Trade unions are calling for the European Union’s social and labour standards to be fully upheld in negotiations on the accession of Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro.
Following a decision by the European Council in December to open accession negotiations, the first Conference of Accession for each of the three countries is being held today and tomorrow.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) says the right lessons must be learned from social and economic challenges which arose during previous accession processes.
Employers' organisation SGI Europe has joined the ETUC in calling for the EU to do more to help Ukraine make the significant advances needed on social policy for it to make progress towards membership.
Trade unions from Ukraine and Moldova joined the ETUC in 2022 as part of efforts to help the countries reach the social and labour standards needed for a successful accession to the EU.
ETUC Confederal Secretary Tea Jarc said:
“Trade unions want the accession of Ukraine, Moldova and Montenegro to be a success for working people in these countries themselves as well as for those in existing members of the European Union.
“That means the EU’s social and labour standards must be fully upheld in accession talks, with no partial access to the single market until countries have reached the required standards.
“Coming from the western Balkans, I know that this will require trade unions to be involved in the accession process in a meaningful way. Not only on paper as in the past.
“In particular, unions must have a role in deciding how EU funds dedicated to facilitating the accession process should be spent.
“This would be an important first step towards normalising the system of social dialogue between unions, employers and policymakers that is fundamental to the EU’s economy.
“We cannot make accession decisions solely on the degree of alignment of countries with the EU’s foreign and security policies if we expect this process to be an economic or social success.”
