To be checked against delivery

President, I am proud today to bring the greetings of the ETUC to the General Workers Union.

It is my second visit to a GWU Congress. When I was General Secretary of the British TUC, I came in the middle of a dispute at the airport which had resulted in conspiracy changes against Tony and other senior colleagues in the Union.

My speech of solidarity was well received by you but a few days later in London, I got a letter from a lady with a Gozo address which said - “I had always thought that you were sensible man until I read the Times report of your speech. I was clearly wrong.” That got the rest of the office laughing.

Well I know more now than I did then. I have visited the GWU, the CMTU and the other unions to give a push to the idea of one Maltese TUC with inter union tensions reduced and relaxed. That is a cause I intend to pursue - to build worker solidarity and impact on these islands.

I have also shared a platform in Budapest with your Prime Minister now that Malta is one of the new, fully fledged members of the European Union.

There are difficult times again for the GWU - the elections, the publicity and so on.

But I am confident that the GWU will come through strongly and fundamental to that is to come through together.

Because make no mistake, there are enemies out there wanting to pounce on union weakness, waiting to see a distracted trade union movement, keen to apply the boot or the stiletto.

We are democratic. We have elections. We bruise but we heal quickly and we resist strongly.

Unions are under pressure all over Europe.

The conclusion of the ETUC is that it is necessary for Europe to make its case anew to freshen its raison d’être and to define a firm future for Social Europe including tackling unemployment as a priority.

The European Union was created out of the ashes of the Second World War to be a region of peace and prosperity; and to lay to rest the ancient tribalisms and nationalisms of our continent.

It has been highly successful in turning the world’s bloodiest continent of the early 20th century into a zone both of peaceful co-operation and economic and social progress.

It has expanded from the original membership of 6 nations to 25 and more are in the queue to join. The ETUC always supported enlargement on the premise that the social protections we have gained will be extended to all and that Europe’s unity of purpose will not be undermined. The people in the new member states wanted to join the common European Social Model.

For Europe’s trade unions, the EU has so far been a positive force enshrining trade union values of social inclusion and solidarity, welfare states and services of general interest and worker participation and collective bargaining in its work. The aim has always been to balance economic dynamism with a social dimension. This clearly differentiates the European model from the American way, where the contrast between private wealth and public squalor was made evident by Hurricane Katrina. That European balance underpinned the Lisbon strategy devised in 2000 and supported by the ETUC.

But the EU is in trouble, most notably because of the failures to deal with the persistently high levels of unemployment in core countries; and recently to secure the ratification of the EU constitutional treaty. These troubles could be compounded if a new and sufficient budget settlement is not agreed shortly.

The failure of the European constitutional treaty to win popular approval in the French and Dutch referendums is a symptom, not the cause, of a crisis in European politics. Popular support for the European project has in fact been in decline since the early 1990s and Europe’s political elites have failed to heed the warning signs.

This prevailing mood of insecurity is exploited by nationalist and populist movements who urge a retreat into old certainties and practice the politics of national and ethnic exclusion. Unless Europe comes to be seen as part of the solution, it will always be seen as part of the problem.

This crisis of legitimacy is the result of a failure of political courage and vision. Leaders in European countries have failed to accept responsibility for explaining the benefits of integration to the citizen and have too often found it convenient to blame Brussels when things go wrong. They have also failed to construct a political vision in which an integrated Europe is seen to occupy an essential role. This is part of broader and worrying trend of declining faith in the ability of government to change peoples’ lives for the better.

Moreover, in some countries, parts of the mainstream left have become disillusioned with the apparent retreat from the social vision of Europe consistently pursued by Jacques Delors. There has been a reaction against the one-sided emphasis on market liberalisation that has expressed itself in a growing scepticism about the value and purpose of European integration.

Europe’s common values resonate strongly with those that have defined the trade union movement since its inception - solidarity, equality, social justice, internationalism and the belief that social and economic life should be structured to meet human need. Nowhere in the world are these values enshrined more in governance than in Europe.

Influenced by the rise of organised labour and democratic ideas, European societies reflect a strong commitment to public welfare and the responsibility of government to promote social cohesion; a commitment shared by mainstream left and right which includes redistributive measures, for instance, minimum income and progressive taxation.

The European Union was not invented as a response to globalisation, but the fact that it exists should enable us to meet new global challenges far more effectively. This should be Europe’s twenty first century mission.

The purpose of an integrated Europe should be to manage the process of globalisation in ways that maximise its benefits and minimise its costs, by ensuring that there are as many winners as possible and compensatory measures for those who lose out. It should seek to restore the primacy of politics over markets and thus the ability of Europeans to control their own destiny.

What is striking about globalisation is that the nations that have benefited most have been those with sufficient geopolitical presence to regulate the terms of their interaction with the outside world to their advantage. No European country is big enough to achieve this on its own. Europeans can only do it by acting collectively.

The debate on the future of Europe and the European Social Model is now engaged. The ongoing battle has been described as a fight between those who want a modern European social model, a political and social union on the basis of a social market economy and social rights, and those who want only a free trade zone, a less regulated free market with weak institutions. Is this interpretation right?

While this crucial and currently wide difference in perceptions exists, while many employers, supported by politicians, including of the centre left in some countries, are arguing for more ‘business Europe’ (less ‘red tape’, lower social standards, more de-regulation, more liberalisation, less trade union influence), it is going to be impossible to find a new base for European progress. The gap in ideology is too wide. If workers feel that social Europe is being wound down, they will regard Europe as a whole as a threat, not as a support. Their natural reaction would be resistance and opposition.

The ETUC has been and remains a strong supporter of the EU’s enlargement - a historic achievement - and there is a need now to tackle the deep divide on wealth and living standards, taxation and welfare policies and social legislation.

The ETUC calls on the European leaders, when they meet in late October 2005, to agree a new vision of Europe based on the principles outlined above. We also call for the formulation of an accompanying communication strategy to launch a debate on the new vision among the citizens of Europe. This time around, a ‘top down’ strategy alone will not do. Good, imaginative leadership is especially essential in present circumstances but, now, leadership needs to be accompanied by a process of listening to the people and their concerns.

Action is necessary on new worker friendly legislation, dropping the ultra liberal Services Directive, creating a strong framework on restructuring, and addressing our demographic challenges.

Furthermore, measures should be taken at EU level, with the active involvement of social partners, to provide workers in non-standard precarious employment relationships (economically dependent workers, domestic workers, etc.) with proper labour protection.

The EU cannot afford to give the impression that social policy has “stopped” to give extra space for enterprise. Maintaining the balance is the key to the future.

Improving training and lifelong learning. It is also vital to create a sustainable framework for migration - a particular problem for Malta.

The GWU and the CMTU are key members of the ETUC and part of our future.

Together, united, we can win.