Commenting on the special EU video summit on Belarus Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), said “The words of the EU leaders on Belarus were strong and I hope they send a clear and powerful message to Lukashenko. It remains to be seen what the targeted sanctions will be and whether they will be as hard-hitting as the words spoken suggest. The EU needs to follow up with decisive action including sanctions that hit Lukashenko and his cronies very hard.”

The European trade union movement, in a letter today to Presidents von der Leyen, Michel and Sassoli, urges the European Union to EU relations with Belarus including “the reintroduction of commensurate sanctions for electoral fraud and violence.”

Letter sent to the Presidents of the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament - Presidents von der Leyen, Michel and Sassoli.   Dear President

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) are following closely and with great concern the current situation in Belarus, after recent presidential elections. The ETUC and PERC demand the immediate release of trade unionists detained for having taken part in peaceful protests against falsified elections, notably Nikolai Zimin, former chairman of the Belarusian Independent Trade Union and Maxim Sereda, chairman of the UMTO the Independent Trade Union of Miners. The ETUC and PERC denounce:

Respect for human rights and fundamental values should be guiding the Union in all its internal as well as external actions. In everyday life as well as in times of crises, the universality and indivisibility of human rights must be upheld to ensure human dignity at both global and local level.

Brussels, 7th January 2020 To Executive Committee For information to ETUC Member Organisations Dear colleagues, Happy New Year! Please see attached the ETUC position on the EU enlargement adopted at the last Executive Committee meeting on 17-18 December 2019 (item 12). Best regards, Liina Carr Confederal Secretary

Statement on Albania and North Macedonia accession to the EU We regret the decision of the European Council not to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia and express our solidarity with workers and their trade unions from these counties. They face enormous challenges of decent work deficits, non-respect of the law, low wages, high levels of informal work, as well as systematic violation of fundamental workers’ rights and freedoms.

The 2019 G7 Presidency made the fight against inequalities its top priority setting ambitious objectives for social cohesion. We, the business (B7) and labor (L7) organizations in G7 countries, consider that we have a role to play in addressing this challenge.

Dear Members and Colleagues, You are warmly invited to a Round Table on Wednesday 6th of June, 9:30-12:00, in room ASP 3H1, organised jointly by the Global Progressive Forum, the European Trade Union Confederation and Solidar.

Brussels, 30 October 2017.    8th European Union, Latin America and Caribbean Trade Inion Meeting and Panama Declaration The 8th EU-CELAC Trade Union Meeting, organised by the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and held in Panama, publishes its Panama Declaration here.  

Brussels, 27 September 2017. Update 30 October: Panama Declaration in EN and ES.    8th European Union, Latin America and Caribbean Trade Inion Meeting and Panama Declaration The 8th EU-CELAC Trade Union Meeting, organised by the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (TUCA) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and held in Panama, publishes its Panama Declaration here.  

CONO SUR TRADE UNION ORGANISATIONS COORDINATOR (CCSCS) EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION (ETUC)   JOINT STATEMENT ON THE MEETING HELD IN BRUSSELS BY THE TRADE UNION REPRESENTATION WITH THE EU AND MERCOSUR NEGOTIATORS  

Commenting on the European Commission’s ‘Reflection Paper on Globalisation’, ETUC Confederal Secretary Liina Carr said: “It has taken a long time for the European Commission to acknowledge that globalisation has to be fairer. Better late than never! Trade unions have long been calling for a fairer distribution of the benefits of globalisation, and finally we see this confirmed in the Commission’s Reflection Paper on Harnessing Globalisation.

The European Trade Union Confederation today expressed its condolences and solidarity with the people of Germany following last night’s horrific attack in Berlin. ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said "Our thoughts are with all the victims - the dead and the injured, their families and their loved ones - and with the workers who are dealing with the situation."

Statement on the evolutions of Turkish situation  approved at the Executive Committee 14-15 December 2016

The European Trade Union Confederation today expressed its solidarity with the people of Germany following the two attacks in Bavaria in the last week. ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said "Our thoughts are  with all the victims - the dead and the injured, and their loved ones - and with the workers who are dealing with the victims and security."

The ETUC shares the heartbreak of the people of France following last night’s horrific attack in Nice. The European trade union movement offers its condolences and solidarity at this horrible time. The dead and the injured, their families and loved ones, and the workers dealing with the situation and its aftermath are in our thoughts and hearts.  

 The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is urging the European Commission to  ·         Make the EU-Canada trade agreement (CETA) subject to member state Parliaments; ·         Press ahead with the revision of the Posted Workers Directive.

Meeting today in Washington, Richard Trumka, President of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) and Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), together stressed that, from available information, the current negotiations on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are on the wrong course. If this course isn’t corrected, TTIP will fail to create the people and planet-centered agreement needed to benefit the working peoples of the European Union and the United States.

European and Japanese trade unions are demanding that negotiators should work towards an EU-Japan trade deal that protects workers’ rights, creates decent jobs and promotes high social, environmental and health standards. Japan is the EU’s second biggest trading partner in Asia, and together the two blocs account for more than one-third of world GDP, so the stakes are high. 

China has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 2001 but it is not recognised as a market economy by any of its major trading partners, including the EU and the US. China's WTO Accession Protocol allowed WTO members not to grant “Market Economy Status” (MES) to China for a period up to 11 December 2016. Not applying MES to China allows the EU to use alternative methods for calculating dumping margins (that apply to Non-Market Economies, NMEs, often based on the higher prices applying in third countries).

Statement from the ETUC Mobility, Migration and Inclusion Committee Stop discriminating against refugees on grounds of nationality! The ETUC has received information from informal and informal sources around the so-called ‘Balkan route’ of entry to the EU that since 19 November 2015, the states of FYROM Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia have been allowing only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis to enter their countries.

ETUC and EESC Workers’ Group Cooperation Agreement Adopted at the Executive Committee Meeting of 17-18 December 2019 European trade unions are fighting for strong solidarity and more social justice, for a European Union that acts in the interests of workers and defends our social model, a unique example to others around the world.