helped young unionists to under-
tion of young trade unionists in the new Member States. stand different aspects of globalisation.
The work concentrated on two main topics: This is a term that is being used more and more frequently,
and it is essential for young unionists to try and get a better
I) training (for the participants) on: grasp of it and to express their own perception of the phe-
the European Union institutions, nomenon.
the Constitution and the Community ‘acquis’,
he European dimension of trade unionism, with particular refer-
t
ence to the social dialogue.
66
6.6 The European Trade Union Institute
The seminar delivered a better understanding of globalisa-
for Research, Education and Health
tion, its issues and its consequences. The wealth of useful
exchanges also cast light on the activities we can undertake and Safety (ETUI-REHS)
at national or European level. The various stages of our work
over the week culminated in the framing of a draft statement During the past four years the structure of the three institutes of
by ETUC Youth. the ETUC has changed. Until 31 March 2005 ETUI, ETUCO
and TUTB operated as three separate bodies. On 1 April
2005 the three institutes united and built the ETUI-REHS. At
EMPLOYMENT the same time the three former institutes were transformed into
three departments of the new integrated institute.
Work for all and quality work: this is how we might summarise
the demands of Europe’s young citizens in terms of employ- The objective of this restructuring was to take advantage of
ment. synergies, to develop more common projects and to strength-
en support for the ETUC, for its affiliated European Industry
The debates on this subject led to some individual and nation- Federations and for the national trade union centres. After two
al action plans and a statement. years of operating together, the common structure has taken
its definitive shape.
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
Major efforts were made to build up a single image, to devel-
Partnership with other youth organisations op a joint infrastructure, to put in place a single documenta-
tion centre and to develop joint activities around common
Besides the partnerships already established in the past, in par- priorities with a special focus on developments in the new
ticular within the European Youth Forum, the Youth Committee Member States. The common priorities of the three depart-
has now embarked on some quite new work with the organi- ments are:
sation of young European employers: ‘YES for Europe’.
— rotection of workers’ interests and promotion of workers’
p
A joint project was unveiled for the period 2006-2007. representation;
— ocial dialogue and capacity building;
s
The two organisations felt it essential to coordinate a joint — elivering the Lisbon Strategy, balancing the economic,
d
seminar for the sake of creating better mutual understanding social and sustainability pillars.
between the young social partners, and holding debates on
common themes.
It is crucial for both these groups of young players in the social Protection of workers’ interests and promotion of
dialogue – young business leaders on the one hand, and workers’ representation
future union leaders on the other – to pool perspectives and
points of view.
The Health and Safety Department (HESA) has continued
to monitor the implementation of Community legislation on
health and safety. It has launched important projects aimed
at collecting trade union experiences and practices with a
view to analysing the role and effectiveness of safety reps in
improving the work environment at workplace level. On this
topic, a joint training course was organised with the Educa-
tion Department and a number of workshops took place in the
new Member States.
The Research Department has conducted a number of activi-
ties (surveys, seminar, comparisons) related to the evolution
of trade unions and, in particular, their recruitment strategies,
exploring how trade union structure, organisation and activi-
ties might adjust to changed circumstances, in particular in
relation to the European labour market.
67
The department has also continued to provide data and Delivering the Lisbon 2000 Strategy
analysis on European Works Councils and, on the basis of
empirical research, has produced a number of case studies.
The Research Department provides diversified support and
These provide means to identify obstacles and weaknesses
expertise to the European labour movement on, among other
of EWCs operating in different countries, in particular new
subjects, the articulation between macro-economic policies
Member States. A number of activities conducted by the net-
and the Lisbon Agenda, a context in which the coordination
work of legal experts (NETLEX) are designed to support the
of monetary, fiscal and wage policies is central. Support is
trade unions in order to strengthen workers’ rights of repre-
also provided in the Macro-economic Dialogue with UNICE.
sentation and organisation in multinational companies and
Furthermore, the department has continued to invite a group
in different countries, on the basis of the European social
of prominent experts to devise policy recommendations and
charter and other relevant international standards. Finally the
offer advice to the ETUC on economic development and
Research Department continues to monitor the implementation
employment policy issues.
of European Companies that are now beginning to be set up
– and in which the relevant European legislation provides for
The Education Department has organised a number of activi-
compulsory workers’ involvement – as well as to develop the
ties on the topic of the Lisbon Agenda focusing on more and
interface between worker involvement in company decision-
better jobs and on trade union activities on sustainable devel-
making and shaping of the future European Social Model.
opment – the latter activity having been organised for train-
ers.
The Health and Safety Department was also involved in this
Social dialogue and capacity building
last topic area, contributing to a training programme and
cooperating with the ETUC in the debate on the REACH pro-
The Education Department provides a number of training posals issued by the Commission.
modules on reinforcing social dialogue, in particular in new
Member States, on recruitment strategies in different sectors During the past four years the institutes received financial sup-
and on the coordination of collective bargaining topics. It port from the European Commission, and continued support
focuses in particular on the topic of recruitment and organis- from the European Parliament and European Council. This sup-
ing in the new Member States, including a number of activi- port is vitally important to the effective functioning of the ETUC
ties with national unions and industry federations concerning as a proactive social partner, for the building of a European
the development of European Works Councils. In this context, trade union identity and for the analytical and philosophical
the department also organises English courses for works coun- underpinning of the European Social Model.
cil members in order to facilitate the exchange of information
and coordination within works councils and in their relations
with European Industry Federations.
Jointly the Health and Safety and Research Departments pro-
vide ongoing support to the ETUC at each step of the proce-
dure for consultation of the social partners based on Article
139 of the Treaty. Support is also provided in the process
of negotiation with the employers’ organisation and at the
various stages of the implementation and evaluation of the
results related to these agreements. The NETLEX network of
legal experts set up by the Research Department provides sup-
port to the ETUC and its affiliates in the legal aspects of EU
matters. An extension of this network has been developed for
south-east Europe.
68
THE DEPARTMENT on A lifelong strategy for active ageing, on Fundamental Social
rights in the EU, on the European Company – Prospects for board-
ACTIVITIES level representation, on Restructuring representation: the merger
process and trade union structural development in ten countries
and on The European Works Councils – facts and figures. It is
important to mention also the European Works Councils data-
Research Department base.
Several of the ETUI publications are available in two or three
The Research Department originated out of the ETUI, and in languages. In all its research work the institute was supported
2003-2005 focused on two main research areas: ‘Europe- by its documentation centre, which was recognised by the
anisation of industrial relations’ and ‘Employment, labour mar- European Commission as a specialised documentation cen-
kets and social protection’. tre. The main output of the centre is the database ‘Labourline’,
developed in collaboration with the documentation centre of
In the first area research work concentrated on the coordina- the TUTB and containing more than 45,000 references to
tion of collective bargaining, the issue of workers’ participa- industrial relations and health and safety issues.
