Dear President, At the end of January, we sent a letter to Vice-President Dombrovskis and Commissioner Thyssen to ask for a social partner consultation regarding the proposed targeted revision of the posting of workers directive.

Brussels, 19 January 2016 ETUC letter of support to Philippe Martinez, General Secretary of CGT French Union  Dear Philippe, The ETUC is gravely concerned about the sentences handed down by the court of Amiens on 12 January for the eight former Goodyear workers. 24 months in prison, of which 9 months are mandatory, is unprecedented. It severely punishes workers who fought for nearly 7 years to save their jobs on their territory.

The COP 21 has delivered a universal agreement which will frame the long term action on climate change. The ETUC welcomes that agreement which concludes a long and complex negotiation process. Giving to the world a global instrument to tackle climate change is a major political breakthrough even though, as stressed below, this agreement is in many respects not as ambitious as we would have wished.

China has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since 2001 but it is not recognised as a market economy by any of its major trading partners, including the EU and the US. China's WTO Accession Protocol allowed WTO members not to grant “Market Economy Status” (MES) to China for a period up to 11 December 2016. Not applying MES to China allows the EU to use alternative methods for calculating dumping margins (that apply to Non-Market Economies, NMEs, often based on the higher prices applying in third countries).

ETUC Economic Policy Committee Statement to the Macroeconomic dialogue at technical level Brussels, 19 January 2016   The ETUC Economic Policy Committee met in Brussels on 19 January 2016 in order to prepare the Macroeconomic dialogue technical meeting.

ETUC position on single market strategy for Europe    Adopted at the ETUC Executive Committee on 16-17 December 2015 Key points The conflict between the exercise of fundamental rights and economic freedoms and the development of unfair competition in the single market can no longer be ignored. The ETUC recalls the importance of quality jobs, the principle of equal treatment between all workers at the same workplace and urges the EU institutions to adopt a social progress protocol.

ETUC assessment of the European Commission Work Programme 2016   ETUC position adopted at the ETUC Executive Commitee on the 16-17 December 2015 Introduction   This paper provides an ETUC assessment of the European Commission’s (EC) Work Programme 2016 (WP) No Time for Business as Usual.  

Key Issues Good work-life balance has a positive impact on the well-being of workers. It can also contribute to achieving major EU policy goals: stimulating employment (especially among women and older workers) and growth; promoting children and youth development; and eventually achieving gender equality.

ETUC POSITION ON THE STRUCTURAL REFORM OF THE EU EMISSIONS TRADING SYSTEM Approved at the Executive Committee Meeting of 16-17 December 2015

Completing Economic and Monetary Union: Rebalancing European Economic Governance (ETUC position) Adopted at the ETUC Executive Committee on 16-17 December 2015 Introduction The Commission Communication of 21 October describes the initiatives the Commission will undertake in stage 1 of the process to deepen EMU. In this stage, the Commission will intensify the use of policy instruments and levers that already exist within the current Treaties in order to improve the functioning of EMU.

Statement from the ETUC Mobility, Migration and Inclusion Committee Stop discriminating against refugees on grounds of nationality! The ETUC has received information from informal and informal sources around the so-called ‘Balkan route’ of entry to the EU that since 19 November 2015, the states of FYROM Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia have been allowing only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis to enter their countries.

The ITUC and the ETUC wish to offer a contribution to the Valletta Summit through this joint statement. This contribution complements and integrates positions that the ITUC and ETUC have repeatedly issued for a rights-based approach to migration and asylum in Europe and worldwide.

ETUC position on the Annual Growth Survey 2016 - for a Europe that works for workers and citizens Adopted at the ETUC Executive meeting on 28-29 October 2015 Introduction This document sets out the European trade union movement’s views and priorities for the 2016 Annual Growth Survey and the European Semester. It builds on the comments expressed in the consultation meeting between the European Commission and the European social partners on 23 September 2015.