09/05/2019 (Agence Europe) – “Competitive Europe = Social Europe” Ceemet, which represents European employers in the metal, engineering and technology sectors, summarises in a statement on Thursday 9 May in response to the European Council's strategic agenda (see other news). “The current discourse on social Europe puts the proverbial cart before the horse, largely ignoring how social Europe is today and how social policy is financed”, explains the organisation. For the organisation, strengthening EU competences and regulation in the social field is a “precarious” and “unbalanced” idea, in addition to being “short-termist”, if it does not go hand in hand with a stronger international competitiveness of the Union. According to it, it is necessary to deal with European social spending, which represents 40% of world spending, while the European economy represents only 22% of world GDP. To consult the statement: https://bit.ly/2PUxTSl (PH)