Introduction

The Irish Presidency will be confronted during the first half of 2004 with a highly complex and at the same time very challenging political agenda: The elections of a new European Parliament, the Commissioners of the accession countries taking office, the preparation of the appointment of the new Commissioners, the starting of the process of ratification of the new Constitution.

The unification of Europe and the conclusion of the final preparations will have to be achieved under a new international political and economic context that is of great concern to the European Trade Union Confederation. The economic and social situation in Europe has been deteriorating, making the achievement of the Lisbon targets increasingly difficult. The ETUC considers that the European Union and the European Council are not addressing this issue with the urgency required. Too little is being done to address the needs of the real economy or the risk of deflation present in several parts of Europe, with a consequent vicious spiral of increasing unemployment, and declining growth. Europe needs a strengthened economic governance, based on the intelligent application of the existing Treaty provisions. This will be important in order to address the current serious social situation and to provide a coordinated and positive response to the concerns of citizens and workers regarding the deterioration of employment and the restrictive and negative approach followed in many European countries vis-à-vis the future of social protection. The ETUC expects the Irish Presidency to use its influence in order to address this issue, taking the principles of the European social model as its starting point, rather than the neo-liberal approach that seems to be privileged in several European countries.

The EU must show its ability to make a difference, through the development of its decision-making competence, its identity and social vision, by strengthening its role in international governance, playing thus a key role in mastering globalisation, promoting sustainable development for all, advocating peace, democracy and human rights in the world.

During the Irish Presidency the ETUC will closely monitor progress on issues concerning the future of Europe, the strengthening of the European identity as well as economic and social developments.

10 SOCIAL TESTS FOR THE IRISH PRESIDENCY:

1. IGC: Ensure a democratic, modern and social Constitutional Treaty for Europe;

2. Lisbon Strategy: Launch measures, consistent with the Lisbon goals, to address the immediate problems facing Europe and pursue the commitment to More and Better Jobs based on economic, employment and social cohesion policies;

3. Immigration: Develop a common EU Migration and Asylum Policy tackling integration and the management of migratory flows ;

4. EWC Revision: End the 3 year delay in the legislative review;

5. Health and safety at work: Implement the Community strategy 2002-2006;

6. Merger Control: Integrate employment considerations and participation;

7. Temporary agency work: Adopt the directive

8. Working time: End the individual ’opt-out’, and restrict other derogations.

9. Services of General Interest: Initiate procedure for a framework directive or impose a legislative moratorium concerning liberalisation;

10. Corporate Social Responsibility: Develop the CSR debate in the framework of the European Social Model, and make it clear that CSR is not an alternative to social dialogue and collective bargaining.

I. The Future of Europe and the Intergovernmental Conference The Heads of State and Government in the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) have failed to avoid a major European crisis. A minority of countries, more interested in national blocking capacities than effective European decision-making procedures, interrupted the IGC. As a result, the European Constitution was not adopted and the work of the European Convention and the IGC has been put on hold.

The ETUC is very concerned that the preparation of the first European Constitution has been interrupted in the final stages. The ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to use this interruption to “make Europe work for the people” and to fulfil key trade union demands, such as the explicit recognition of transnational trade union rights and the rendering coherent of Part III with Part I, by introducing the phrases “full employment” and “social market economy”.

Now the challenge is as big as the despair created by the crisis. It will be very difficult to explain to the public that due to a very small minority, and despite all that has been achieved, the Constitution is momentarily suspended. In view of the upcoming elections to the European Parliament, it is even more important to have a solid European Constitution with a strong social dimension.

The ETUC calls upon the pro-European players to take responsibility and to push forward the process of European integration. The unification of Europe and the deepening of the integration process are inextricably linked.

II. The implementation of the Lisbon Strategy: economic, employment and social cohesion policies

The ETUC considers that the European Union should work towards the reinforcement of the implementation of the Lisbon strategy, particularly the commitment to ‘more and better jobs’, full employment and the creation of a knowledge-based society, an increase in women’s participation into the labour market with the necessary accompanying measures together with a policy mix allowing for a sustainable annual growth rate of 3%. Economic forecasts together with growing social unrest clearly show that Europe is far from achieving these objectives.