tion, the European social dialogue and the modernisation of
trade unions. The first years of the new institute brought about changes but
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
were also years of continuity of the research work. At the
In the second research area the institute worked around issues Research Department the research activities were reorganised
such as employment and economic policies in Europe, world around three programme areas:
of labour and the modernisation of trade unions and welfare the world of labour and the modernisation of trade unions
states in Europe. Throughout the different research projects, Europeanisation of workers’ representation
special attention was devoted to the enlargement dimension
European employment and social policies
and to the gender issue. All the research work of the institute
New orientations were given to the research work, with a
was undertaken by the permanent research staff of the ETUI in
particular accent on closer cooperation with SDA and the
close cooperation with 18 European research networks with
European Industry Federations (EMF, ETUF-TCL, EMCEF)
not less than 250 external academics. The ETUI is also part of
involving, among others, research projects on delocalisation;
the Global Policy Network alongside with the Economic Pol-
wage and social dumping in the new Member States; the
icy Institute (USA), DIEESE (Brazil), RIAIS (Japan) and NALEDI
implications of the growth of China and India for EU labour
(South Africa). For a whole series of joint research projects the
markets; the influence of the EU directive on workers’ involve-
ETUI worked closely together with European Industry Federa-
ment in European Companies (SE) on workers’ participation
tions such as EPSU, EMCEF and UNI-Europa and with exter-
and company management; occupational pension schemes
nal research bodies, foundations and governmental agencies
in Europe; globalisation and its effects on the European Social
such as the (Swedish) Saltsa programme, the Observatoire
Model; flexicurity; activation policies, legal developments in
Social Européen (OSE), the Hans Böckler Foundation (HBS),
South East Europe and the Transatlantic social dialogue.
the Otto Brenner Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Devel-
opment and Cooperation (DEZA).
During the last two years the Research Department organised
or co-organised around 80 workshops and conferences, pro-
On the different research projects, several workshops, semi-
duced 15 issues of its two journals, more than 45 books,
nars and conferences were organised. The results of this insti-
reports and discussion papers, around 30 electronic publica-
tute’s research work were disseminated by book publications,
tions and three websites (Labourline, Seeurope; EWC). The
websites, databases and presentations at international confer-
researchers participated actively in numerous trade union
ences such as the IIRA World Congress of 2003. Amongst
activities and conferences across Europe.
the major publications during this period were:
the quarterly review Transfer on industrial relations,
he quarterly South East Europe Review for labour and social
t
affairs, published together with the HBS,
Education Department
the annual publication on Social Developments in the EU, a
t
cooperation project together with Saltsa and OSE, Since the last Congress, ETUI-REHS Education, formerly known
the annual Benchmarking Working Europe report,
t as the European Trade Union College (ETUCO), has carried
the annual book on Collective Bargaining in Europe,
t out a series of annual training programmes and directly coor-
the publications and reports on The State of Working Europe,
t dinated around 170 transnational European courses, thus
69
providing training opportunities for over 3,250 trade union learning, for producing training resources, for distance learn-
officers and representatives. In this way, trade unionists from ing). In addition, ETUI-REHS Education has contributed to
all over Europe have had an opportunity, many of them for the reinforcement of trade union education by coordinating
the first time, to compare national situations, to improve their a network of trainers in Central and Eastern Europe. These
understanding of latest developments in European trade union- initiatives have led to the production of training manuals, such
ism and industrial relations and to plan further trade union as Europe and Globalisation, and Language Training for Euro-
action at the national and European levels. pean trade unionists: a guide.
One significant innovation has been the introduction of a Secondly, ETUI-REHS Education has encouraged innovation
High-Level Summer School, organised in 2005 and 2006 in training and learning methodologies and to this end has
in close cooperation the the ETUC secretariat, which has pro- coordinated a number of significant European projects:
vided an opportunity for General Secretaries to consider a
series of topics in the run-up to the 11th ETUC congress. The ialog On, in collaboration with 14 ETUC-affiliated
D
annual European Training Course has trained groups of future organisations, which aimed to develop computer-medi-
European trade union leaders, coming from 22 different coun- ated distance learning and electronic networking and to
tries, and, within a context of EU enlargement, has catered enable trade unions to participate more effectively in social
specifically for the needs of Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians, dialogue and to create the conditions which support the
Bulgarians and Lithuanians. With its emphasis on training ini- process of adaptation to the new economy;
tiatives on more and better jobs; collective bargaining and
social dialogue; and social dialogue, Europe and globalisa- RACE (Trade Unions Anticipating Change in Europe), in
T
tion, ETUI-REHS Education has acted as a significant forum for collaboration with 17 ETUC-affiliated organisations, which
discussion of key ETUC priorities, as defined by the 10th Con- aimed to build improved capacity within European trade
gress. As one example of this potential for European trade unions to respond to situations of economic and industrial
union strategic development, ETUI-REHS courses on collective change and to defend the interests of working men and
bargaining and social dialogue have been attended by trade women facing this challenge;
union officers from 25 different national confederations and
from 10 European Industry Federations. ALD (Transatlantic Labour Dialogue), in collaboration with
T
the AFL-CIO, which aimed to reinforce relations between
ETUI-REHS Education has significantly expanded its provi- workplace representatives on both sides of the Atlantic
sion of courses for European works councillors in two ways: coming from the same multinational companies: Alcoa,
cooperating with European Industry Federations in the coor- Péchiney, Eon, RWE, Sca, Stora Enso, UPS and Deutsche
dination of EWCS; and providing specific courses for EWCs Post.
coming from a variety of multinational companies: Air France
KLM, Akzo nobel, Albany, AXA, Borealis, Carrefour, Exxon- Thirdly, ETUI-REHS Education has developed training resourc-
mobil, Fortis, Fresenius, Heinz, Kodak, Lafarge, Lhoist, LSG es for use at European and national levels. Training packages
Skychefs, Pernod Ricard, Securitas, Suez, Sun Alliance, Syn- include ‘Introduction to the ETUC’, ‘Europe and Globalisation’.
genta, Thales, Telia, Thames Water, Vinci, and Vivendi. Dialog 0n produced materials to support computer-mediated
distance learning and electronic networking. TRACE produced
The Education Department has also continued to address the a handbook and training materials to tackle the problem of
question of communication, with the provision of foreign lan- anticipating and managing change. TALD produced transat-
guage courses specifically designed for the needs of Euro- lantic training and networking guides.
pean trade unionists.
ETUI-REHS Education continues to publish its quarterly news-
ETUI-REHS Education has been engaged in a series of ini- letter Agora in English, French and German, and to offer its
tiatives designed specifically to improve the quality of these European Union Information Service (EUIS), which is intended
European courses and at the same time to provide assistance specifically for trade union officers responsible for designing
for training programmes offered by ETUC-affiliated organisa- and delivering European trade union projects. This Informa-
tions. tion Service includes an information library, a help desk, pub-
lications, courses and information days and has produced the
First, ETUI-REHS Education has ensured that trainers at the 6th edition of the guide to Trade Unions and Transnational
European level receive initial training (courses for training Projects.
Eurotrainers at different levels) and are offered opportunities
for ongoing training (workshops on Europe and globalisa-
tion, on sustainable development, for promoting language
70
Département Santé et Sécurité framework in order to respond to the scale of the problem and
workers’ complaints. Since then, the Commission has taken
no initiative other than the regular announcement of a second
The department originated out of the European Trade Union
phase of consultations.
