The EU has today laid the ground for action if the UK government breaches its commitment to workers’ rights under the Brexit deal.

Commenting on the EU-UK deal Luca Visentini, ETUC General Secretary said “There is no form of Brexit that will improve the lives of working people.“ “Although President von der Leyen says fair competition and a level playing field are ensured, it would mean very little if long-drawn out arbitration was the main way to deal with disputes. 

Dear Michel, I am contacting you to raise the concern of trade unions across Europe that with few days to the end of the transition period, agreement is still to be reached.  This uncertainty adds to the already destabilising employment situation due to the pandemic and the planned end of the support measures next year.

ETUC Letter to EU Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier  Level playing field guarantees in the EU-UK deal Dear Michel, We understand negotiations are reaching their limits in terms of timing and of what is feasible or acceptable for the EU on the remaining critical issues of fisheries, governance and the level playing field.

Adopted at the Executive Committee Meeting of 2-3 July 2020 Negotiations on the future relationship between the EU and UK resumed on 29 June after the UK declared its intention not to extend the transition period. Both the EU and the UK are entering a global recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially leaving millions of people in long-term unemployment.

Brussels 25 March 2020 Road Map of the ETUC on Negotiations on a New Partnership with the UK Adopted at the Executive Committee meeting of 9-10 March 2020

Brussels 06 February 2020 Adopted at the Extraordinary Executive Committee Meeting of 6 February 2020

Today the UK leaves the EU. We send this message of support, solidarity and unity among working people. For trade unions there are no borders. We will continue our joint work to make working peoples voices heard, to insist on a level playing field to protect jobs and rights for workers in the UK and the EU. Working together during 2020 we will demand a future agreement that delivers for workers, their families and communities.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) believes there is no Brexit that will benefit working people. In the circumstances, we welcome the European Union’s efforts to stop no-deal, guarantee the Good Friday Agreement and avoid a hard border in Ireland.   However, the ETUC is concerned that the deal appears to have further watered down already weak commitments to workers’ rights, although further scrutiny is essential.  

Ahead of this week’s European Council meeting, the Directors General of BusinessEurope and the CBI, Markus Beyrer and Carolyn Fairbairn, and the General Secretaries of the ETUC and the TUC, Luca Visentini and Frances O’Grady have issued an unprecedented joint statement urging faster progress. The organisations, which together represent 45 million workers and 20 million employers across Europe, met for the first time in London on 15 June to discuss Brexit.

Laying the foundations for a level playing field – ETUC statement on the future EU-UK partnership Statement presented at the Executive Committee of 7 and 8 March 2018 Current situation

ETUC Resolution on the future partnership between the UK and the EU Adopted at the Executive Committee Meeting of 13-14 December 2017 Current situation

Commenting on the UK Government’s proposal on the future rights of EU citizens living in the UK, ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said: “The rights of EU citizens in the UK, and UK citizens in the EU, should not be up for negotiation. There needs to be automatic and mutual granting of full rights. “Far from being very generous, the proposals are limited, and create significant new hurdles which EU citizens will need to overcome in order to access rights to residency and permanent access to entitlements in the UK.

ETUC Mid-term Conference Dear friends, Comrades, Buongiorno a tutte e tutti !

Responding to the draft negotiating guidelines published today, the ETUC pointed out that while the guidelines state that citizens’ rights will be a priority for negotiations, the EU continues to insist that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

  STATEMENT OF THE ETUC ON THE NOTIFICATION OF THE UK TO WITHDRAW FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION Statement adopted by the Executive Committee, Malta 15 -16 March 2017 Meeting in Malta during the Maltese Presidency of the European Union the European Trade Union Confederation reaffirmed its commitment that workers and citizens – in UK and the rest of the EU - must not pay the price for Brexit. Our key common priority is the defence of workers’ rights, jobs and living standards.

ETUC statement on the next steps after the UK referendum Statement adopted by the Extraordinary Enlarged Steering Committee, London 11 July 2016

Trade union leaders, meeting today in London to discuss the next steps for the EU and the UK after the Brexit referendum, agreed   

UK referendum The ETUC calls for Brexit vote to be a wake-up call to the EU to offer workers a better deal. Specifically, the ETUC calls for decisive action to  ensure this is not the start of the break-up of the European Union, and does not damage jobs and workers’ rights. tackle working people’s deep discontent in the EU by creating a fairer and more equal society, investing in quality jobs, good public services and real opportunities for young people. Migration The ETUC calls for