Thessaloniki, 08/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Union must be more actively involved in the Balkans in favour of an economic and social development strategy. It must ensure greater coherence of these approaches which sometimes seem too sector-specific, and encourage participation by the elements that make up the society's lifeblood, the trade unions being an element of prime importance. Such, essentially, is the message given by the second conference of the "Forum for the European Trade Union Confederation and Stability Pact in the Balkans" organised in Thessaloniki on 5 and 6 October. Participants included Emilio Gabaglio, ETUC Secretary General; Georges Paschalidis, Labour Minister for Macedonia and Thrace; Ivan Neikov, former Labour Minister for Bulgaria; MEP Ioannis Koukiadis (Greek Socialist); Director of CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) Johan van Rens; as well as the representatives of the trade union organisations of the Balkans region and EU countries.
Emilio Gabaglio recalled that ETUC had wanted to include the trade union movement in the Stability Pact process for South East Europe "with the conviction that, in order to achieve the aims of the Pact in terms of democratic, economic and social development, the participation of the trade unions and the taking into account of the needs of the populations were indispensable". He stressed that ETUC is critical of the Stability Pact as, for now, "the social dimension has not yet received the attention it deserves". He pointed out, moreover, that ETUC, with the support of other discussion partners and participants, would support the need to achieve an initiative for social cohesion in the Balkans. A real plan of action, this initiative must cover strengthening of the institutions, social protection, health, vocational training, employment policies and the labour market, social dialogue, housing, etc. The conference in Thessaloniki also made it possible to note the development of cooperation between trade union organisations of the region of the Balkans, that are already members of ETUC or have partnership relations with ETUC. "This is one of the factors that can structure closer regional cooperation, which, in turn, is an element of stabilisation and mutual understanding", said Mr Gabaglio, who gave his assurance that ETUC was going to continue "in its involvement, as it has done over the past ten years in the difficult moments, to provide an area of dialogue between trade unions". He went on to add that "the proof is that ETUC is organising, in Skopje, exchanges between trade union movements in Macedonia, European trade unions and public authorities".
During the debates, Danilo Popovich, President of the CITUM trade union (Montenegro) also felt that the social dimension should be more integrated into the Stability Pact. Georges Paschalidis, Labour Minister for Macedonia and Thrace, insisted on the important role that trade unions will play in the development of a "common culture" of cooperation and the fight against extremism, terrorism and corruption. Christos Polyzogopoulos, President of the Greek trade union GSEE, spoke along the same lines. He stressed that it was necessary to "structure our cooperation in the fight against terrorism", while Grigor Gradev, ETUC Coordinator for the Stability Pact for South East Europe, noted that "security in the Balkans and in Europe is not solely linked to the presence of the military but also to peace and social stability". He launched an appeal so that "ETUC and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) would do everything possible to have a social dimension integrated into the Pact". Mr Gradev also announced that a project entitled "Stability Pact - Initiative for Social Cohesion - Social Dialogue" will be put to the conference of donors scheduled for 25 and 26 October in Bucharest. This project, to run for 36 months, is mainly aimed at intensifying the exchange of information and interaction between the trade union organisations of the region. It will be initially targeted at the trade unions of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia and Montenegro. Volas Cedo, from the Bosnian trade union VISA, affirmed that the "Bosnian trade unions must work along the lines of integration, social reconciliation and social dialogue", and Romanian trade unionist from CARTEL ALFA, Hossu Bogdan, proposed that one should accept international labour standards as a "rule for everyone". Kastriot Muco, President of the Albanian trade union KSSH, insisted on the need to develop social partnership in the Balkans and former Bulgarian Labour and Social Welfare Minister, Ivan Neikov, urged for "social dialogue to become an integral part of the way our society works". The importance and, at the same time, the difficulty of social dialogue were also raised by Bernadette Tesch-Segol, General Secretary of UNI Europa, who felt that dialogue was not developing as it should and that one should also achieve more visible representation of women in trade unions.
ETUC delegation with Mr Gabalio, in Skopje
On 7 and 8 October, an ETUC delegation headed by Emilio Gabaglio met the Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister in Skopje. Mr Gabaglio insisted on how important it was for Skopje to take initiatives in order to begin implementing the framework agreement concluded with EU and international community aid to restore peace. He also insisted on the need for social partners to be closely involved in the process from the outset.