Brussels, 07/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - Commenting on President Barroso's guidelines for the next Commission (see EUROPE 9969), European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) General Secretary John Monks called on “the next Commission and the new Parliament to be more assertive on social and employment policy. The excessive laissez-faire liberalism of the past period has contributed to the wreckage of the world and European economies and European workers are paying for it with their pay, taxes, and, increasingly, their jobs”.
In a statement, Monks calls (1) for a New EU Social Deal comprising: - more investment in an expanded European recovery plan; - more effective EU financial regulation of financial institutions, including banks, private equity and hedge funds; - action to strengthen workers' and union rights by adopting a Social Progress Protocol and a revised Posting Directive to correct the recent European Court of Justice (ECJ ) judgments (Laval, Viking, Rüffert, Luxemburg; - drawing on the lessons of the European Coal and Steel Community, the creation of a body to oversee the restructuring of the automotive industries, given the importance to economies and employment; and (2) European leadership towards: - a European social union with more co-ordination on fiscal policy; - a fair deal on working time; - better protection for those working without long-term contracts; - a new European industrial strategy; - a rapid and fair transition towards a low carbon economy and energetic EU leadership at the Copenhagen conference; - a new emphasis on equality; - and respect for public services. (G.B./transl.rt)