Brussels, 05/10/2006
Following the suspension of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations and the crisis within the international institutions, European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has failed to resist the temptation to enter into bilateral accords, which give growing power to the strongest parties.
The ETUC believes that the EU is in danger of missing a historic opportunity to use its capacity to promote development and fair international exchange, to create the basis for a new approach to external relations.
In the view of the ETUC, the EU needs active policies to promote employment in Europe, in line with the political objectives of the EU, including respect for the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the promotion of decent work, the development of a positive environmental policy, pursuing improvements to public health at international level, and the emergence of new development initiatives.
And yet the Commission has not committed itself to a real democratic debate within the various European institutions and among the social partners, at a time when the demand for greater transparency and democracy within Europe is growing stronger from one day to the next. The Commission takes its decisions on the basis of a narrow vision of its responsibilities, even though these decisions will have a determining influence in terms of employment, levels of social protection, and the development of industrial systems and services, in both the EU and developing countries.
The Commission's only aim is to improve European competitiveness through the increasing liberalisation of markets, services, public procurement and investments. This openly mercenary approach is at odds with the pro-multilateral and pro-sustainable development strategy defined in the 2004 Communication on 'The Social Dimension of Globalisation, extending the benefits to all'. Furthermore, the Commission has nothing to say about the future of European agriculture in this new strategy, and seems thus to be unaware of the central role of agriculture in both multinational and bilateral trade negotiations.
The ETUC reiterates its call for a genuine Europe-wide debate on the policies to be adopted and their implementation. This affects all departments of the Commission and requires a coordinated approach. The ETUC also reaffirms the need for respect for the fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO) to be made explicit in all negotiations. For example, the conditions for opening negotiations with Asian countries like South Korea must include a commitment to respect trade union rights in states where trade unionists are harassed and imprisoned. This is even more important with respect to China.
The Commission does the splits - which may be appropriate to gymnastics, but not to democracy. Today, there is a need to re-examine European external policies in depth, and to reassess their consistency and their impact on the internal policies of the EU and in particular on better employment in Europe. The ETUC points out that a multilateral approach ensures respect for international law, and United Nations bodies such as the ILO, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).