The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) supports the report on the mid-term review of the Lisbon Strategy, commissioned by a High Level Group (HLG) led by Wim Kok and presented today to the European Commission, but at the same time it notes several shortcomings. According to the European Trade Union movement, European social dialogue and social partnership are indeed the key to achieving the Lisbon targets. John Monks, General Secretary of the ETUC, declared: “The high level group’s basic approach is the right one. Lisbon is about strengthening social cohesion and sustainability, and about social dialogue and social partnerships as an essential part of Europe’s competitive advantage as well as an indispensable means in reaching high growth and employment. Lisbon is definitely not about scaring European workers and citizens with a narrow agenda of pure deregulation and cutbacks in their living and social standards being decided over their heads.” Nonetheless, the report focuses on only two aspects of the Lisbon Strategy - employment and growth - whereas the strategy should give equal weight to social cohesion and sustainable development: these four elements have to work together to guarantee success. The ETUC believes, therefore, that to reach the objectives set in Lisbon it is crucial to develop meaningful policies for social cohesion and sustainable development, since these are not necessarily the spontaneous outcome of the two other priorities.

The ETUC supports the HLG’s call for:

 Measures that strengthen the European social dimension as a force for productivity and growth: it is wrong to see the call for more reform as a code for weakening worker rights and protection. Instead, the report argues that ‘social policies not only combat poverty, they also contribute to increasing labour supply, to a more productive work force and hence to higher economic growth’.·

 Policy design through social dialogue and in close collaboration with social partners, both at national and European level: involving social partners through ‘a partnership for change’; national action plans to be subject to debate with national social partners; European social action programme to contribute to the implementation of Lisbon. ‘Social dialogue is essential to Europe’s productivity and ability to adapt to change.’

 A macro-economic framework underpinning structural policies by being as supportive as possible of growth, demand and employment: Reform cannot take place against a background of stagnating or slowly rising demand. ‘The wider macro-economic framework, both the pursuit of monetary and fiscal policy, must be as supportive to growth as possible. Against such a background, delivery of Lisbon is all the more likely to take place.’ Here, the ETUC shares the HLG’s criticism of the inadequate response of fiscal policy to the current downturn and advocates a reform of the Stability Pact in order to allow Member States to implement the Lisbon agenda by effectively investing in key priorities such as innovation, lifelong learning, social policies, quality of work and sustainable development.

The ETUC underlines the HLG’s approach to issues such as an internal market for services, early retirement practices and lifelong learning.

 The HLG’s emphasis on an internal market for services is accompanied by a strong call for attention to be paid to concerns in society. ‘It is inconsistent with the Lisbon model to achieve competitiveness at the price of social dumping.’ For the ETUC, this implies a radical overhaul of the Commission’s current approach in its proposal for a services directive.

 The active ageing strategy of the HLG calls for a comprehensive strategy, with concrete and real alternatives to early retirement systems through incentives, investing in lifelong learning and improving working conditions and quality of work. For the ETUC, it’s not simply about abolishing early retirement regimes. A comprehensive ageing strategy implies better health protection, improved work organisation, and an intergenerational pact allowing younger workers to learn from older ones.

The ETUC notes the HLG’s focus on investing in innovation, lifelong learning, childcare and care of the elderly, addressing discrimination and the gender pay gap and quality of work. The ETUC strongly emphasises the fact that collective bargaining practices and institutions address these issues in many Member States and, in particular, guarantee a more equal access for all workers. As such, collective bargaining practices need to be promoted and supported, not attacked as is now the case in some Member States, including that of the current EU Presidency.

Finally, the ETUC welcomes the HLG recommendation ‘to adopt the implementation of the Lisbon programme as part of the common work programme of European Social Partners’. Therefore, the ETUC calls upon all actors to engage in a new European social partners’ action programme in line with the Lisbon agenda. In these times of uncertainty, with many workers feeling threatened by ongoing restructuring and ‘delocalisation’, a stalemate such as a social moratorium is certainly not the way forward. Instead, an ambitious European social partners’ action programme providing security for workers in a changing environment is urgently needed.

The ETUC will remain watchful, with a view to ensuring that the Lisbon Strategy is respected in its totality.