I am pleased to address you as General Secretary of the ITUC’s Pan-European Regional Council as well as on behalf of the ETUC.

At the ITUC’s Vienna founding Congress, I said that the European Trade Union Confederation didn’t belong to the Greta Garbo school of social interaction. We didn’t pine to be alone. We wanted to help the new organisation, to nurture it, to support it, without compromising our essential role and position.

I think we have succeeded, thanks to the exemplary cooperation we have had with Guy and with Michael Shmakov who has presided over the PERC since its creation in Rome in March 2007. For the first time, Europe’s unions from Porto to Vladivostok; from the Arctic Circle to the Central Asian steppes, have been able to talk, and listen, to each other within the ITUC framework.

It has not always been easy. Governments, states, in our region have been at odds – indeed we have seen armed conflict, which we deeply regret. But as unions we have been able to keep more than a semblance of unity among us. We have all worked to stay together, to move forwards together.

It has not always been easy. Governments, states, in our region have been at odds – indeed we have seen armed conflict, which we deeply regret. But as unions we have been able to keep more than a semblance of unity among us. We have all worked to stay together, to move forwards together.

We now have an extensive programme of cooperative activities; solid structures for women and youth; a good communications operation. PERC is a solid, professional organisation, a credit to the ITUC, and I would like to thank Jaap, Grigor and the staff for helping to build it so.

We have faced, are facing, massive challenges. They confront everyone in this room and are central to the debates this week.

I am sorry to say that Europe, the European Union in particular, has not risen to those challenges in the way we would have hoped. After spending years to agree a political, constitutional, settlement aimed at enabling our Member States to work more closely together, we have been confronted with the rise of divisive nationalist sentiments as our economy ruptured under the crisis of financial capitalism.

I am sorry to say that Europe, the European Union in particular, has not risen to those challenges in the way we would have hoped. After spending years to agree a political, constitutional, settlement aimed at enabling our Member States to work more closely together, we have been confronted with the rise of divisive nationalist sentiments as our economy ruptured under the crisis of financial capitalism.

Europe’s economic weight, which we hoped would underpin the propagation of a civilised social model that includes trade unions, is dissipated. We have been met with deaf ears in our calls for an integrated plan for European recovery.

We now see a lemming-like stampede towards exit strategies – reflected at international level in the seriously worrying recent about-turn in G20 thinking – with expenditure cuts across the board reflecting a unity of purpose that is severely lacking when it comes to acting together to properly regulate the financial markets, starting with a Financial Transaction Tax.

This smacks of a panic response to the market manipulators. And the worse thing you can do is to panic and rush together towards the exit when there is a fire in the house. We have consistently warned that the EU risks being the new President Hoover who applied austerity measures in a recession in the 1930s and triggered the Great Depression.

Europe’s workers are angry. You can see it on the streets of so many of our towns and cities from Athens to Copenhagen; from Madrid to Bucharest. They are angry because they are being made to pay for the greedy mistakes of others.

Europe’s workers are angry. You can see it on the streets of so many of our towns and cities from Athens to Copenhagen; from Madrid to Bucharest. They are angry because they are being made to pay for the greedy mistakes of others.

They are angry at the hair-shirts they are told to wear while bank profits soar, bonuses are back, taxes remain unpaid by the wealthy. They are angry, as unemployment rises –we are hitting 23 million – and public expenditure falls, while pensions come under attack. But we must ensure that their anger is not diverted against the others, the foreigners, the migrant workers at the bottom of the pile, not just from other EU countries but from around the world.

We will channel that anger. All workers must be treated equally according to the prevailing terms and conditions provided by law or collective agreements that apply where they work. Market rules must not trump fundamental rights. We need a more sensitive, less rigid approach from our European leaders to reconcile growth and debt repayment if Europe is to avoid a double dip recession.

The ETUC is calling for a mobilisation on 29 September across Western Europe. We will also support the World Day for Decent Work on 7 October.

The ETUC is calling for a mobilisation on 29 September across Western Europe. We will also support the World Day for Decent Work on 7 October.

European workers are fighting, with still much to defend, with right and logic on their side. European welfare states have provided the automatic stabilisers to keep us on an even keel. There are economic benefits to social provision.

And we are fighting for growth as a priority. Though we have many issues with European employers, we have been able to reach common positions in that direction.

In the battle for global justice we are with you, colleagues from other continents. We speak as one when we say “Now the People”. We will continue to act together with the ITUC, and help bring into effect the decisions of this great Congress.

Finally, once again, I would like to thank Guy for his leadership, his incisiveness and patience, and his friendship. Au revoir, not adios amigo.