Technical Bureau for Health and Safety which was established
in 1989. Its activities and staff were transferred to ETUI-REHS
Follow-up and exchanges of information on national trends
on 1 April 2005.
form a priority in our activities. For example, various projects
to collect workers’ experiences in using working equipment
The department continues its activities which are dedicated to
covered by Community instruments have been developed, the
coordinating the European trade union strategy on all aspects
aim being to improve the technical standards. Similarly, a
of the working environment. It provides support to ETUC in all
major project has been set up to collate experiences on the
its consultation procedures and negotiations with European
different practices and roles of workers’ representatives in
employer organisation, inter alia by providing joint expertise,
improving working conditions. This work should help to iden-
studies and information.
tify the factors and conditions which foster the achievement of
this objective. This project will contibute to trade union activi-
During the 18 years it has been established, the TUTB and
ties for the development and support of workers’ representa-
now HESA (the Health and Safety Department of ETUI-REHS)
tives.
has earned a place among the most influential European bod-
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
ies in most areas of health and safety that are debated at
This is the background against which the department has
European level, including some regulatory aspects related to
launched a new collection of publications since 2004. Its
the environment outside the workplace.
aim is to foster a wider understanding of a series of European
issues, and cooperation with the national organisations in get-
In 2004, a trade union conference entitled: ‘A common strat-
ting them translated and disseminated in as many Community
egy for health and safety for an enlarged Europe’, a joint
languages as possible. The brochures include:
project between the ETUC, the affiliate organisations and the
Health at work. Eight areas for action for Community policy
department, led to publication of eight trade union priorities
REACH at work. The potential benefits of the new European
for Community policy. These priorities form the mainstay of the
policy on chemical agents for workers
department’s activities. They relate to activities linked to the
Inside the maze of European policy on health and safety
debate on the proposed REACH regulation. Likewise, many
These publications are available in 14 languages. Production
of the activities have helped to put health in the workplace
of the newsletter has continued: seven editions have been
at the centre of debate, despite its absence from the White
published, three of them being extra-length thematic issues on
Paper presented by the Commission in 2001. The department
the topics of enlargement, the safety of working equipment
has provided services to the affiliate organisations to allow
and worker involvement in its design, and young workers.
them to make the best use of the information and decisions to
be taken in this context.
Finally, the website has undergone a complete overhaul, both
in technical presentation and content. Two new tools have
Another topic which has long occupied the department con-
also been launched: 1) an extranet system reserved for the
cerns the health impact of work organisation, and in particular
working group of the Luxembourg Consultative Committee
heavier workloads and increasingly irregular working hours.
and the agency in Bilbao. It will shortly also be used for the
Although prevention services often disregard this aspect, it
Dublin working group; 2) the monthly production of a elec-
has for many years been the main source of complaints from
tronic newsletter.
workers, reporting musculo-skeletal problems, stress, physical
and mental violence.
The department has been involved in the Commission’s consul-
tation process with the social partners on the theme of stress
and violence at work. As an ETUC expert body, it took part
in the negotiations with the employers’ organisations on these
two topics. The department is providing follow-up. It is also
continuing its activities around musculo-skeletal problems, on
which the Commission launched an initial phase of consulta-
tions with the social partners in late 2004, with the aim of
drawing up proposals at European level. The ETUC and the
department have called for a revision of the current regulatory
71
6.7 The Social Development Agency (SDA) 2006
romoting young workers’ interests through social partner-
P
The Social Development Agency (SDA) is a non profit-making ship channels – Ukraine.
association established in April 2004. émocratie et syndicalisme, Evolution démocratique du
D
syndicalisme dans les pays du Maghreb et du Mashreq.
Its purpose is ‘to promote Europe’s social dimension in a glo- NFOPOINT – Point d’information et d’observation for the
I
balised world’. The SDA’s tasks are mainly focused on pro- years 2006/2007. (see below).
moting the European social dimension with specific reference Project: Infopoint – Point d’information et d’observation
to the European social dialogue. The SDA works under the (2006-2007).
umbrella of the ETUC and is supported by the ITUC, several
of the European Industry Federations, various national trade This project is characterised by two main activity axes.
union confederations and union institutes for training and
research. o contribute to the preparation, launch and monitoring of
T
transnational cooperation projects in the fields of informa-
tion, consultation and participation of workers;
o analyse and evaluate the results obtained in the set-up
T
of representative transnational bodies at company level as
Activities for the years 2004-2006 well as the degree of effective enforcement of the objec-
tives fixed in the field of information, consultation and par-
ticipation through such bodies.
PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIPS
EUROPEAN WORkS COUNCILS (EWC)
AGREEMENTS DATABASE
2004
The EWC Agreements Database contains the analysis of
‘‘Meeting of the resource persons of EWCs in the branches EWC agreements from copies of signed originals in five lan-
of textile, clothing and leather for the integration of the repre- guages - English, French, German, Spanish and Italian. The
sentatives of the EU new Member States into the transnational SDA constantly analyses these agreements and the informa-
representation bodies’. tion gathered is entered into the database, over more than 60
searchable fields. A copy of the database is available online
ransatlantic Labour Dialogue.
T on our website www.sda-asbl.org
ind the Gaps – the practicalities of workplace informa-
M
tion and consultation in the EU.
rospects for board level representation of workers under
P ExPERTISE
the EC Statute in the new Member States. The SDA staff has a great deal of experience dealing with
NFOPOINT – Point d’information.
I themes relating to industrial relations systems and European
social dialogue processes, with a particular emphasis on
European Work Councils (EWCs), the European Company
2005 (SE) and more generally on information, consultation and par-
ticipation rights in Europe. More specifically, company cases
Les voies vers le progrès en planifiant l’innovation relative à have also been studied taking into consideration the role
l’information, la consultation et la participation. played by EWCs during restructuring processes.
aths to Progress mapping innovation on information, con-
P
sultation and participation. PUBLICATIONS
WC AXA: Training for European workers’ representa-
E The SDA has published a number of documents on the above
tives. subjects. Copies of our publications are available on our
he impact on activity and employment of climate changes
T website www.sda-asbl.org
and greenhouse gas mitigation policies in the enlarged
EU.
NFOPOINT - Point d’information. project for the years
I
2005/2006.
Partnerships in 2005: during 2005, the SDA also carried out
many activities in partnership.
72
6.8 The European Foundation for the as the annual work programmes of the foundation. The work-
ers’ group has made considerable efforts to ensure that issues
Improvement of Living and Working
such as working time, new forms of work organisation, active
Conditions (EUROFOUND), the
ageing, pensions and social security, reconciliation of private
European Centre for the Development and professional life, workers’ rights, gender equality, collec-
of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), tive bargaining and industrial relations are included and that
the European Agency for Safety a certain equilibrium between business interests and workers’
and Health at Work (OSHmail) rights is maintained.
Marjaana Valkonen, held the position of chairperson of the
workers’ group, and chair and vice chair respectively of the
The European Foundation for the Board of Administration for a term. In 2006, she stepped
Improvement of Living and Working down and was replaced by Herman Fonck, Belgium, who
Conditions (EUROFOUND) is the current chair of the workers’ group and one of the vice
chairs of the Governing Board. The other members of the
bureau are Hana Malkova (Cz) and Walter Cerfeda (ETUC).
LThe ETUC has continued to be actively involved in the work
The alternates are Erik Pentanga (Nl), Mats Essemyr (Sweden)
THE ETUC AS AN ORGANISATION
of the Dublin Foundation, both as coordinator of the workers’
and Sinead Tiernan (ETUC).
group, and in terms of the involvement of members of staff in
the various working and expert study groups.
Over the past four years, the foundation has undergone a
number of profound changes. The first was the untimely death European Centre for the Development of
of its then Director, Raymond-Pierre Bodin, in July 2003. Our Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)
former colleague Willy Buschak filled the position on a tem-
porary basis until Jorma Karppinen took over in December
CEDEFOP, the European agency to promote the development
2005. In 2004, colleagues from the new Member States
joined the board of the Foundation. of vocational education and training, is based in Thessaloniki.
