Brussels, 23/03/2009
John Monks, ETUC General Secretary, declared: 'I regret the decision of the European authorities to downgrade the Employment Summit, due to be held in Prague on 7 May 2009. This decision is a very bad signal to citizens and workers as it suggests complacency. This gives the impression that European leaders are not sufficiently concerned about unemployment and we lose now a major opportunity to be heard at the very top level. We will contribute to the diminished summit in the interests of European workers but this strengthens our call for people to support the European Action Days called by ETUC in mid May. We need a European-wide coordinated effort on jobs and we are not getting it'.