At the same time, the economic and social situation is much too serious to continue to use the principles of the Stability and Growth Pact as an excuse to render action impossible. The ETUC recognises the need for rules allowing for a strengthened economic governance at European level. However, these rules must be sensible and applied intelligently. In current circumstances, it does not make sense to force Member States into taking restrictive, pro cyclical-measures, pursuing stability as the only objective; rather, they should be encouraged and enabled to adopt, on a coordinated basis, investment-oriented measures which will both help restore confidence and economic potential. The ETUC expects a serious discussion and action on this question from the Irish Presidency.

A new macroeconomic policy mix is necessary to boost growth and employment; moreover a fresh approach to the Lisbon strategy is overdue. As a concrete step in providing a two-handed policy approach, the ETUC welcomes the recent growth initiative of the Commission on investing in European infrastructure and networks.

This initiative signals to investors and consumers that European policy is still concerned with the objective of growth and not only with monetary stability. As such, the initiative has the potential of boosting confidence and is helpful in opening the way to a real recovery in the short run. At the same time, the growth initiative will also raise Europe’s medium-run growth potential by investing in both traditional and modern infrastructure projects as well as by bringing the target of 3% of GDP investment in research and development closer.

The ETUC calls upon the Irish presidency to push the European Commission to improve this initiative further by:

• Investing in human capital by supporting collective agreements on training for workers. If the innovation economy is to succeed, lifelong learning and re-training of workers is essential. • Investing in personal services by improving its overall framework conditions. The development of the services sector in Europe is key both towards higher employment rates as to improving social cohesion with an ageing population. • Investing in environment-friendly technologies, social renovation of main city centres and the development of rural areas.

The implementation of the revised European Employment Strategy will contribute to improving the overall labour market situation as well as promoting equal opportunities between women and men. (Re)Integrating into the labour market those who have been excluded - not by choice or due to over generous social welfare systems but because insufficient jobs have been created - will help us to reach the Lisbon targets. But in order to ensure that we create more quality jobs, issues such as reconciling work and family life, implementing the Barcelona targets on childcare, reducing the gender pay gap, guaranteeing social security rights for atypical workers, providing quality jobs for women and promoting lifelong learning for all must also remain priorities.

The proposals for the economic and social cohesion policies in an enlarged EU and the financial perspectives after 2006 will be presented under the Irish Presidency. The ETUC considers that the community structural funds must contribute to the aims of the European Employment Strategy and to strengthening the European Social Model. In that respect, the financial basis of the Structural Funds must be improved in order to allow for the implementation of policies that are really responding to the needs of all Member States, while improving the institutional links between the labour market policies in the EES and their financing by the structural funds. Furthermore, social partners’ involvement in the operations of the structural funds must be strengthened, including through support for capacity building especially in the acceding countries.

The ETUC expects that the Tripartite Social Summit, organised on the eve of the Spring European Council, will include on its agenda a debate on concrete issues and measures that will contribute to improving the inclusion or the maintenance on the labour market of workers, especially those that are the victims of high levels of social exclusion, namely young people, older workers, women, migrants and ethnic minorities.

III. Social Policy Agenda

The social policy agenda has reached its mid-term. The Irish Presidency must address a number of issues without further delay.

Temporary Agency Work

The inclusion of workers with non-standard employment relationships and in particular temporary agency workers in mainstream employment is a cornerstone of the EU’s employment strategy of more and better jobs. In this regard, extending labour law coverage and collectively agreed arrangements aiming at the inclusion and protection of these workers is indispensable. However, up to now, it has been impossible to provide temporary agency workers with sufficient protection at the European level. Although equal treatment for temporary agency workers, and in particular equal pay with comparable workers in the user enterprise, is guaranteed in most Member States, a blocking minority of four Member States, including Ireland, are seeking to deny equal treatment for temporary agency workers, working for less than 6 months with a user-company. Clearly, this would exclude the vast majority of agency workers from the equal treatment provisions of the draft-Directive, without any compensatory measures or mechanisms. The ETUC considers this to be unacceptable. Adopting the European Directive, providing for equal treatment and basic protection of temporary agency workers throughout the EU is of great importance in view of the enlargement process. In the ten new Member States, temporary agency work is not yet widely used, although it is expected to increase.

The ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to not only reconsider its own position on the issue but also to continue efforts made by previous presidencies in order to arrive at a compromise proposal. Such a compromise should recognise that temporary agency workers should be treated like any other worker, and respect the fundamental principle of equal pay for work of equal value while providing only for derogations of the provisions of the Directive if compensatory legal or collectively agreed measures or mechanisms are put in place, providing temporary agency workers with adequate protection.

European Works Council Directive

The revision of the European Works Council Directive is three years overdue. The European Commission has announced that it would launch a process on this issue in autumn 2003. In any case, the ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to start the legislative review, which is urgently needed. For the ETUC, one of the key objectives is to extend the scope and to strengthen the information and consultation rights in the case of restructuring, issues that become even more urgent in an enlarged EU.

Working Time Directive

Ten years after its adoption, the working time directive needs to be revised, especially as regards two important derogations, which have allowed Member States to continue the practice of long working hours.

Evaluation has shown that the implementation of the Directive has been unsatisfactory and that the extensive and uncontrolled use of the so-called ‘individual opt-out’ has had detrimental effects on the health and safety of millions of workers, as well as on their abilities to combine personal and professional responsibilities.

The ETUC regrets that the recent European Commission communication lacks any concrete proposals to remedy the situation. However, we are looking forward to some courageous efforts from the European Commission in April. The ETUC calls on the Irish presidency to support the European Commission in working towards a modern working time policy that combines flexibility and productivity for enterprises with real choice for workers.

The ETUC also calls on the Irish presidency to support the European Commission in finding adequate and balanced solutions for problems that have arisen in some Member States with the implementation of recent ECJ-judgements on the issue of ‘on-call working time’. Some Member States are considering taking recourse to the introduction of the ‘individual opt out’. The ETUC is of the strong opinion, that the individual opt out cannot and should not be accepted as a satisfactory instrument to protect the health and safety of workers. Adequate and balanced solutions should be worked out, that take account of the basic principles underlying the Working Time Directive and respect the obligations of the European Treaties and Charters, notably to limit the maximum working week for every worker.

The ETUC counts on the Irish presidency to advocate a modern working time policy, that takes account of the long term interests of the European economies, labour markets, and peoples, in which limitation and reduction of working hours goes hand in hand with flexibility and security for both enterprises and workers.

Corporate Social Responsibility

The ETUC is willing to continue playing an active role in the European debate on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, we underline that this debate must be developed in the framework of the European social model and based on the common values of the EU Member States, especially in the context of enlargement, globalisation and sustainable development. It must be clear that CSR is not an alternative to social dialogue.

Gender Equality

Work on the proposed Directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between women and men in the access to and supply of goods and services must be realised and ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to ensure that this is unanimously adopted by the Council of Ministers, following consultation of the European Parliament.

The commitment made to recast the Equality Directives in the areas of employment and social policy must also be upheld and we call on the Irish presidency to ensure that work begins on this without delay.

Health and Safety at Work

Work on the Directive on Physical Agents - Electromagnetic Fields must be finalised after the 2nd reading in Parliament. For the ETUC it is vital that the new directive applies the principles of the framework directive by fully integrating the potential health risks associated with electromagnetic fields, particularly in the risk evaluation carried out by employers as well as the right to medical surveillance for workers who are exposed to such risks. These principles must also be applied to optical radiation, the last part of the physical agent proposal.

The ETUC expects Council to take account, in full, of the provisions and requirements of the health and safety directives (in particular 98/24 and 90/394) when drafting the REACH proposal for the reform of the EU chemical legislation regarding dangerous chemicals in order to ensure a better application of these directives which aim to reduce workers exposure and substitution of carcinogens, insofar as it is technically possible.