After a somewhat turbulent period relating to the departure of
In addition, a number of changes to the structure of the board the old director and various audits and enquiries by the Euro-
took place. The Board of Administration has changed its pean Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) expedited by the European
name and is now called the Governing Board. Rather than Commission, the new management has created conditions for
having two board meetings per year, with a number of smaller stabilising the institution.
bureau meetings and specific group meetings in between, the
current procedure is for one annual board meeting in October Relations with all the social partners have been strengthened.
to agree the work programme and budget, preceded by meet- As with EUROFOUND, the CEDEFOP regulation has been
ings of the various interest groups (one per group in June/July). reviewed in line with the same principles of governance. The
A bureau of 11 members has been established (three per current president is Peter Rigney, a member of the workers’
group plus two representatives from the European Commis- group. The trade union delegation has largely supported the
sion) and will meet on a regular basis throughout the year.
CEDEFOP work programme.
These changes have meant that major decisions that require
the full participation of the board can only be taken once a
CEDEFOP has become the European Union’s analysis tool
year, which in practice will mean a very heavy one-day meet-
for the preparation of the various education summits and for
ing in October. It has also resulted in an imbalance in terms
highlighting the challenges in terms of education and train-
of the work, with effectively two meetings in the second half
ing. The latest Helsinki Statement, which the social partners
of the year – the group meeting and the board – and nothing
for the first half. The workers’ group has voiced concern over have signed up to, is evidence of this. Aid and the deepening
this system and has expressed fears about how the tripartite of relations with the social partners is now on the CEDEFOP
nature of the work of the foundation will be maintained and agenda.
not weakened.
Much of the focus of the work of the board has been on the
content of the rolling work programme 2005-2008 as well
7
European Agency for Health and Safety at
Work (OSHmail)
The European Agency for Health and Safety at Work has car-
ried out its task of disseminating information at tripartite and
national level.
The most important and most innovative aspect was the setting
up of an observatory on risk. This is particularly important in
the current context, where new technologies are provoking
new diseases such as musculo-skeletal disorders and stress-
related illnesses.
We have encouraged improvements on the prevention side in
order to make the agency’s work a genuinely tripartite service
at every level, to provide even more accurate information for
use by our representatives in businesses, and to respond to the
needs of new Member States.
74
7. EUROPE AND
THE WORLD
75
76
7. EUROPE AND THE WORLD
7.1 Enlargement That is why the ETUC has affirmed that future cohesion policy
must necessarily help to deliver answers to these challenges
and thereby reduce the disparities between regions and pro-
The enlargement of the European Union to include the Coun- mote a society of full employment, equal opportunities, and
tries of Central and Eastern Europe (CCEE) has been at the social cohesion and inclusion.
heart of the European trade union movement’s thinking since
1994. This debate about economic and social cohesion policy will
thus represent a challenge for the future of social Europe and
During this period, the ETUC has continued to contribute to the for enlargement in general.
development of European construction through four priorities:
It is important to flag up a number of recurrent debates which
reinforcement of the participation of the national trade union con- we have had to ‘manage’ with the national integration com-
federations from the 12 new countries in all the ETUC structures; missions and the national trade union confederations of the
providing the national trade union confederations with tools and 12 new member countries and the 15 EU countries. These
EUROPE AND THE WORLD
instruments on the themes of social dialogue, collective bargain- debates were not easy, but European trade union movement
ing and social policy in general; successfully overcame the normal antagonisms in a participa-
training of trade union teams to enable them to influence the tive democracy such as the developping ETUC on a number
accession negotiations and have a bearing on the discussions of issues.
with governments on aspects of transposition of the Community
‘acquis’; These are a few of them:
closer involvement of the trade unions from the acceding countries
in the European social dialogue and in the negotiations the out- > The first related to the idea of social dialogue at national
come of which will form part of the Community ‘acquis’. level. The wide differences in situations, the role of the respec-
tive governments, the absence of effective and operational
2004 saw 10 new countries joining the European Union. representatives of the employers’ side in many of the new
The accession of Bulgaria and Romania, on 1 January 2007, Member States, plus the weight of history, contributed to major
completes the fifth round of enlargement since the creation of differences in perception between those favouring a biparti-
the Union. The ETUC sees this as an essential step for the Euro- san approach and those backing tripartism. In that framework,
pean trade union movement, and above all, evidence that a the ETUC joined with UNICE, CEEP and UEAPME to carry out
historic opportunity has been seized to unite the peoples of a joint project, in the context of the last work programme of
Europe around fundamental democratic values. the European social partners on two essential topics for the
unity of the European Union, namely the social dialogue and
But three years after the integration of the ten new Member restructuring operations ;
States (Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Slovak
Republic, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Malta, Cyprus and > the second concerns the fact that it is crucial that in the
Poland), we note that, unlike the last three enlargements, this transnational groups, the representatives of the new countries
most recent one: should be involved in the management of the information,
consultation and participation of workers ;
> has led to a widening of the economic development
gap; > the third concerns transitional measures in anticipation of
free movement of workers.
> has led to a geographical slippage of the disparities
eastwards ;
> has made the employment market more difficult.
77
European and transnational trade union 7.2 South Eastern Europe (SEE)
initiatives
Other activities to be highlighted in our cooperation with the
candidate countries during this period include participation
The context
in the EURES network – with the active involvement of the
ETUC and the Interregional Trade Union Committees - which The SEE region has made remarkable progress towards stabil-
has played a key role in terms of the search for a common ising peace in the region, major advances in reforms on the
interregional policy and an approach to the development of ‘transition’ track and fixing the EU membership as the ultimate
cross-border mutual support systems designed to bring about target for both the EU and countries in the region. The process
solidarity and mutual understanding between the trade union was marked by an unprecedented level of regional coopera-
organisations concerned. tion among governments leading to the setting up in 2007 of
the Regional Cooperation Council to take over the role of the
Stability Pact for SEE. The SEE Energy Community has been
in operation since 2006, EU policy on transport infrastructure
A process of integration that is always on networks is taking effect and the development of the region as
the move a free trade area, part of CEFTA, is in its final stage.
Still, the legacies, the specific patterns of ‘transition’ and a
In 2005, the ETUC welcomed the start of the accession nego-
series of important challenges – political status issues, low FDI
tiations with Croatia and Turkey, as well as the fact that the
inflows, high unemployment and poverty rates, the shadow
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia became an appli-
economy and questionable democratic practices - make the
cant country. For Croatia, a national integration commission
final picture uncertain. The region is obviously at a turning
was set up, with the ETUC funding a coordinator post as it
point from which it can advance quickly or slide back into
had done for the newly acceding countries.
problems. It could, as has often been said, turn into the ‘black
hole’ of Europe and trap the EU into a kind of ‘colonial’ rela-
Given progress since the last Congress in Prague, we need to
tionship with it.
stress that the Turkish national trade union coordination com-
mittee has, since 2004, included all the four Turkish national
trade union confederations affiliated to the ETUC (Turk-Is, Hak-
Is, Disk and Kesk).
