Brussels, 12/03/2007
ETUC General Secretary John Monks said: "The Council quite rightly stressed the potential employment-related and economic advantages that the European Union could derive from making the transition to a low-carbon economy. However, this transition will also significantly change the job situation, as a recent study coordinated by ETUC indicates, and what we will need are policies that have been carefully designed and negotiated with the social partners and other stakeholders. Consequently, I would like to see the Commission take an initiative in this direction by calling on the European social partners a) to strive together to identify all the sectors that could be affected by restructuring triggered by attempts to curb emissions, and b) to come up with joint strategies for anticipating and accompanying such changes".
By adopting most of the Commission's energy package and firmly and unilaterally committing to reduce the Union's emissions by 20% by 2020, the heads of state demonstrated that Europe is serious about intending to show the way where measures taken to combat climate change are concerned. In a resolution dating from October 2006, ETUC's Executive Committee called for a unilateral commitment to reduce emissions by some 25% by 2020 and by around 75% by 2050.
ETUC welcomes the objective of increasing the share of renewable energy to 20% of all energy consumed within the EU by 2020 and emphasises the need to step up the support given to such forms of energy, especially the outlay associated with research and development and actual deployment in a bid to reduce the costs of using them. The training of skilled workers also needs to be significantly enhanced if the need to develop such forms of energy is to be met.
In addition, ETUC notes the Council's cautious approach to biofuels and underscores the need to make their development conditional upon a rigorous analysis that takes account of the ecological balance-sheet associated with their use and the impact on the use of crops for food.
The environmental pledges by the European Union definitely need to be transformed into a technological lead if we are to make sure that their impact on employment is positive. As a result, ETUC strongly supports the drafting of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan due to be unveiled in 2008, and calls for the rapid launch of joint technology initiatives (JTIs) in some strategically important sectors, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.
Moreover, ETUC insists that private companies significantly step up their investments in research and development to prepare the way for long-term solutions to climate change, since the current levels of R&D activity are clearly not up to the task.
The unions have a key role to play in raising awareness among workers and training them in their workplace about measures designed to cut emissions. Numerous examples of good practices already exist, and together with the European trade union movement, ETUC intends to play a full role in supporting and multiplying such initiatives by mobilising its Europe-wide network.
Over the next few months, ETUC will closely monitor the legislative proposals that will be needed to transform the decisions taken by the Council into tangible results.