Brussels, 19/06/2009
{‘I was disappointed but not surprised to read the Declaration on Workers’ rights - disappointed with the text and with the status it has. Nowhere does the text mentions the issue of a social progress protocol and the need to revise the Posted Workers Directive whose weakness is at the heart of renewed disputes in Lincolnshire in England. It is a Declaration only, not legally binding, whereby the other points for the Irish are a legal guarantee (neutrality, etc). We will continue to pursue our points with the European Parliament.
This relegation of social questions is not good enough. The Council is failing Europe’s citizens’.}