ETUC approach
In the context of work with the Turkish and Croat trade union
confederations, the joint project by the European social part- Within the limited resources available, the work of the ETUC
ners, set up under the work programme 2006-2008, pro- in South Eastern Europe has developed along three interde-
vides help for the development of the social dialogue in the pendent strategic lines:
applicant countries and an employers’ and unions’ resource
centre offering technical assistance to the organisations con- olitical support for the development of trade unionism and
P
cerned. EU- oriented social dialogue in the region. The approach
has aimed at developing regional cooperation among SEE
Finally, a large-scale action is to be set up, over two years, in unions and the ETUC, and particular country specific activi-
Turkey and in a certain number of EU countries, entitled: ‘Civil ties where possible. It was based on the ETUC Balkans
Society Dialogue – Bringing together workers from Turkey and Trade Union Forum – represented in relations with EU Insti-
the European Union through a shared culture of work’. This tutions, Stability Pact for SEE, SEE governments, ILO-CEET,
action will start in July 2007. FES, European Training Foundation, etc. These channels
secured a place not only for the ETUC to represent the
interests of trade unions but more: opportunities for SEE rep-
resentatives to be directly involved in the respective policy
processes.
ransfer of expertise and expert capacity building in the
T
region – first to national level to cope with the complex
challenges of the transformation process. The approach
involved actions primarily in two priority areas: develop-
78
ment of the legal base for labour relations, social dialogue, Key activities and results
employment policy and social protection, and second,
enabling organisations to play a role in the implementation
evival and stabilisation of the operation of the ETUC Bal-
R
of reform policies – in the Bucharest Employment Initiative,
kans Trade Union Forum. The dynamics created have led
the SEE Energy Community, transport sector policies, etc.
to the first self-organised and self-financed meetings of lead-
ers from the region for joint decision-making and regional
ooperation and where possible integration of action plans or
C
positions. The ETUC will help the setting up of a Centre for
practical activities with other players in the region for building
Regional Cooperation and (EU) Integration in Zagreb in
synergies, avoiding duplication of efforts, increasing work effi-
2007 and transfer the further operation and management
ciency and time and human resources for the local organisations
of the Swiss project to the region with secured resourc-
to deal with ‘external engagements’.
es until 2009. The Centre will also run the newly set up
interactive website for information and exchange among
The main instrument for ETUC work in the region has been
experts and organisations.
the project ‘Trade Union Legal Experts Network in SEE’ sup-
ported by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Develop-
he ETUC actively supported the setting up of an umbrella
T
ment through the Initiative for Social Cohesion in the Stability
organisation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, uniting the confed-
Pact for SEE. The scope of the project has been continuously
erations of the Federation, the Republika Srpska and the
enriched and extended from narrow a labour law focus to
district of Brcko that has a special status in the state archi-
involving also legal and policy aspects of reforms on the
tecture of BiH. By this move, the newly founded Confed-
ground (often jointly with EIFs – EPSU, ETF, EMCEF, ETUF-TCL,
eration of Trade Unions of BiH could obtain observer status
EMF, etc).
at the ETUC.
EUROPE AND THE WORLD
Development of the project facilitated cooperation and joint
olitical and expert support in developing new labour laws
P
activities with other interested organisations. Relations with
or setting up social dialogue structures in practically all
the FES Regional Office, Belgrade have reached the level of
countries.
annual joint planning of activities which allows longer-term,
process oriented actions rather than one-off events. Close
he successful pilot case of ETUC, KNSB, CL Podkrepa
T
cooperation and joint activities have been developed with
against Bulgaria on the strike laws launched through the
ILO-CEET, Budapest. Constant exchange of information, con-
collective complaint procedure at the Council of Europe.
sultation and mutual support has been maintained with the
ICFTU, especially the ICFTU Regional Office, Sarajevo, with
he Memorandum on Social Issues between EC and SEE
T
the WCL and with interested EU national trade union organi-
governments to accompany the Energy Community Treaty
sations: with Belgian unions in the Bucharest Employment Ini-
for SEE – a major breakthrough in ‘transition’ reform poli-
tiative, with Italian unions, CGT-France, ICFTU youth network
cies, recognising the need for a specialised social dimen-
in SEE, etc.
sion for reforms and paving the way for a similar approach
for the ETF in transport policy.
xchange of expertise and pressure for action on particular
E
aspects of trade union policies – specialised labour courts,
arbitration and conciliation services, wage guarantee
funds, shadow economy, pension reforms, representative-
ness of social partners, etc. Participation of legal experts
from the region in the annual ETUC NETLEX Conference.
nnual meetings with the SEE Employer Forum for discuss-
A
ing issues of common interest and joint initiatives where
possible, e.g. the regional project on health and safety
combining the efforts of ILO, IOE, ETUC and WHO within
the ISC of the Stability Pact for SEE.
While pointing to the positive developments, it is neces-
sary to caution against overestimation of the situation on the
ground and the potential for the future. Trade unions will face
mounting and more complex problems which they often lack
79
both the financial and expert/human resources to resolve, Since the last Congress the ETUC, in cooperation with the Inter-
especially in a strategic way. Social dialogue is not seen by national Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World
political élites as an important part of the democratic policy Confederation of Labour, and subsequently with the ITUC, has
process. The agreement signed by the concerned structures in worked with national and regional trade union organisations
BiH has to be considered as rather fragile, mainly due to the worldwide to construct a social dimension including decent
unstable political situation. The ETUC will continue its efforts work, sustainable development and human and trade union
to strengthen the new confederation. rights in the various EU trade, cooperation and association
agreements. This relates not only to trade talks and the inclu-
Organisational fragmentation continues to generate tensions sion of core labour standards, but to a wider social dimen-
inside and between national confederations, eroding their sion, the reference point for which is the Charter of Fundamen-
representativeness, political clout and public image. tal Rights, with social dialogue as a key instrument to promote
this dimension.
As the region enters its crucial period in the transition and
accession processes, if trade unions are not able to go beyond
what are predominantly survival strategies at the moment, they
risk trade unionism in the region being consolidated only as
a ‘loser’ in the transformation process and a marginal factor
in the development of its societies. Systematic and organised 7.4 The Euro-Mediterranean Forum
external support can make a difference in the scenario for the
future of the SEE region and EU accession perspectives. The Forum was set up in 1999 jointly with the ICFTU, the
ICATU and USTMA. WCL was associated in 2005.
The main objective of the forum was to promote cooperation
and exchange between the European trade union movement
and the trade union organisations of the partner countries in
7.3 The ICTU and the PERC the framework of the Barcelona Process. Politically the forum
is targeting a better articulation and representation of workers’
The founding Congress of the International Trade Union Con- interests in the context of political cooperation.
federation was held in Vienna on 1 November, 2006. The
ITUC groups national confederations affiliated to the Interna- After the Prague Congress of the ETUC and after having car-
tional Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the World ried out a substantial project on workers’ rights, social dia-
Confederation of Labour (which were both dissolved) together logue and social security, a special project was set up in
with organisations with no international affiliation. Emilio cooperation with the Mediterranean confederation of employ-
Gabaglio, former ETUC General Secretary, acted as facilita- ers (UMCE), focusing on the role of women in social partner
tor in the formation of the new organisation. organisations. Unfortunately, UMCE opted out, so the project
could not be presented to the European Commission.
The ETUC Executive Committee had mandated the General
Secretary to discuss with the ICFTU and WCL General Secre- In the meantime, another project was elaborated in close
taries how the ETUC could play a part in the new international cooperation with USTMA, centred on trade union reform and
while maintaining its autonomy and, after a thorough process modernisation, trade union pluralism and the place of women
of consultation involving national trade union centres affiliated in trade unions. The project was approved in December 2006
to the ITUC throughout the wider Europe, it was agreed that a and will be carried out in 2007-2008. The project covers
Pan-European Regional Council of the ITUC should be formed, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan and Palestine. This project
the General Secretary of which should be the ETUC General could help to strengthen cooperation and enable trade unions
Secretary with a view to maintaining coherence between the in the South to improve their relations with regard to crucial
two organisations. The ITUC founding Congress adopted a strategic issues. It is not about a transfer of experiences from
resolution calling for the draft rules of the PERC to be finalised North to South but about a transfer of experiences and ideas
and presented to a PERC founding Conference planned for in the region.