Industrial Policy

A European industrial policy is of central importance to the successful implementation of the Lisbon strategy. The ETUC has welcomed the European Commission’s initiative in this respect. European industry faces complex challenges, not the least as a result of industrial restructuring and of the delocalisation and migration of R&D activities to countries outside the EU. It is high time for concrete initiatives to be proposed. The ETUC expects that the European Commission will, according to its work programme, present an action plan in March, where European initiatives will take a clear and concrete shape. The ETUC considers that such an action plan must be complemented by sectorial action plans and that the social partners must be involved in the implementation of industrial policy at all levels.

IV. Social Dimension of the Internal Market

Internal Market for Services

The ETUC considers that the recent legislative proposals presented by the European Commission in the area of the Internal Market have to be improved in order to respect the European rules in the area of information and consultation and participation of workers as well as their impact on employment.

The proposal for a Directive on the Internal Market for Services, with the objective of encouraging the free movement of services, being prepared by the European Commission, should not lead to the destruction of the labour markets or to the disrespect of the current European standards and legislation in the area of free movement.

The ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to closely monitor this issue and to ensure that the European Social Partners are consulted regarding health and safety issues as well as those linked to the posting of workers’ in the framework of the provision of services.

Services of General Interest (SGI)

The crucial role of efficient and high-quality SGI in achieving the objectives and targets of the ‘Lisbon strategy’ is not sufficiently reflected in the Treaties. The ETUC is very concerned that practical preparations are under way to speed up the liberalisation and deregulation of several sectors (directive on services in the Internal Market; water etc.) without a serious pluralistic assessment of the consequences of these processes for service delivery, quality and quantity of jobs, equal access to services and service choice. The ETUC therefore calls for a thorough pluralistic impact evaluation of the liberalisation processes to date that should not be confused with the routine measurement of the implementation of the directives. The parameters for the impact evaluation of the effects of liberalisation need to be wider, to also include social, employment and labour market, equality and environmental data. The reluctance to present a proposal for a framework directive whilst speeding up the liberalisation process is totally unacceptable. If the European Commission is not able to deliver this, it would be logical to impose a legislative moratorium concerning liberalisation until the European Commission is in a position to deliver a framework proposal.

The ETUC reiterates its demand for transparent and democratic regulatory and monitoring structures mandated by public authorities to effectively control the impact of liberalisation of SGI. Such a process should involve workers and their trade unions as well as citizens’ groups. The ETUC-CEEP proposal for a European observatory on SGI should be taken up as part of this. The ETUC asks the Presidency to support these demands.

Merger control

Most mergers in recent years, instead of boosting the value of the companies involved, merely destroyed large numbers of jobs, causing considerable economic problems in regions where the affected plants and companies were closed down. The ETUC calls for the integration of employment considerations into the pending reform of the merger control regulation. The Amsterdam Treaty already obliges the EU to integrate employment aspects into all its policies. The Irish Presidency should guarantee the respect of such an obligation.

V. Western Balkans

The ETUC supports the plans to intensify the Stabilization and Association Process in the region of South East Europe. The key priorities identified and the initiatives to cope with the most urgent problems in the region are of the utmost importance. However, it is surprising that the acceleration of economic reforms, efforts to fight organized crime and corruption, developing free trade and reconciling and securing ethnic and social peace in the region can all be achieved in the absence of sound public support and the exclusion of the social dimension to the transformation process, in particular regarding the involvement of the social partners. It is furthermore regrettable that none of the documents adopted during the Thessaloniki Council refer to the need for employment and social policy to cope with the burden of the reforms.

Social issues are not among the priorities of the activities of EUROPAID, the only important EU source of assistance to the region. Political support for the Bucharest declaration on employment of the labour ministers of the region within the Initiative for Social Cohesion of the Stability pact for SEE has been a step in the right direction but much more will be needed if the process is to produce tangible and sustainable results in the future. Similar initiatives undertaken in the area of pension reform and other areas of social tension will also need more support, as so far the process of change has not necessarily been shaped with the European values and standards in mind.

The ETUC calls on the Irish presidency to consider the crucial input that policies addressing the social dimension of transformation can have on building and maintaining political and social consensus to allow space for the reforms process as well as the role of the social partners in this process and ensure that this is fully respected at all levels.

