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In a letter sent to Van Rompuy and Barroso today, Oliver Roethig, Regional General Secretary of UNI Europa asked for more transparency, especially on the implications for finance sector employees and society at large.



Roethig said, “There has been no official proposal or information but we understand from press reports and other sources that the European Union is proposing that this “banking union” would mean an entirely new banking structure within the Eurozone with far more cross-border links, changing the relationship between countries and their national banks. Consequently it would have enormous impact on the financial system. These discussions should not be going on behind closed doors. We need transparency and we need to know the real impact on the real economy.”



“Trade unions must be involved in these discussions because this so called “banking union” will affect workers most of all; it has the potential to bring massive changes to the working of the financial system and therefore will have a major impact on the working lives of bank employees. It is a pressing matter, as the European Council is meeting next week, and will possibly take a decision without all interested parties having had a chance to put their views. This is also about European citizens’ and employees’ trust in the democratic legitimacy of EU decision making” he added.

Roethig concluded, “It is the bank employees that are the face of a company towards its customers and thus the citizens. To re-establish trust in the financial system, it is key to bring along bank employees. UNI Europa as their European representative body is ready to fully engage with the European Commission to re-establish a financial system that serves the interests of workers and society.”

UNI Europa is calling on all its affiliates to contact the minister responsible in their country to launch a proper and transparent debate before it is too late.



UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings also raised UNI’s concerns on the proposed “banking union” with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the G20.





In the letter to Presidents Van Rompuy and Barroso UNI Europa asked for answers to the following questions:

1. What will be the changes to the current structure of the banking industry and banking supervision? How will this take into account the diversity of the European banking sector and existing national regulatory framework? What would be the impact on countries outside the Euro area?

2. How will the changes affect employment, job security and working conditions in the sector? How are these factors taken into account?

3. With a potential Europeanisation of the banking industry, how will effective employee involvement (information, consultation and participation) be ensured at company group level?

4. Will these changes require supranational governance over national collective bargaining processes? How does the European Commission intend to establish such mechanism in the new proposal?

5. How will the new proposal avoid the moral hazard element of individual banks and create an appropriate framework of risk management?

6. How will the proposal support future investment in the real economy, stimulate economic growth and create jobs to contribute to economic recovery?

7. How will the EU institutions ensure balanced participation of the trade union movement and other non-industry stakeholders in the policymaking process?