President,

Comrades,

Friends.

I would first like to thank you for inviting me to address your Congress.

I am pleased to visit Lisbon. This is a wonderful town. I sometimes wish that progress in the European process named after it, the Lisbon employment strategy, could fill me with as much optimism.

You are holding your Congress at the beginning of what will be a difficult and challenging year for Europe, and for European workers.

We need to rise to the challenges. There are many of these, but I shall concentrate on two vital issues that will be at the forefront of our minds during the coming period.

One is how to underpin Europe’s social dimension against the forces that are seeking to impose on us American free market, shareholder doctrines. These contradict European values.

The other is how to create decent jobs for all by putting economic growth at the centre of public policy.

Let’s be clear, social Europe is under threat, along with the national collective bargaining and welfare systems in our countries.

There are widespread attempts by Governments, unfortunately including those of the Centre left, let alone those like yours on the right of the political spectrum:

To weaken welfare provision unilaterally; To privatise public services; To undermine social dialogue; To block new social measures at the European level.

All this is unacceptable.

You will recognise much of this in your national experience. I know that the whole Portuguese trade union Movement united recently in a strike against your Government’s policies, and I congratulate you on that.

The fact is that workers throughout Europe are facing the same pressures. We need to work together to face them. I look forward to you and your representatives playing a full role in the work of the ETUC.

The single market in Europe was always going to cause huge changes and restructuring for millions of working people. The accession of 10 new countries on Mayday this year is going to further increase the movement of capital and people, as well as goods and services.

The ETUC has supported the reunification of Europe. Europe cannot be an exclusive, selective club. But this is on the understanding that enlargement should not be used as an opportunity to undermine the rights we all have fought for and obtained up to now. Europe should not lose its identity.

And this identity is based on a strong social platform of worker rights, social dialogue, collective bargaining, decent welfare states and high quality public services and services of general interest.

That is the basis of our demands in the discussions about a new Constitutional Treaty for Europe.

But the fact is that even before the Intergovernmental Conference broke up unable to agree, last month, we were faced with governments refusing to include adequate safeguards for Social Europe in the proposed new Constitution.

They are resisting our very reasonable demands that the policies and instruments set down in the Constitution should be fully brought into line with the positive objectives we had managed to obtain in the text agreed by the Convention on the Future of Europe.

I would on the occasion again thank Emilio Gabaglio, my predecessor at the ETUC who is here today, for the magnificent work he did in representing the interests of European workers in the Convention.

Today, I call for the discussions on the Constitution to be relaunched and, on the basis of the results of the Convention, ensure a proper constitutional basis for Social Europe.

Otherwise, Europe will grind to a halt, the prospect of social advances will recede, and European workers will become more disillusioned.

We need to show results so as to re-energise the support and enthusiasm of working people for the European project.

Of immediate concern are four issues currently blocked in the system. These are a draft directive on temporary agency workers, a review of the working time directive, a review of the European Works Councils directive and a directive on mergers and takeovers with effective information and consultation procedures.

Urgent action is needed to move these issues forward.

At the same time, we must get to grips with the economic malaise affecting much of Europe.

Unemployment is a curse in many of our countries. Here, in Portugal, 200 people became newly unemployed on every single day of last year. There are 40,000 persons unemployed who have a university diploma.

What a waste of talent and of potential! No wonder so many of our young people are dissatisfied and are losing faith in our institutions at all levels.

For Europe as a whole, the deterioration of the economic and social situation makes the achievement of the Lisbon targets increasingly difficult.

There are commitments to creating ‘more and better jobs’ anchored in a knowledge-based society. But how much progress has been achieved on this? Rather, what we see, is an increase in precarious jobs.

The agreed objective of full employment is a long, long, way away.

The European Council is 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. The consequence is a vicious spiral of increasing unemployment and declining growth.

We need measures allowing for a sustainable annual growth rate of 3 per cent. Economic forecasts are less than half that figure. They, together with growing social unrest, clearly show that Europe is far from achieving its objectives.

At the same time as we are dealing with enlargement, we also need to face the other big challenge from the outside world, and in particular China, that is becoming the world’s workshop.

Competition rules are not good enough to respond to such shocks. European values, trade union values, of solidarity are crucial.

And so is the need to reinvigorate European industry.

The fact is that for over 20 years, Europe hasn’t generated independently the levels of growth we need. We have been dependent on that in the United States.

But Europe cannot keep relying on export-led growth to the USA. In any event, the fall in the value of the dollar makes that an unlikely prospect. The aim should be to have a “Made in Europe” period of growth.

Some of our Heads of State are waking up to the risks of deindustrialisation, and to the 45 million jobs that implies.

The critical position in sectors such as information technology and aerospace is of deep concern.

We need to develop the knowledge economy. An economy integrating research, development and innovation for industry and services.

Service sectors and manufacturing industry are mutually dependent.

Without a strong and well-rooted industrial base in Europe, there will be no secure jobs in the production-oriented services.

Friends, until it became virtually inoperative last month, the application of the Stability and Growth Pact, focused on stability at the expense of growth.

It is clear that that must change. We need intelligent economic governance, and not a ‘stupid’ system, as President Prodi described it.

There are indications that the Commission is to bring forward proposals aimed at ensuring that the Pact does not act as a brake on economic development. We hope that it can make sensible proposals soon.

Failure to do so would mean further slippage into intergovernmental deals between the big countries with scant regard for the others. And it is Europe and its institutions that carry the blame.

The EU must show its ability to make a positive difference through the development of its decision-making competence, its identity and its social vision.

And it must be strong enough to give a lead worldwide. Looking around the other continents, we see no other country or region that can do this in a positive direction.

Under the conditions of a globalised economy national-level regulation is no longer adequate. Globally accepted rules must be developed and standards should be raised worldwide.

Europe needs to strengthen its role in international governance, to play a key role in mastering globalisation, in promoting sustainable development for all, and in advocating peace, democracy and human rights throughout the world.

In support of our objectives for a stronger Europe, for a more social Europe, the ETUC is calling on all affiliated organisations to take part in a European Day of action on the 2nd and 3rd April.

I hope that you will be joining a range of activities that will take place in all our countries to demonstrate our support a Europe of democracy, justice, equality, tolerance and freedom.

Our Europe is a social Europe - A social Europe is our Europe.