Speaking at the ‘Conférence des Ambassadeurs’ in Paris today with Laurent Fabius and Walter Steinmeier, Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation warned that without tackling unemployment Europe risked a Union without the support of Europeans.
Speaking in a session on the political priorities of the European Union 2014-20 Bernadette Ségol said
“Social progress seems to have become an obstacle to Economic and Monetary Union rather than its objective” and pointed to policies that included cuts in public spending, wages and benefits, and undermining collective bargaining and job security.
“The EU and its member states have put enormous resources into saving the financial sector from its own mistakes. Do the EU and its member states consider employment, social protection and democracy to be just as important? If so, it is necessary to make the same effort to overcome the social crisis and jobs crisis.”
She said “The danger today is to build a Europe without the support of Europeans or worse, against the wishes of Europeans.”
She urged the EU to adopt ETUC proposals for a large-scale investment plan to boost industry and employment, as part of a transition to a more sustainable economy. Ségol noted that the new President of the Commission, the ECB President, and the French Government have all recently supported the idea of a large public investment programme.
Bernadette Ségol speech (Available only in French ): http://www.etuc.org/fr/discours/xxii%C3%A8me-conf%C3%A9rence-des-ambassadeurs-s%C3%A9ance-pl%C3%A9ni%C3%A8re-les-priorit%C3%A9s-politiques-de-lue-pour-la#.U_8ib_mSzbQ