March 2007.
A General Assembly of the Forum was held in November
Many of the countries in Eastern Europe covered by PERC out- 2005 in Barcelona. For the first time, all southern trade unions
side the EU are covered by EU Neighbourhood Policy action took part. The assembly decided on the working programme
plans, and the ENP will be a basis for further work in the and unanimously adopted a declaration. The forum’s aim of
region, as will their membership of the Council of Europe. concentrating on a clear trade union agenda was strength-
80
ened by the Barcelona Assembly and a consensus could be mit, to the heads of state and government from the EU and
reached on the political situation in the Middle East. Barce- Latin America and the Caribbean, meeting in May in Guad-
lona can be considered as an important step towards the alajara.
consolidation of North-South trade union cooperation.
In April 2005, the ETUC drew up a detailed work programme
A delegation of the forum took part in two Euromed summits with the ORIT and the CLAT covering the specific actions to be
of the Economic and Social Committee and similar structures conducted in the framework of our joint cooperation.
under the umbrella of the European ECOSOC (Amman 1995,
Ljubljana 1996). The final declaration of Amman integrated a In November 2006, the ETUC presented a report on EU-
common proposal of the forum and the UMCE to hold an offi- Latin American relations, with some observations on the trade
cial tripartite conference on employment and labour markets union work that the ETUC had done with its Latin American
issues. The German government integrated such a conference trade union partners.
in its EU presidency. The conference was held on 16 March
in Berlin. The position of the forum had been prepared by This report covered the data and the major decisions coming
broad research in 12 southern countries (the project was pro- out of the meetings which had been held before and after the
moted by the Foundation of CC.OO. and the Friedrich-Ebert summit of EU-LAC heads of state and government in Vienna
Foundation). The Ljubljana summit included, at the demand of (May 2006), in order to take them into account in the plan-
the forum, a proposal to the Slovenian government to hold a ning of our activities. The report set out some opinions and
tripartite conference on social dialogue under the Slovenian orientations on the methods adopted in the trade union coor-
EU Presidency in 2008. dination work, and in relations with other parties involved,
such as NGOs.
EUROPE AND THE WORLD
Several meetings were held in Vienna in April 2006, around
the fourth summit of EU-LAC heads of state, notably the third
EU-LAC Trade Union Summit, organised by the ICFTU, the
7.5 Latin America WCL, the ETUC, the ORIT and the CLAT, and the fourth meet-
ing of EU-LAC civil society, staged by the EESC.
The ETUC has continued its work to strengthen trade union
ties and cooperation between the European Union and Latin The third EU-LAC Trade Union Summit (5 April 2006) ran sat-
America, in close coordination with the former international isfactorily, allowing the trade union movement to express its
trade union organisations the ICFTU and the WCL and with views on the summit of heads of state.
the respective regional organisations, ORIT and CLAT, (now In October 2006, the general secretaries of the ETUC and
regional ITUC bodies in the process of unification). the Consejo Consultivo Laboral Andino signed a Joint State-
ment in which they put forward certain demands and pro-
These activities fall within the project for the creation of a Bire- posed ‘stepping up our specific biregional cooperation for
gional Association between the EU and Latin America and the the sake of calling upon the negotiators to provide channels
Caribbean, approved at the Rio de Janeiro summit in 1999, for effective participation and integration in the Agreement of
and the negotiations of the specific agreements between social, environmental and democratic content forming a genu-
the European Union and the various sub-regions (Mercosur, ine political, economic, social and cultural association’.
Andean Community, Central America) and certain countries In 2007 the ETUC will meet with the union bodies from Cen-
such as Mexico and Chile. tral America to establish unified workers’ coordination. The
European Commission has made known its intention to open
In April 2004, in Mexico City, the second EU-Latin America negotiations with the Andean Community and Central Ameri-
and Caribbean Trade Union Summit was staged. There was ca in the first quarter of 2007.
a strong showing from European trade unions, including a
delegation from the ETUC led by its General Secretary, John The ETUC secretariat met with the Director-General of External
Monks. On this occasion, the ETUC organised some other Relations at the Commission to present the broad principles
important meetings with Mexican and Mercosur unions, at of the position of the ETUC and our Latin American counter-
which approval was secured for the joint positions on the parts.
follow-up to the EU-Mexico agreement and the EU-Mercosur
negotiations. The ETUC has reaffirmed to the International Trade Union
Confederation its intention to strengthen the EU-LAC bire-
The ETUC was tasked with presenting the trade union state- gional trade union coordination between the ETUC, the new
ment, which reflected the conclusions of the trade union sum- International, the ORIT and the CLAT.
81
7.6 The Cotonou Agreement participative programme. This will, of course, need to be
remembered in the months ahead.
LThe ETUC has continued its collaboration with the WCL and
the ICFTU within the Cotonou trade union group, notably to At the same time, moreover, the Cotonou trade union Com-
prepare for the various meetings of the Monitoring Committee mittee (ETUC, ICFTU, WCL) has continued to meet and has
within the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) had meetings with several of the people responsible for these
and the meetings of the ACP-EU economic and social forums issues at the European Commission in order to emphasise the
held every two years under the aegis of the ACP-EU joint role of the trade union organisations in the field of develop-
parliamentary assembly. The most recent was held in Brussels ment and the social dimension in relevant European policies.
in June 2005.
In the framework of the World Social Forum, the ETUC will
Moreover, the ETUC, aided by the ICFTU, the WCL and have the opportunity to present this work at a seminar co-
ACTRAV/ILO, has committed itself, alongside the CSTT (Con- organised by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
fédération syndicale des travailleurs du Togo), to a project to
‘Boost the capabilities of ACP trade union organisations in the
Economic Partnership Agreements’. This project, with financial
support from the four partners, has benefited from funding
under the eighth EU Development Fund. An information cir-
cular about this was sent out to all the member organisations 7.7 Other International Relations
early in 2006.
In addition to cooperation activities in the Mediterranean,
During its first stage, the project led to the drawing up of Latin American, and African, Caribbean and Pacific regions
28 national reports drafted by nine ACP experts with close reported above, ETUC regional and bilateral work has
ties to the union movement, giving a snapshot of the socio- expanded in other areas.
economic situation of these regions, the involvement of trade
union organisations in the decision-making processes and the Relations in Asia are focused mainly around the Asia - Europe
need for their enhanced participation. Meetings (ASEM) held every two years between the EU and
countries in the region. The ETUC was represented in meet-
Thanks to financial support from the ACV-CSC (Belgium), a ings linked to the fifth ASEM chaired by Vietnam in 2004 and
seminar brought together these experts and our international the sixth, chaired by Finland, in 2006. The central objective
trade union partners to analyse these reports, with a view have been to obtain a structured relationship for trade unions
to improving them and facilitating the drafting of a summary in the ASEM process with, in particular, meetings of ASEM
report. labour ministers being held regularly during the ASEM cycle
involving the social partners. Good progress was achieved
The summary report served as the basis for drawing up a at the ASEM summit held in Helsinki in November 2006,
guide to help the ACP trade union organisations in the nego- which offered new opportunities for the development of work
tiations. The ETUC held a seminar in the context of the project with trade unions in Asia, and these will be pursued, in coop-
in October 2006, to help ensure that the guide would be eration with the ITUC, with a view to reinforcing the social
a tool that actually matched the expectations of organised dimension of ASEM. The next ASEM Summit is to be chaired
workers in the ACP countries. This seminar was introduced by China in 2008.
