Brussels, 15/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - Following a lengthy debate on Wednesday, the Steering Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) decided by an overwhelming majority to endorse its Executive Committee's resolution on the European Constitution. ETUC Secretary General John Monks requested the Steering Committee vote to ensure there could be no doubts about the ETUC position regarding the new constitution. Monks told reporters in Brussels that he was delighted with the result, saying that the Constitution is a first step in the right direction. The Convention had suggested incorporating the Charter of Fundamental Rights into the Constitution, and had enabled progress to be made on certain social issues and employment. He said the ETUC was highly committed to ensuring the Constitution is adopted, refusing to accept the views of people who wish to destroy it. Monks said the constitution represented progress on the Nice Treaty, while noting that the ETUC and its affiliates had not achieved all their goals.
In the resolution, the ETUC explains that 'compared to the Nice Treaty and considered from a more specific social perspective, the new European Constitution is a step forward' because it 'will recognise specifically the role of the Social Partners and of the Tripartite Social Summit; 'social market economy' and 'full employment' will be anchored amongst the Union's objectives…; social policy will be expressly recognised as 'shared competence'…; gender equality will become a value of the Union; and a legal base for Services of General Interest will be created.'
Most of the ETUC's member organisations and affiliates voted in favour of the resolution. Only the French trade union Force Ouvriere (FO) voted against, for various reasons. FO believes that the social values in the constitution do not go far enough and fears that liberal policies have been set in stone, explained John Monks, going on to say that he himself fundamentally disagrees with FO's position. Asked about abstention by the British TUC, John Monks told reporters to check with the TUC itself whether it had actually abstained. He did comment, however, that the TUC's attitude was linked with the current debate on the constitution in the UK and the fact that Tony Blair had made great efforts to undermine the Charter of Fundamental Rights. After double-checking the votes, ETUC spokesperson Patricia Grillo said that the TUC had voted in favour of the ETUC resolution.