"This deal is a strong political signal enabling Europe to move forward. Everyone has made progress in this context," declared General Secretary John Monks.

The ETUC had, however, called for a larger budget that would be capable of meeting strong European ambitions and, in particular, of making real progress on the Lisbon Agenda and forward-looking projects on research and development, innovation, and so on. And while it welcomes the budgetary agreement, the ETUC regrets a reduction in the allocation for Structural Funds to promote solidarity between populations and territories.

The ETUC also stresses that social policy is a pillar of the construction of Europe that must be guaranteed adequate financial resources in order to maintain and strengthen the European Social Model, as well as meeting the challenges arising from enlargement and globalisation.