Brussels / Blackpool, 11/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), Emilio Gabaglio, held an exchange of views with British European Affairs Minister Peter Hain on the fringe of the TUC (British Trade Union Confederation) on 10 September in Blackpool. Their discussion covered the work of the European Convention. Despite a "general speech" by the minister, Emilio Gabaglio said after the meeting "the fact that a British member speaks of the need for a Constitution is new and positive in itself". "But what will the elements and content of such a Constitution be?" asks the General Secretary, who insists on the need "not to aim at the wrong thing. Although it is clear that no-one can expects that concrete policies can be defined in a constitutional treaty, it is also true that the new founding Treaty must clearly indicate the social and political objectives, in addition to the market and currency". This is why Mr Gabaglio specifies that: "(1) for us, the Constitution must integrate the Charter of Nice with all its legal effects; (2) the Constitution must clearly indicate that, among EU competences, there must be coordination of economic policies, that is, an economic pole alongside the monetary pole; (3) the characteristics of the European social model must be included: services of general interest, the role of social partners as co-actors for economic and social governance. It is only at this price (from the content point of view) that it will be possible to say that the Convention has met the expectations of the workers and citizens of Europe". Mr Gabaglio expressed the hope that the Convention would, in coming weeks, move forward along these lines, and that the "British government would play a positive role in achieving this result".