Brussels, 29/10/2009
In spite of repeated announcements that recovery is in sight, the European Trade Union Confederation is convinced that Europe has not yet seen the last of the social and financial crisis.
ETUC General Secretary John Monks declared: "To overcome the crisis and leave it permanently behind us, we need a real strategy for exiting the jobs and massive unemployment crisis. Europe must draw up a second recovery plan to meet the challenges it is facing in the short term. The stimulus must be strong and should focus on a joint effort and on investment, which is what we already presented in the document entitled 'Towards a New Social Deal in Europe'."
The Tripartite Social Summit will give the trade union delegation an opportunity to send clear messages to European policy-makers:
- The ETUC asks the European Council and the European Commission to draw up a European investment plan totalling 1% of annual gross national product (GNP) in order to create more and better jobs and to promote innovation, research and sustainable development. This would help create new "green" sectors and at least two million new jobs.
- Employment has to be protected. The ETUC therefore calls for a strong and concrete social policy agenda in order to keep employees in work and ensure that they have consistent income, high levels of protection, real possibilities for development and respect for their rights.
- A greater European contribution is needed to finance the global drive against climate change and to guarantee fair social transitions.
- The ETUC also warns against the risk of cuts in public spending and in particular in social protection, given today's huge public deficits. It can be very tempting to start making cuts in social protection systems, which will only increase poverty and weaken the most vulnerable groups. On the contrary, these protection systems are more necessary than ever and must be combined with active policies to stimulate the labour market and a return to sustainable employment. The ETUC therefore calls for an increase in European social expenditure, which will make it possible to extend the activities of the European structural funds.
- Financial markets and bonuses must be regulated. Public finances must serve the real economy and not be used to repair the damage caused by abusive practices guided solely by the aim of maximizing short-term profit.
- Lastly, the ETUC warns against any crisis exit strategy that would pave the way for further deregulation of employment, salaries and public services. The mantras of deregulation and competitiveness have failed. They have produced inequalities and this tendency must be reversed to encourage a fairer society on a long-term basis.
- Link to Tripartite Social Summit fact sheet: [http://www.etuc.org
/a/36->http://www.etuc.org/a/36]
- Speech held by ETUC General Secretary John Monks : [www.etuc.org
/a/6632->www.etuc.org
/a/6632]