Barcelona, 6-7/11/2005
To be checked against delivery
Dear friends,
It has been with a great interest that I have followed presentations and debates at this 3rd General Assembly of the Euromed Trade Union Forum.
The setting up of this structure has been done in close cooperation and together with the ICFTU in 1999, and associating ICATU and USTMA.
Let me recall the main reason for this initiative: it was to give a voice to the world of Labour in the context of the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation of the Barcelona process.
To achieve this, it has been, from the beginning, of the utmost importance, to define and to follow closely a clear trade union agenda, which is about workers' rights, employment, social protection, social justice and equality.
You are all aware that this was not and still isn't an easy exercise. In the course of our cooperation, we've had ups and downs, even though it can be stated today that you all managed to focus more and more on the real content of the trade union agenda.
Listening to the debate yesterday and today, there is still a risk that cannot be ignored: that politics and conflicts are watering down the quality of our cooperation. To this we must resist! All of us!
It would be a strategic mistake to transform the Forum into a platform of general political declarations instead of concentrating on what we exist for.
This does not mean, of course, that we can ignore the political environment we are living in. The final declaration adopted clearly reflects that. But what it means is that we must not fall into the trap of replacing our specific responsibility to represent workers' interests by big rhetoric.
Allow me to comment on a couple of issues that I strongly feel are of major importance:
First - DEMOCRACY
Workers and Trade Union rights cannot be achieved without the democratisation of society. Therefore, democracy and the development of a civil and open society must be number one point in our agenda. There is still a long way to go. ETUC will do its best to press the EU and our governments not to resume the Barcelona process to a simple free trade zone, downgrading the importance of human rights and democratic developments.
Second - SOCIAL DIALOGUE
A real social dialogue is still missing, at the national level but also inside the Barcelona process. Actually, we are confronted by the fact that, at the forthcoming Summit in Spain by the end of November, employers, the Economic and Social Committee and the NGO platform are concerned, but Trade Unions are not. This is totally unacceptable and this is in contradiction with the Barcelona declaration. We will work on that, expecting that this will be changed.
The European Trade Union Forum has to be considered as a valuable social partner to be listened to and to be consulted on all the issues that concern the workers. Our final declaration is underlining that very clearly. In that respect, the Forum should continue its efforts to relaunch relations with the Union of the Mediterranean Confederation of Enterprises. This relation had, unfortunately, been blocked. I welcome the fact that the Employers Confederation is present here and I hope that this can be considered as a positive signal. As Social Partners, we have some common interests to defend. And together we should strengthen the dimension of social dialogue in the Barcelona process.
Third - We must CONSOLIDATE, IMPROVE and OPEN the Forum's structure to be better prepared, to intensify our relations and to make our cooperation more consistent. As you all know, the unification of the international Trade Union movement is on the way. This is an historical challenge for the world of Labour and will be a relevant answer to the process of globalisation. This will have consequences for the Forum's structure. ETUC is clearly in favour of inviting the WCL to join the Forum, the sooner the better. I sincerely hope that the consultative Coordination Committee will facilitate the process.
This third Assembly of the Forum clearly underlined the need to make our cooperation stronger and better. Let us do that together in a spirit of tolerance and mutual understanding.