Brussels, 24/07/2012 The ETUC General Secretary and the Portuguese trade union delegation lead by their General Secretaries will meet later on today, the Portugal's Prime Minister, Pedro Passos Coelho and the President of Portugal, Cavaco Silva. In the afternoon, the high-level union delegations with some representatives of the Portuguese parliament’s Commission are also received by the President of the Parliament, Maria da Assunção Esteves.

Brussels, 20/07/2012

Bruxelles, 17/07/2012

Brussels, 29/06/2012 The European summit, which has just ended in Brussels, took place in an extremely serious economic context. Admittedly, urgent measures have been taken to relieve the pressure on Spanish and Italian debt - the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will support the banks to ease the pressure on sovereign debt. However, the ETUC is not convinced that these measures are adequate to meet the challenges to which the EU must respond in order to regain the confidence of citizens and workers.

Brussels, 27/06/2012 Three years of austerity and competitive deregulation have resulted in economic stagnation, rocketing unemployment, rising inequalities and social despair. Europe is caught in an austerity/depression cycle and this explosive cocktail is leading Europe to a point of no return. To save the single currency, to save the project of European integration, the Council will have to take a major leap forward. For the ETUC, this major leap forward must be based on a Social Compact: To save Europe, we urgently need to save the people.

Brussels, 06/06/2012 The European social model should be promoted, not attacked. As much as fundamental rights, wages also contribute to getting out of the crisis, whereas deregulation has contributed to an increase in unemployment and widened inequality to the point of creating an untenable economic but also political situation.

Brussels, 22/05/2012 The economic situation of Europe is more than dire and many trade unions are mobilising to express the social anxiety of workers and citizens.

Brussels, 15/05/2012

Brussels, 10/05/2012

Brussels, 30/04/2012 Growth is now at the heart of European debates. Since Mario Draghi’s declaration, Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council sent a letter to the Heads of State encouraging them to foster growth. Angela Merkel is also calling for growth without renouncing the Fiscal compact.

Brussels, 30/04/2012

Stockholm, 25-28/05/2012 The invitation to contribute to this celebratory anthology of the LO prompted me to discuss my vision for a European future from a trade union perspective that takes into account matters dear to my heart and emphasizes Social Europe.

Brussels, 28/03/2012 The labour market reforms currently being put in place in many European countries, and particularly in Spain, are a matter of serious concern to the ETUC. They are unfair and unacceptable because they attack social protection policies, labour law and collective bargaining. Spain's political leaders – pushed by European Union requirements - are following a disastrous logic that leads to recession and unemployment. Constructive social dialogue is essential to prevent workers from having to pay for the crisis.

Brussels, 23/03/2012 The trade unions are no longer the only ones to recognise and to assert that austerity does not work. The collateral effects of austerity such as downward pressure on wages and the attacks against the European social model must stop. The ubiquitous claim that the Welfare State impedes economic growth and competitiveness is unacceptable. It is ideology in the guise of pragmatism. The priority is quality employment and the need for a stimulus plan for sustainable growth.

Brussels, 16/03/2012

Brussels, 07/03/2012 Greece is being pushed to one of the deepest economic slumps in modern times, forecast to cumulatively reach wartime recession levels of 25%–30%. Sacrifices imposed on workers, pensioners and their families are without precedent in the post war period. With more than one million unemployed, nearly 30% of the population has shifted to below the poverty line. Nearly a quarter of a million people rely on relief work for a daily meal.

Brussels, 07/03/2012 The ETUC Executive Committee meeting on 7 March 2012, expresses its full solidarity with the working people of Greece who are gravely and irreversibly affected by losses of jobs and income that erodes their ability to address the negative impact of the crisis.

Brussels, 02/03/2012

Brussels, 01/03/2012

Brussels, 28/02/2012

Brussels, 23/02/2012 The effects of the financial, economic and social crisis have reached unbearable levels in several countries. Faced with the extreme seriousness of the situation, European leaders are making the race for austerity their priority response. The crisis serves as a ready-made pretext to attack the European social model, justify cuts in wages and public services, weaken social protection, make the labour market hyperflexible, and attack trade union rights.

Brussels, 21/02/2012

Brussels, 2010

Brussels, 14/02/2012

Brussels, 07/02/2012