3rd General assembly of the Euromed trade union forum - Final declaration

1. The Euromed Trade Union Forum was set up jointly by the ETUC and the ICFTU in association with ICATU (International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions) and USTMA (Union of the Maghreb Trade Unions). Its founding General Assembly took place in 1999 in Stuttgart. The Forum includes the trade unions of the EU partner countries in the Mediterranean area (“Barcelona process”). Its main objectives are to develop North-South cooperation as well as to defend and to promote workers’ interests in the context of the Barcelona process.

2. The 2nd General Assembly was held in Marseille in 2001. The Arab trade unions boycotted it due to the presence of Histadrut. Nevertheless after the Marseille Assembly an ambitious working program was established, with the participation of all partners from the South, dealing with core issues of the trade union agenda such as social protection, workers rights and social dialogue.

3. The 3rd General Assembly of the Euromed Trade Union Forum took place on November 6-7 2005 in Barcelona with the support of UGT and CC.OO and of the Spanish Government. The main objectives of the General Assembly were the revitalisation of the trade union cooperation, the evaluation of the Barcelona process and the setting up of a new work agenda. Representatives from all southern partner trade union organisations and from European trade unions organisations, mostly from Southern Europe, were present. The General Secretaries of ETUC, ICFTU, ICATU as well as representatives from USTMA and WCL were present. The General Assembly unanimously adopted a final declaration, guidelines and working plan (see annex).

Conclusions

4. Since Stuttgart and Marseille the trade union issues are dominating the agenda of the cooperation. The fact that the conflicts in the region are no longer undermining the cooperation between all the unions in the region is a positive element and a good basis for further cooperation focussing on the trade union agenda. To consolidate this achievement through concrete actions and policies is a major challenge for the forthcoming period.

5. A better participation from ETUC affiliates from Northern and Central Europe would be highly welcomed by our Southern partners, especially from those affiliates that are running bilateral cooperation projects.

6. Synergy between regional projects and institutions close to trade unions focussing on the cooperation in the Mediterranean region could considerably improve the efficiency of the Forum.

7. The position of the social partners in the intergovernmental process is still weak. Neither the Euromed Trade Union Forum nor the Union of the Employers Confederation in the Mediterranean (UMCE) have been invited to the next Euro Mediterranean Summit to be held on the 27-28 November in Barcelona while the Chamber of Commerce, the ECOSOC and the NGO platform were invited. Although our Spanish and British colleagues made efforts vis-à-vis the respective governments, the ETUC did not receive an invitation to be present. This attitude is totally unacceptable and not in line with the need to promote social dialogue both at the national and at the supranational levels.

Recommendation

8. Trade union pluralism is gaining ground in the Southern Mediterranean countries. This is reflected by the fact that WCL has got affiliates in the Southern Mediterranean region. WCL had asked to be associated to the Euromed Trade Union Forum and this matter was discussed both with the ICFTU and the ETUC.

The ETUC secretariat asks the Executive Committee to endorse the association of the WCL to the Euromed Trade Union Forum.