Today Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the leaders of Spanish trade unions demand investment in growth and jobs in a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy in Madrid.

Speech given by Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary CMKOS Congress   Check against delivery     Friends, Thank you for inviting me to speak to CMKOS congress, on behalf of the European Trade Union Confederation. It is 10 years since the Czech Republic joined the European Union. The Czech people wanted the democracy, fundamental rights and freedom of movement that the EU guarantees.

Copies of today’s European Voice - the leading EU affairs weekly -  delivered to the European Commissioners and Director Generals, European Council, MEPs offices and member state Perm Reps, came with an extra four pages wrapped around the cover featuring last week’s Euro demonstration and the ETUC's 'New Path for Europe' campaign. See the ETUC ‘wrap’ around the European Voice

Dear Readers, We have just published the Special Edition "A New Path For Europe" of the ETUC newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!

Speech given by Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the ETUC 2 April 2014, Autoworld, Brussels Check against delivery

  Commenting on today’s Euro demonstration for a new path for Europe, Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said     “50,000 people from 21 countries across Europe made a huge effort to come to Brussels to demonstrate peacefully against austerity, against unemployment and for new policies to create jobs and growth.

Comments on Brussels Euro-demonstration  - 04/04/2014 - #NewPathDemo Photos of the Euro-demonstration ETUC European Voice Wrap  

  Tomorrow, the European Trade Union Confederation is holding a Euro-demonstration in Brussels demanding the end of austerity and proposing a new path for Europe, for investment, quality jobs and equality. At least 40,000 workers from 21 European countries will to take the streets of Brussels to express their dissatisfaction with the economic situation and the economic policies being pursued. 

On April 4 some 40,000 trade unionists from all over Europe will march through the centre of Brussels to the EU quarter. For some Belgians this might seem yet another inconvenience caused by Brussels being home to the EU institutions – like the traffic chaos caused by the arrival of Prime Ministers for European Summits, or the security surrounding the recent visit of President Obama.

 Key Messages   To ensure a full recovery, Europe needs structural investments, fair pay and decent working conditions for all workers. The ETUC therefore calls on the Spring European Council to adopt a new direction as, without a radical shift in policy, the European Semester 2014 will do nothing to secure a sustainable recovery.

Tomorrow a delegation [1]of young European trade unionists will meet the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso to ask for a change in current austerity policies. In 11 EU member states youth unemployment is over than 25% and it is 50% or higher in Greece (57%), Spain (56%) and Croatia (52%).   Young people are struggling to find jobs, to further their education and have to migrate.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. Photos of the Euro-demonstration: https://www.flickr.com/photos/etuc-ces/sets/72157642489103744/ As EU leaders prepare to gather in Brussels for their spring summit, they continue to undermine the European project by prolonging the financial and social crisis and alienating millions of people across the union.

Austerity is not working, and a new path for Europe is urgently needed, European trade union leaders warned at an unprecedented union summit in Brussels today. “Real wages have fallen over the last five years in most EU countries” said Bernadette Ségol, Secretary General of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).

This cartoon is part of the ETUC campaign "A New Path For Europe'.

On the eve of the European Summit and a few months before the 2014 European elections, the European trade union intends to open the discussion on the major issues of the elections and on its proposals.  Pictures of the European trade union summit: More pictures available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/etuc-ces/sets/72157642541955913/   Bernadette Ségol's statement at opening introduction: "Austerity is not working":

The live streaming of the European trade union summit will start at 2 pm  

The live streaming of the European trade union summit will start at 2 pm <iframe width="768" height="432" src="http://player.cdn01.rambla.be/html/rmplayer6.html?cdn=cdn01&user=ipc&file=257.smil&app=rtplive-ipc&event=1&autostart=1” style=" border:="" 0"=""></p></body></html>

Speech given by Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Committee on International Trade - EU Trade Policy To be checked against delivery   President, I would like to thank the Committee for your invitation to discuss EU trade policy, on behalf of the European Trade Union Confederation to which are affiliated national trade union confederations in the EU, and more widely in Europe, as well as European federations covering all industrial sectors.

Joint text by Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary, Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament   

Brussels, 2014

Europe risks a triple-dip recession, and needs a programme of public investment, to restore growth and create jobs. The ETUC proposes an investment plan of 2% of EU GDP per year over ten years, leading to sustainable growth, to an environment friendly reindustrialisation of Europe and to social investments.  The plan would bring 11 million new jobs: /documents/etuc-declaration-new-european-commission

As the economic landscape is deteriorating fast with the crisis hitting countries worldwide, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has established a specific section focusing on the economic and social crisis. It highlights the early warnings that the European trade union movement has issued regarding the risks inherent to financial capitalism, as well as the positions and actions proposed by ETUC to prevent the recession from deepening further.

Brussels, 09/01/2014 New figures show that Europe still faces a massive employment crisis, with an estimated 26,533 million citizens out of work, an increase from the previous year. Unemployment now stands at 12.1% in the euro area. Despite these statistics, some European leaders continue to push for business as usual policies.