The Competitiveness Council on 26-27 May 2016 will discuss adopting an "innovation principle" for EU law-making. This would require the Commission to investigate the potential effect of legislation on research and innovation, during the “impact assessment" phase of the legislative process, before it is submitted to the Parliament and Council for democratic debate. This harmless-sounding clause has been strongly lobbied for by several corporate-led organisations.

The launch of the European Commission’s ‘Undeclared Work Platform’ on Friday 27 May is a long overdue initiative to tackle the exploitation of workers and unfair competition for law-abiding employers says the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC).  It is estimated that up to 20% of Europe’s GDP is in the ‘shadow economy’, and  11% of Europeans say they purchased goods or services involving undeclared work last year (in 2013).

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) strongly reject the granting of Market Economy (MES) to China.

Dear Readers,

Commenting on today’s ‘economic package’ and ‘country specific recommendations’ from the European Commission, Veronica Nilsson, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, said “The ETUC is encouraged by the slightly more flexible approach on budget deficits, by the greater emphasis on education and training, employment and fairer taxation than in previous years. It’s good that there are no new fines for excessive budgets although Portugal and Spain face new evaluations already in July.

The European Trade Union Confederation has written to the European Commission demanding that it •           rejects the arguments against the revision of the posting of workers directive in the ‘yellow card’ from some Member States;  •           allows a democratic debate without delay on the existing proposal through the normal EU legislative procedure with governments and the European Parliament.

Trade unions in Europe and Latin America have united in demanding real benefits for working people in any future Bi-Regional Association Agreement between the EU and Mercosur. This week, the two blocs will start negotiations on opening market access to each other’s goods, services, investments and public tenders. Earlier talks were halted in 2012 due to disagreements.

On Friday, the European Commission is expected to announce ‘binding occupational exposure limits’ for 13 cancer-causing substances. “This is important news for the health of workers across Europe,” said Esther Lynch, ETUC Confederal Secretary, “and a hard-won victory for workers and their trade unions.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is demanding EU-level standards to boost workers’ representation on company boards.

The European Commission today issued a package of proposals to reform the Dublin system: Towards a sustainable and fair Common European Asylum System.    The European Trade Union Confederation deeply regrets the lack of ambition and solidarity in these proposals.   Said Luca Visentini, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation:

Hassan Yussuf and Luca Visentini – President and General Secretary of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) respectively – today signed and issued a joint statement on “what needs to be changed” in CETA – the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement. The trade unions on both sides of the Atlantic agree that 5 key changes are needed to the CETA text negotiated in secret and “allegedly no longer open for debate”. The 5 changes are:

According to the Spring 2016 Economic Forecast issued by the European Commission today, economic growth in Europe will remain "modest" in light of an unfavourable global environment. Furthermore, recovery is proving uneven in the euro area, leaving wide inequalities. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is concerned that the Commission's response is to urge further "structural reform efforts" rather than laying emphasis on higher investment and boosting internal demand.

Dear Readers, We have just published the April 2016 edition of the ETUC Newsletter. To read the document, please click here. Enjoy!