If the version of the Monti II Regulation circulated last week is adopted tomorrow, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) will reject it. The ETUC cannot accept any attempt to undermine workers’ rights and social Europe. European workers expect the right to take collective action to be guaranteed without restriction. Neither economic freedoms nor competition rules can have priority over fundamental social rights. In case of conflict fundamental social rights shall take precedence.

Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the ETUC, leaves no doubt that, “a proposal in this direction would be unacceptable to the European trade union movement and we will continue to fight for an effective remedy to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law.”

President Barroso has said he is committed to fighting social dumping. In order to fulfill his promise, the new enforcement Directive on posting should offer effective protection to posted workers and resolve the problems that have arisen because of the ECJ judgments. It will be a major disappointment if this is not the case.

Bernadette Ségol declared “Workers and citizens want a social Europe, which protects their rights. The Commission’s proposal needs to put an end to social dumping in the European Union. It must be effective in protecting posted workers by prohibiting discrimination. Regulation only on administrative cooperation, control, monitoring and enforcement can alleviate the problems but will not reverse the court decisions.”