ETUC insists rules must not be bent

Date: 22/10/1998

By Simon Coss

THE European Commission should not allow itself to be manipulated into bending EU labour relations rules to suit the wishes of a particular interest group, the leader of Europe's biggest trade union organisation has warned.

Emilio Gabaglio, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), says that the Commission must be much stricter in ensuring that procedures for setting up social dialogue talks - under which trade unions and employers have the option of drawing up draft EU labour laws rather than having rules imposed on them - are respected by all sides.

"There are rules, so let's stick to them. No social partner, and I would include my own organisation the ETUC in this, should be allowed to set the agenda to suit its calendar," he told European Voice.

His call follows last week's decision by the European employers' federation UNICE not to enter into social dialogue negotiations on the rights of workers in firms which only operate in one EU member state, after overshooting the deadline for declaring its position by more than a year.

The rules governing the social dialogue are set out in the Maastricht Treaty. Under the system, the Commission can ask the Union's three social partners - the ETUC, UNICE and the CEEP, which represents public sector bosses - to sit down together to draw up draft labour laws.

But the rules also state that the three sides must say whether or not they want to take up an offer to negotiate within a given time frame.

Following last week's UNICE decision, the Commission will now bring forward its own proposals for EU rules on worker consultation in national companies. But Gabaglio complains that the saga has meant that work on an important piece of legislation has been delayed unnecessarily, arguing that the institution should have been far tougher with the employers' lobby when it kept asking for extra time.

UNICE says it took so long to make up its mind because it is a large organisation with federations in all member states. It argues that it was simply not possible to canvass the views of all its associates any more quickly than it did.

More cynical observers say the organisation employed what were clearly delaying tactics to stave off the imposition of unwanted legislation for as long as possible.

European Trade Union Confederation argues that all the social partners must abide by the rules set up for the social dialogue.