ETUC presents 'social tests' to Irish Presidency

By European Industrial Relations Observatory

Representatives of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) met the Irish Prime Minister in January 2004 to present a list of trade union priorities in the economic and social field over the coming six months of the Irish EU Presidency.

These include implementation of the Lisbon agenda and the European employment strategy, and progression of a range of social policy instruments and dossiers, in areas such as working time, European Works Councils, health and safety and temporary agency work.

A delegation from theEuropean Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) - made up of its president, Candido Mendez, and general secretary, John Monks, plus the general secretary of theIrish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU), David Begg - met the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern, on 13 January 2004 in order to discuss ETUC's position on a range of key European social and economic questions.

The Irish government holds the six-month rotating Presidency of theCouncil of the European Union during the first half of 2004 and ETUC notes that it will be confronted with'a highly complex and at the same time very challenging political agenda'. This will include enlargement of the EU in May, the election of a newEuropean Parliament (EP), the preparation of the appointment of new Commissioners and ratification of thedraft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (theEuropean Council failed to agree on the Treaty at its meeting in Brussels in December 2003 -EU0312209F).

In terms of economic and social progress, ETUC state that the situation is deteriorating, with the result that reaching the economic and employment targets set at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 (EU0004241F) will become increasingly difficult. It feels that the Council and theEuropean Commission are not addressing this issue with the urgency required. It therefore presented a10-point plan, or set of'social tests', to the Presidency to encourage economic and social progress in the EU over the next six months. The main points relating to social policy are summarised.