Greek Prime Minister Simitis Meets with the Executive Board of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
Date: 31-1-2003
The President of the European Council and Prime Minister of Greece Costas Simitis received the executive board of the European Trade Union Confederation, led by its President Fritz Verzetnitsch, within the framework of the dialogue with the European Union social partners.
Also participating in the meeting were ETUC's General Secretary Emilio Gabaglio, and Deputy General Secretary Erik Carlslund, the President of the Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) Christos Polyzogopoulos and the President of the Supreme Administration of Greek Civil Servants Trade Unions (ADEDY) Spyros Papaspyros.
The meeting took place in the presence of Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis, Labour and Social Security Deputy Minister Lefteris Tziolas and the director of the Prime Minister's Economic Office, professor Gikas Chardouvelis.
After the meeting, which lasted over an hour, Simitis made the following statement:
"Within the framework of the social dialogue being conducted by the EU Presidency, our discussion with the ETUC executive board focused on the major issues which are of concern to European workers.
Emphasis was placed on four central issues:
- The first was the economic and social policy, which will be discussed at the Spring European Council in Brussels in March. It is our aspiration for Europe to again have a high growth rate, because recession mainly hits workers and causes unemployment. We shall discuss the coordination of economic and social policies at the Spring European Council, and in particular how we can increase and improve employment. In this context we also discussed various ways of promoting the European social model, ensuring the safety of workers and making sure that any change in structures will not be at their expense but rather guarantees greater prosperity.
- The second major issue was migration. As we have stressed here in Greece, there are two sides to migration. One concerns the social integration of immigrants and the other the control of the migration flow. And we are most certainly interested in social integration, because this is directly related to workers and good working conditions.
- A third issue was the European Convention, the new Constitution. It is here where workers' rights must be safeguarded and the European social model finds expression.
- What is also self-evident - and this is the fourth issue - regarding our relations with the acceding countries, is that the conditions of accession must ensure that the social benefits and level of relations between workers and employers are such that the position of workers is improved and there is no social debasement that leads to unfair competition in the acceding countries.
Finally, of course, we touched on international developments. It is our common belief that we must do everything possible to secure peace".
The President of the European Trade Union Confederation, Fritz Verzetnitsch, made the following statement:
"We are particularly grateful to Prime Minister Costas Simitis, who agreed to meet with us this afternoon in order to exchange views on issues of major interest. There was a convergence and identity of views.
Please allow me to draw your attention to two points:
The first is our concern about the current rate of economic growth in Europe and the increase in unemployment. We believe that the Spring European Council will focus on the ways and means necessary for the recovery of the European economy. Without high growth rates in Europe, it will not be possible to increase and improve employment. This is our first concern. Of course we understand that the necessary structural reforms must be introduced in our economy.
However, as the Prime Minister just stated, all the reforms - including those relating to the labour market and the modernisation of its structures - must be introduced in such a way that workers do not lose out. These reforms must be implemented in the best possible way, so as to safeguard workers' rights and working conditions. The Spring European Council must take the necessary measures to boost employment in Europe.
The second issue that we discussed was the deterioration of the international situation and the possible war in Iraq. As you can well understand, the entire European trade union movement is most concerned about this possible danger, this very dangerous situation.
First of all, we unanimously expressed our strong and determined support to the Greek Presidency of the European Union for it to continue its efforts in order for Europe to have a single voice and position. We understand that this is difficult, there are different opinions, as we saw yesterday with the letter of the "eight", but we will continue to support the need for Europe to act with one voice on the world scene, and particularly in the case of the current international crisis. We also believe there is still time for a peaceful solution to this very real problem.
Let us be clear: Saddam Hussein is also a problem for all the European trade unions on our continent. This is something we must not forget. However, an alternative solution must be found and war averted. In this context, we shall continue to mobilise our GSEE and ADEDY colleagues in Greece. We will do precisely this on 15 February and anywhere else in Europe, in order to press in the direction and in the interests of peace and our future in Europe"