by John Monks and brought together some 40 trade union
officials from these countries together with the experts who The ETUC contributed to the development of the EU strategy
had collaborated on the project. The guide will be published on China for the period 2007-2012, pressing for trade and
in 2007 with the help of the ILO/ACTRAV. The guide is a tool other relations to be used to promote sustainable develop-
designed to mobilise workers and populations with the aim of ment, decent work and human and trade union rights. The
ensuring that every Economic Partnership Agreement has an ETUC opposed the granting of Market Economy Status to
effective social dimension. It contains a trade union roadmap China while state interference in trade union affairs persisted
designed to help unions in the ACP countries and representa- and has pressed for Europe-based multinational companies
tives from civil society to organise themselves to this end. to act in China (and elsewhere) as we would expect them
to behave in Europe. The ETUC will continue to seek to take
The European Development and Trade Commissioners have advantage of the Memorandum of Understanding on labour
made a joint written statement, in response to an appeal from and social affairs signed by the EU and China in September
the trade union movement (ETUC/WCL/ICFTU), to the effect 2005 to advance its objectives, in particular the development
that the EPAs should comprise an effective, negotiated and of free collective bargaining.
82
7.8 Relations with the Council of Europe:
The ETUC has cooperated with the Commission in its work
working for the protection of funda-
with the ILO to incorporate the concept of decent work in all
EU internal and external activities. The Commission has identi- mental social rights and an even more
fied ASEAN, Korea and India as priorities for the conclusion effective social cohesion strategype
of free trade agreements, and the ETUC will continue to press
strongly for respect of fundamental labour standards to be uring this recent period, the ETUC has made its presence
D
included in any such agreements. felt within several Council of Europe bodies:
Together with the international confederations, the ETUC has he Council Social Charter Governmental Committee. On
T
continued to press the European institutions to impose and this body, the ETUC has urged rigorous implementation of
maintain sanctions against regimes in blatant breach of inter- the commitments entered into by the Member States which
national standards on trade union rights, such as Burma and have signed and/or ratified the Council’s Social Rights
Zimbabwe. It called for trade advantages under the Gener- Charter; in this regard the ETUC also played to the full its
alised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) to be withdrawn from role within the collective complaints system by submitting its
Belarus because of the anti-trade union activities of the regime observations in relevant cases and by introducing, together
there. The ETUC also raised its deep concerns at the anti-trade with the Bulgarian ETUC affiliates, its own collective com-
union activities of the Australian government, as well as about plaint to ensure better protection of the right to strike in the
the positions of the US Administration. public sector in Bulgaria;
The ETUC pressed for the new EU Generalised Scheme of
Preferences Plus (GSP +) to be used to encourage beneficiary he European Social Cohesion Committee, where it has
T
countries to ratify and observe fully the core ILO Conventions, played an active role in the debates regarding in particular
EUROPE AND THE WORLD
and El Salvador did ratify them in November 2006 following access to social rights, such as education, social security,
the representations. The ETUC will continue to insist on a close housing, the right to a decent wage, etc ;
monitoring of the application of core labour standards by all
beneficiary countries. he Social Security Committee, where for two years now
T
The ETUC has participated in the activities of the ICFTU coor- the ETUC has been admitted as an observer. Previously,
dinating committee on the Middle East. It expressed disap- this committee included only the representatives (public offi-
pointment at the EU’s timid response to developments, notably cials) from the Member States of the Council of Europe.
in the Lebanon, in July 2006 that resulted from an insistence Within this forum, the ETUC is working to defend a uni-
on intergovernmentalism on foreign policy and the absence versal, united conception of social protection, at a time
of an EU foreign minister who would have existed, had the when all over Europe, and not just within the EU, efforts
Constitutional Treaty been in force. are proliferating, under the influence of the World Bank
Bilateral relations are also being maintained with national and/or the International Monetary Fund, to privatise some
trade union centres in the USA, through the Trans-Atlantic Dia- or all of the services currently provided by the public social
logue, and Russia, in the context of negotiations for a new security bodies.
EU-Russia Agreement, with a view to developing a social
dimension to the relationships. Social dialogue contacts are urthermore, in June 2005 an ETUC delegation, headed
F
also maintained with Japan, under the terms of the EU Memo- by the General Secretary John Monks, met several high-
randum of Understanding with that country. level Council of Europe officials, including its Secretary-
General Terry Davis, to discuss and further enhance coop-
eration between the ETUC and the relevant bodies and
committees of the Council of Europe.
n addition, the ETUC highlighted its interest in enhancing
I
the work of the Council of Europe via several resolutions/
press releases, for example on the occasion of the third
Council of Europe summit of heads of state and govern-
ment (March 2005) and of the 10th anniversary of the
Revised Social Charter (May 2006).
However, budgetary cutback discussions are underway with-
in the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which
might call back into question the material conditions for the
8
ETUC’s participation in these various committees, notably the
European Social Cohesion Committee. This is liable to result
in an increased financial burden for the ETUC, and at worst
our absence from these bodies, on which there would then
be only the representatives from the Member States and no
longer anyone representing the workers.
7.9 International Labour Organization
(ILO)
The ETUC has maintained relations between the ILO and the
Commission that have developed notably in relation to the
Decent Work agenda. The ETUC has continued to cooperate
with the office for workers’ activities, ACTRAV. Courses have
been organised in cooperation with the Turin Centre. The
ETUC has also provided expert advice on items of specific
interest. The General Secretary participated in the seventh
European Regional Meeting of the ILO held in Budapest in
February 2005 and the ETUC provided experts and briefing
for the workers’ group at that event.
84
8. CAMPAIGNS AND
MOBILISATIONS
85
86
8 – CAMPAIGNS AND MOBILISATIONS
Mobilising individual trade unionists, through the ETUC’s On 19 March 2005, in Brussels, another Euro-demonstra-
national affiliates, is more important today than ever. Since tion took place ahead of the Spring European Council on the
2003, the ETUC has organised a number of major cam- Lisbon Strategy. Some 80,000 trade unionists from numerous
paigns that have brought thousands of workers onto the streets European countries supported the ETUC demands for More
of European cities in support of trade union demands. and better jobs and a strong Social Europe, and for a stop to
the proposed Bolkestein Directive on services in the internal
Euro-demonstrations are a crucial way of bringing pressure to market. They sent a clear signal to EU leaders that the protec-
bear on EU decision-makers and uniting workers from different tion of employment and social rights must be a priority for
countries behind one set of objectives and under one banner: future EU policy, not an afterthought.
CAMPAIGNS AND MOBILISATIONS
the European Trade Union Confederation.
On 14 February 2006, the plenary session of the European
On 4 October 2003, the ETUC, in collaboration with Italy’s Parliament debated the Bolkestein Directive. The ETUC, which
main union confederations, staged a demonstration in Rome had already worked closely with MEPs in drafting amend-
to coincide with the launch of the EU Intergovernmental Con- ments, mobilised 50,000 people for a demonstration in Stras-
ference on the Constitutional Treaty. The demonstrators called bourg against the original proposal and in favour of Services
for the Treaty to include a strong social dimension. for the People. This campaign successfully achieved radical
changes in the draft legislation.
