Speech given by Bernadette Ségol, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) Check against delivery President and friends, It gives me great pleasure to be with you today. It really does.

Brussels, 10/12/2013 Unfortunately the agreement reached in the council does not set this key principle with the necessary legal clarity. The list of control measures must be open. Contractors in any country must be responsible for enforcing conditions set by law or collective agreements (chain liability) on subcontractors. Problems are particularly acute in the construction sector, but not limited to it. The ETUC will continue to demand a compulsory joint and several liability covering all sectors.

Brussels, 06/12/2013

Brussels, 06/12/2013 Labour ministers will meet on 9 and 10 December to discuss the Enforcement Directive of the Posting of Workers Directive as part of the Employment, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Affairs (EPSCO) Council. In a letter to the responsible ministers, ETUC Secretary General Bernadette Ségol asks EU governments to respect the rights of workers and end social dumping in Europe.

Brussels, 29/11/2013 The report was adopted on 28 November in Vienna and presented at a conference of lawyers from across Europe. The European Commission and the European Central Bank are, due to their involvement in the troika, breaching the primary law of the EU, since the Treaty of Lisbon also includes the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Brussels, 25/11/2013 This “next generation” free trade agreement will include a controversial and unnecessary investor-to-state dispute settlement process (ISDS). In spite of the 18 October EU-Canada deal, negotiations on investment protection and ISDS continue.

Stockholm, 15/11/2013 Check against delivery President, Friends, Thank you for giving me the floor. I bring you the greetings of the European Trade Union Confederation. I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you about our main concerns, our main issues, our main priorities. You will not be surprised if I start by a few words about the crisis we have and are still going through.

Brussels, 21/11/2013 While ETUC understands that this approval was urgent, in order to start the next programming period on time, at the same time it is deeply concerned by the final decisions made on the European Social Fund (ESF), as well as the macroeconomic conditionalities in cohesion policy.

Brussels, 20/11/2013

Brussels, 19/11/2013 The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the Polish trade union confederation, Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie Zwi?zków Zawodowych (OPZZ), would like to take the opportunity of this UN conference taking place in Warsaw, to stress the importance of having an European energy and climate policy that puts the Just Transition into action.

Brussels, 18/11/2013 Against the background of months of growing public discontent at political mismanagement, the Bulgarian parliament has been discussing the budget law for 2014. The parliament’s budget and finance committee will consider this in second reading on 20 November. Constructive trade union proposals advanced in the National Council for Tripartite Co-operation, aimed at dealing with escalating poverty, unemployment, the degradation of public services, corruption and the fight against monopolies have fallen on deaf ears.

Brussels, 14/11/2013 About 120 young trade unionists and youth NGO representatives from all over Europe gathered in Paris for the Youth Summit for Quality Jobs on the occasion of the summit of European head of states and ministers of labour. The summit was complemented by many side events organised jointly by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the French trade unions (CFDT, CGT, FO and UNSA) and the European Youth Forum, with the support of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE).

Brussels, 13/11/2013 Sadly, the prospect of a jobless recovery continues to loom large in Europe. The AGS proposes a continuation of the very economic strategies that have prolonged the crisis and contributed to the decline in employment and the social situation in many countries. A radical change is needed. Europe needs investment not austerity; member states must stop the strategy of an endless race to the bottom based on lower wages and working conditions.