“The Lisbon Strategy will never work if policy-makers decide that economic policy should take precedence over social policy. At the moment, there is a widely held, almost theological belief in too many Member States, and in parts of the Commission too, that any regulation will kill off growth and competitiveness and harm employment. That has clearly not been the case in some outstanding European success story countries such as Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Austria. They have promoted “flexicurity”, a concept the ETUC supports. This promotes good standards which help growth and change.

That is the method for Europe to advance afresh.”