The Tripartite Social Summit and the Informal Social Summit have been useful in placing the spotlight on Social Europe. At the Tripartite summit meeting on 24 October, the ETUC first of all welcomed the European Commission’s report published on 20 October, and in particular the plan to create a ‘globalisation adjustment fund’ to enable Member States to adapt to the social shocks arising from major restructuring. This fund represents a step in the right direction.

ETUC General Secretary John Monks insisted that it is essential to build, and to acknowledge, a European dimension in social policy: “We are not in favour of protectionism, but we want common standards and to know under what jurisdiction workers are operating. We support the Lisbon Strategy and wish to see it revitalised. It is clear that growth and employment must be at the heart of discussions at the Hampton Court summit (Informal Social Summit), but reviving European growth must never take place at the expense of workers’ rights.”

The real challenge ahead is to reduce the very high unemployment rate in Europe, and give a new boost to growth, without resorting to deregulation that would constitute an attack on labour rights.

With regard to the mobility of workers, which the ETUC supports, the trade union movement stresses that the legal framework is at the heart of the debate, as the Vaxholm case in Sweden demonstrates.

To conclude the meeting, John Monks reiterated that the Informal Social Summit at Hampton Court must continue along this course, in giving greater weight to social justice. At the same time, it is also important to think about “after Hampton Court”. This means launching a programme of work, together with the employers, and with the support of the EU Presidency and the Commission. “It is essential to have an active work programme with the employers, even if some points of disagreement still exist, for example over the directives on working time, services, and temporary agency workers.”