| Author (Person) | King, Tim |
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| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.11, No.5, 10.2.05 |
| Publication Date | 10/02/2005 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Tim King Date: 10/02/05 Employers' organisations yesterday (9 February) protested that agreements struck with trade unions would be undermined by the European Commission's "interventionist" agenda for social policy proposals over the next five years. The European trade unions' organisation, ETUC, welcomed the agenda but said that it must be implemented and not just be a statement of good intent. The most vociferous outcry came from the UK employers' organisation, the CBI, which put out a statement saying that it was "appalled" at the Commission's plans. The CBI later toned down the statement, saying that it was "concerned". UNICE, the European federation of employers' organisations, also said that it was "concerned that some of the proposals on the EU social agenda could undermine the Lisbon goals of enhancing growth and employment". A UK government spokesman was much less concerned. He said the previous five-year plan had been "more radical". "We did not want to see a new five-year plan and yet more social Europe and we haven't got it," he said. In particular UNICE and the CBI were riled by the Commission's intention to develop a strategy on restructuring. UNICE and ETUC had already had consultations on the subject. That work would be undermined by a second consultation, said UNICE. The Commission will also propose updating the Union's laws on collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings and aims to Consolidate rules on informing and consulting workers. ETUC General Secretary John Monks said that the Commission had succeeded in demonstrating that social policy would remain a priority for action at a European level, which had not, he said, been self-evident after the Commission's declarations the previous week on the Lisbon Strategy. The agenda was positive, he said, in so far as it included managing restructuring and promoting European works councils, "as tools to cope with the challenges of globalisation". Employers' organisations are protesting that agreements struck with trade unions will be undermined by the European Commission's 'interventionist' agenda for social policy proposals for 2005-2010. This comes as a reaction to the launch on 9 February 2005 of the Commission's new Social Agenda for modernising Europe's social model under the revamped Lisbon Strategy for growth and jobs. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Employment and Social Affairs |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