On 2-3 April 2004, in the run-up to EU enlargement, two
European Action Days in support of Social Europe took place
with the slogan: Our Europe, Europe that’s us! The ETUC coor-
dinated demonstrations in many Member States, calling for
full employment, social rights, high-quality public services and
social cohesion.
87
88
9. FINANCIAL REPORT
89
90
FINANCIAL REPORT 200 - 2006
This financial report covers the 2003-2006 trends in the During this period, the ETUC thanks to the yield of investments
finances of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). made by the Foundation ETUC Fund set up in 1992, and the
positive results on the working budget the ETUC’s assets raised
The auditors appointed by the Xth Statutory Congress of the from 21,76% until 35,20% of the yearly expenditure, which
ETUC performed their annual audits. The ETUC also called made from the ETUC a more healthy organization.
upon the services of some statutory auditors.
Most ETUC activities are still financed using extrabudgetary
As set out in the ETUC Constitution, the balance sheets for resources in the form of contracts concluded with the Euro-
2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 and the auditors’ reports pean Commission. The accounting relating to these activities
were adopted each year by the Executive Committee, which is separate from the normal management of ETUC’s finances,
FINANCIAL REPORT 200-2006
granted discharge to the General Secretary. but is always submitted to the auditors and statutory auditors
for verification.
The affiliation fees fixed for the period 2003-2006 were as
follows: During the period 2003-2006, the majority of affiliated
organisations have scrupulously met the obligations set out
in the Constitution regarding the payment of affiliation fees,
For the West European countries which was not always
the case in the past.
Number of affiliates 2003 2004 2005 2006
up to 1.000.000 members 131,00 € 139,00 € 142,25 € 147,50 €
John MONKS
from 1.000.000 à 3.000.000 125,50 € 133,00 € 137,00 € 141,00 € General Secretary
from 3.000.000 à 5.000.000 122,50 € 130,00 € 134,00 € 138,00 €
from 5.000.000 à 7.000.000 117,00 € 124,00 € 127,75 € 131,50 € Brussels,
above 7.000.000 113,00 € 119,75 € 123,50 € 127,25 € 12 april 2007
average average average average
+4% +6% +3% +3%
for the CEEC countries:
Number of affiliates 2003 2004 2005 2006
up to 1.000.000 members 32,65 € 34,75 € 37,50 € 42,25 €
from 1.000.000 à 3.000.000 31,35 € 33,25 € 35,75 € 38,50 €
from 3.000.000 à 5.000.000 30,55 € 32,50 € 35,00 € 37,50 €
from 5.000.000 à 7.000.000 29,20 € 31,00 € 33,50 € 36,00 €
above 7.000.000 28,20 € 30,00 € 32,25 € 34,50 €
An exception was made Number of affiliates 2003 2004 2005 2006
for the organizations from up to 1.000.000 members 32,65 € 34,75 € 35,75 € 37,00 €
Bulgaria and Rumania
from 1.000.000 à 3.000.000 31,35 € 33,25 € 34,25€ 35,25 €
which are paying the fol-
from 3.000.000 à 5.000.000 30,55 € 32,50 € 33,50 € 34,50 €
lowing affiliation fees:
from 5.000.000 à 7.000.000 29,20 € 31,00 € 32,00 € 33,00 €
above 7.000.000 28,20 € 30,00 € 30,75 € 31,75 €
91
92
10. ANNEXES
9
94
Consultations of the social partners
by the European Commission concerning
the social dialogue
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_dialogue/consultations_en.htm
Consultations in accordance with article 138 are limited to representative social partners organisations.
Here is the list of the accomplished consultations for the period 2003-2006
C O N S U LTAT I O N S O F T H E S O C I A L PA R T N E R S
2006 2004
Consultation on protecting European healthcare workers from Consultation des partenaires sociaux sur la protection des
blood-borne infections due to needlestick injuries travaConsultation of the social partners on the protection of
workers from risks related to exposure to carcinogens, muta-
Consultation of european social partners on reconciliation of gens and substances which are toxic for human reproduction
professional, private and family life
Consultation of the social partners on musculoskeletal
Consultation on the strengthening of maritime labour stan- disorders at work
dards
Consultation concerning certain aspects of the organisa-
Consultation on action at EU level to promote the active inclu- tion of working time
sion of the people furthest from the labour market
2003
Consultation of social partners on measures to improve the
2005 portability of occupational pension rights
Consultation of the social partners on simplification of the
provisions of the health and safety at work directives concer-
ning the reports on their practical implementation
Consultation on restructuring and employment
Consultation of the social partners concerning violence at
the workplace and its effects on health and safety at work
95
96
97
WORK PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL PARTNERS
98
99
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON WORK-REL ATED STRESS
100
101
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON WORK-REL ATED STRESS
102
10
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE AT WORK
104
105
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT ON HARASSMENT AND VIOLENCE AT WORK
ETUC MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
NATIONAL TRADE UNION CONFEDERATIONS
Andorra USDA Lithuania LDF
Austria ÖGB LDS
LTUC
Belgium CSC
FGTB Luxembourg CGT
CGSLB LCGB
Bosnia/Herzégovia CTUiH (observer) Macedonia (Fyrom) CCM (observer)
Bulgaria CITUB Malta CMTU
PODKREPA GWU
Croatia SSSH Monaco USM
Cyprus SEK Netherlands CNV
TURK-SEN FNV
MHP
Czech Republic CMKOS
Norway LO
Denmark AC UNIO
FTF YS
LO
Poland NSZZ Solidarnosc
Estonia EAKL OPZZ
TALO
Portugal CGTP-IN
Finland AKAVA UGT
SAK
STTK Romania BNS
CARTEL-ALFA
France CFDT CNSLR-FRATIA
CFTC CSDR
CGT-FO
San Marino CDLS
CGT
CSdL
UNSA
Serbia NEZAVISNOT (observer)
Germany DGB
Slovakia KOZ-SR
Greece ADEDY
GSEE Slovenia ZSSS
Hungary ASZSZ Spain CC.OO
ESZT ELA
LIGA UGT
MOSz USO
MszOSz Sweden LO
SZEF SACO
Iceland ASI TCO
BSRB Switzerland Travail Suisse
Ireland ICTU SGB/USS
Italy CGIL Turkey DISK
CISL HAK-IS
UIL KESK
TÜRK-IS
Latvia LBAS
Liechtenstein LANV United Kingdom TUC
106
European Industry Federations
EMF
European Metalworkers’ Federation
EFFAT
European Federation of Food,Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions
ETUF-TCL
European Trade Union Federation - Textiles, Clothing and Leather
EFBWW
European Federation of Building and Woodworkers
ETUC MEMBER ORGANISATIONS
EMCEF
European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation
EPSU
European Federation of Public Service Unions
ETF
European Transport Workers’ Federation
ETUCE
European Trade Union Committee for Education
UNI-EUROPA
European Federation of Services and Communications
EAEA
European Arts and Entertainment Alliance
EFJ
European Federation of Journalists
EUROCOP
European Confederation of Police
107
ETUC-2007 / publications /e-mail: amoreira@etuc.org / / Tel: + 32 2 224 04 11 / Fax: + 32 2 224 04 54
ETUC EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION
Bld du Roi Albert II, 5 • B- 1210 Brussels
108 Tel: + 32 2 224 04 11 • Fax: + 32 2 224 04 54
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