VI. Immigration and Asylum Policy

The ETUC welcomed the fact that the Thessaloniki Council recognised the need for a common, more structured EU policy on migration and asylum and we call on the Irish presidency to make this a key priority. Such a policy should take a 3-pronged approach tackling: integration and equal rights and equal treatment between persons; the management of migratory flows; and mainstreaming migration and integration in other EU policies, in particular co-development policies.

To do this implies the adoption of a variety of legislative proposals without any further delay and the ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to do so on the following issues:

 A decision on European citizenship, enabling third country nationals, legally resident in the EU to enjoy a status which would give them social and political rights and duties including the right to vote in local and European elections;  Adoption of the Directive on the conditions for entering the EU for employment purposes;  Immediate transposition of the Directive on equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial and /or ethnic origin

Regarding the Directive on Family Reunification, the ETUC supports the stance taken by the European Parliament in December 2003 condemning the provision which obliges children over 12 years of age take an interrogation test before deciding whether or not they may join their parents.

The ETUC also calls on the Irish Presidency to ensure consistency between EU legislation and UN/ILO Conventions and legal instruments of the Council of Europe as well as the ratification of UN and ILO Conventions in EU and Accession States.

With regard to the management of migratory flows, the ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to focus not only on combating trafficking in human beings and on border controls but also provide for support for the victims of trafficking, many of them women, who are victims of sexual exploitation. Measures should be taken to combat the exploitation of undocumented workers in violation of universally applicable human rights, and to effectively punish those who take advantage of their exploitation.

While managed migration must be part of the response to the EU demographic trends, we stress that it cannot be the only solution and underline the fact that migration policies must be developed in parallel with complementary integration measures. We also stress that managed migration cannot mean cherry picking certain skilled workers from developing countries, resulting in a brain-drain effect, nor can it mean importing cheap labour for low quality work.

As regards the mainstreaming of migration and integration policies into other EU policies, the ETUC calls on the Irish presidency to support this, notably in the area of employment policies: specific and quantified objectives should be developed to reduce unemployment amongst third country nationals and workers of ethnic minority origin.

The cooperation of the EU towards a co-development policy with third countries is also central. Immigration must be dealt in the context of the existing co-development agreements such as the Cotonou-agreement and the Barcelona process in the Euro-Mediterranean area. Furthermore, readmission agreements with countries that do not have EU co-developments agreements, such as Pakistan, should also contain co-development clauses.

VII. EU-MERCOSUR Association Agreement

The ETUC has publicly expressed on several occasion its strong support for the negotiation of the association agreement EU-Mercosur. However, there appear to be difficulties in concluding these negotiations despite the fact that the European institutions consider them to be amongst the main priorities of the EU’s external relations dimension.

In view of the preparations of the next negotiations round, to take place in Buenos Aires, and the EU-Mercosur Summit, to be held in May in Mexico, the ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to develop efforts leading to the quick conclusion of the negotiations. At the same time, ETUC expects the agreement to include a social dimension, together with the economic, political and cultural dimensions. Furthermore, the ETUC considers that the European Social Partners should be more closely associated to the discussions on the social aspects of the Agreement.

VIII. The Social Dimension of the ASEM Process

On the occasion of the IV ASEM Summit, held in Copenhagen in the year 2002, the ETUC together with the ICFTU (International Confederation of Free Trade Unions) issued a trade union statement calling for the introduction of a social pillar in the ASEM process, alongside the current economic, political and cultural pillars. At present, issues linked to employment policies, quality of jobs or the promotion of a strong social partnership, relevant for the joint work between the European Union and the Asian region, are not adequately taken into consideration or are simply ignored. The ETUC considers this to be extremely negative, especially in light of the quick pace of globalisation together with the growing presence of European companies to the region.

Preparations for the V ASEM Summit that will take place in Hanoi in October 2004 will be made during the first half of this year, under the Irish Presidency. The ETUC calls on the Irish Presidency to include the discussion on the inclusion of a social pillar in the ASEM process in the preparatory work leading to the V ASEM Summit, taking into consideration the opinion and work developed by the ASEM Labour Ministers in this respect. At the same time, ETUC considers that the European Social Partners should be more closely involved in the discussions on the social aspects of the ASEM process.