News

The UNI Europa Executive Committee adopted a position paper on EU economic governance titled: For Socially Responsible and Democratic Economic Governance: A Trade Union Checklist. The position paper sets out 12 benchmarks for socially responsible and democratic economic governance in the EU.

Additionally, UNI Europa complements its checklist with the Chamber of Horrors of EU Economic Governance and Squeezing Social Dialogue and Dismantling Social Europe: A Trade Union Analysis of EU Economic Governance. The Chamber of Horrors gives examples of the anti-worker character of the European Country-specific Recommendations. It includes a summary of the Commission’s proposals for national structural reforms for 2013. The Trade Union analysis of EU Economic Governance examines the EU’s economic governance framework from a trade union perspective. It highlights how structural policies and recommendations have translated market-meltdown into a social and humanitarian disaster, interfering in collective bargaining, and depressing wages across the EU.

The documents can be found in the related files tab. We encourage you to disseminate the documents as widely as possible. A turn towards socially responsible and democratic economic governance in the EU is urgently needed; not least to ensure the trade union movement’s continued commitment to the process of European integration.

According to the Commission’s proposals, the rigorous implementation of austerity policies will again be the key objective for EU economic governance. Insisting that fiscal consolidation can only be a matter of spending cuts, the Commission demands that public deficits are reined in by means of rolling back the welfare state and not, in any case, by increasing taxes. Such policies disproportionately affect the vulnerable parts of European society. As a sign against these harmful policies that attack the very fabric of society, colleagues are encouraged to join, disseminate, and support UNI Europa’s ‘Troika Watch’ anti-austerity campaign by visiting the web-page:

https://www.facebook.com/TROIKAWATCH.

EU economic governance is used to dismantle traditional social models irrespective of their economic and fiscal sustainability. This incurs enormous social costs on European society and leads to growing divergence in Europe. Once the proposals of the EU Commission are adopted, they will directly interfere with the work of trade unions at the national level. It is for this reason that trade unions must address this issue in their communication with national governments and with the public at large in order to make our position known to European governments that will ultimately approve the EU economic governance processes and move towards a truly Social Europe.

2013 marks the fifth consecutive year of economic crisis in Europe. The European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), which was once perceived as the biggest leap forward in European integration, has turned into the biggest threat to the European project to date and lies at the heart of global economic woes. The breakout of the crisis can be tracked down to economic imbalances and political inconsistencies that were not adequately addressed. There can be no doubt that an effective system of EU economic governance is urgently needed. From a trade union perspective, an economic governance framework is required that is social and democratic. It must create sustainable upward pressure on incomes, employment and working conditions without interfering in national social security, wage-setting and collective bargaining systems.