Brussels, 18/04/2013 More than ten years after the Commission launched an initiative on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’, (CSR), it is a fact that less than 10 per cent of Europe’s biggest businesses regularly publish environmental and social information in addition to their financial balance sheets. It is for this reason that, on 16 April, the Commission amended the accounting directives in order to oblige big companies to include a ‘non-financial’ part in their annual report.

Brussels, 16/04/2013

Brussels, 2013

Brussels, 28/03/2013 Already back in 2006, the Commission began their earlier Green Paper on energy policy with the following sentence: “There is an urgent need for investment.” The same document identified “Energy for growth and jobs in Europe” as the first of six priority areas.

Brussels, 27/03/2013 “The conclusions of the High Level Working Group on Jobs and Growth in February, set out proposals on regulatory compatibility and liberalisation, which will have enormous consequences for workers on both sides of the Atlantic”, stated Bernadette Ségol, ETUC General Secretary, “and yet the public is not privy to how the Commission or our governments will define the EU’s mandate. This is a huge challenge to democracy, and will not help engender public support for these negotiations.”

Brussels, 26/03/2013 In his address, the Secretary General of the UGTT, Hussein Abassi, underlined the major challenges his country is confronted with in order to complete the fundamental democratic changes. UGTT will contribute to establish authentic democratic institutions and to work on a broad consensus, based on human rights and social justice.

Alexandroupoli, 22/03/2013 Check against delivery Chair, Dear Friends, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to address your congress on behalf of the European trade union confederation. Your country, Greek citizens, Greek workers in recent years and recent months have been going through an extraordinary painful process. Cuts in wages, cuts in pensions, cuts in social provisions, attacks on industrial relations, on collective bargaining, selling of public assets, political uncertainty,

Brussels, 19/03/2013 The ETUC protests against this unfair decision which is bound to have adverse consequences – not least a loss of confidence in Cypriot banks which will freeze credit for the real economy (investments, exports). Such a decision risks destroying economic activity and jobs in the long term.

Brussels, 15/03/2013 During the European Summit on 14 and 15 March, 15 000 workers from several European countries gathered to urge European leaders to change course. - Press release on the European Summit: http://www.etuc.org/a/11002 - Photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/etuc-ces/sets/72157632872557058/

Brussels, 14/03/2013 The announcement by the Council of December 2012 to the effect that the European authorities would endeavour to strengthen the social dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), including social dialogue, for the Council in June gave rise to legitimate expectations among workers who, increasingly, are starting to think that Europe is part of the problem and not part of the solution.

Brussels, 13/03/2013 The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) congratulates the European Parliament on the adoption, yesterday, of three important resolutions on gender equality and women’s rights, focusing on the impact that the economic crisis is having on women, the elimination of gender stereotypes and the situation of women in North Africa.

Brussels, 12/03/2013 With this reform, the Hungarian government intends to restrict the prerogatives of the Constitutional Court to strengthen its own position. The Constitutional Court has been muzzled. It is an attack on democracy.

Brussels, 11/03/2013 On 15 January 2013, the European Parliament supported a call for a legal instrument on anticipation of change and restructuring, proposed under Article 225 (Treaty of Lisbon). The report won a massive majority of support in the EP (503 for, 107 against and 72 abstentions). Recognition by directly elected representatives that legislative action is urgently needed at European level to address the anticipation of change and ensure effective management of restructuring, and yet the Commission has not reacted in any way to this historic vote.