Brussels, 25/04/2000 (Agence Europe) - At their conference on 14 April last in Lisbon, the European social partners for commerce (Eurocommerce for employers and Uni-Europa Commerce for unions) signed a "Declaration on Employment" in which they underline the importance of the development of "a significant dialogue on employment and labour relations" in their sector. The goal is to seek to "establish a common understanding on minimum standards for the longer-term development of working life in the European retail and wholesale trade and actively to promote good employment and labour relations practices". The partners support efforts to establish the EU as a leading region with regard to technological development, with emphasis on the need for commercial enterprises to strengthen their initiatives in the field of e-commerce and ebusiness.
About 140 representatives of employers and trade unions from the European commerce sector participated in the conference, in which European Commissioners Anna Diamantopoulou (social affairs) and Erkki Liikanen (information society), and Portuguese Secretary of State for Labour and Training Paulo Pedroso also took part.