Brussels, 28/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - On 28 June in London Tony Blair received a delegation from the European Confederation of Trade Unions (ETUC, led by Secretary General John Monks, who handed Mr Blair the “Trade Union Memorandum for the British presidency of the Council of the EU”. In its memorandum, the ETUC welcomed the fact that the British prime minister in his speech on 23 June to the EP recognised the importance of a social Europe and that it is “determined to fight unemployment as its main presidency objective” when “Frankly the British government has been seen by the ETUC now for many years as the main opponent of social Europe with social Europe being sometimes caricatured as a brake on economic progress…and consistently been intent on blocking certain measures in the social sphere”. The ETUC is therefore calling on the British presidency to launch a broad debate on the European social model which the ETUC wants to modernise. It is calling for restructuring to be included in social dialogue, with the aim of planning for change. On the subject of the Restructuring Forum (EUROPE 8979), the active participation of all the actors, the European Works Councils and the demographic challenge, including the quality of life at work, reconciling family life with life at work, equal opportunities and life-long learning with a reap inter-generational approach. The ETUC is hoping that the British presidency: advances on revising the working time directive by putting an end to the opt-out; that it gets a compromise on the draft directive on temporary work by proposing that temporary workers have the same recognition as normal workers; that the “services” directive is redrafted and insistence on the principle of the country of origin is removed; that work on REACH is continued and that equal opportunities are integrated into all policies. The ETUC says that if it is to regain its credibility, the EU has to be more attentive to current economic and social issues, as well as the aspirations of citizens. The ETUC asks for urgent action to respond concretely to the demands of working people, with the aim of continued support for the European project and enragement. The ETUC also wants the presidency to adopt a new European sustainable development strategy; ambitious objectives for fighting climate change and the pursuit of the Millennium Objectives and Doha Development Agenda. The ETUC also wants trans-Atlantic relationships, the social dimension and full participation of all actors concerns to be integrated into the UK presidency programme.