SOCIAL PARTNERS: 12/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, Emilio Gabaglio, has written to John Sweeney, President of the US trade union AFL-CIO, condemning "this criminal attack" that rocked the US on Tuesday. "We are with you in your mourning", Emilio Gabaglio told John Sweeney. The President of UNICE (the European employers' association), Georges Jacobs, has released a statement in which he insists that "these events must not be allowed to destabilise economic activity and confidence. The business community, in the USA, in Europe and elsewhere, must do all it can to ensure that disruption is as short-lived as possible".