CLEG President's Letter:
From Claude Moraes MEP
Dear Friends,
Welcome to the President's Letter for summer 2008. As I write, the EU finds itself in a place of uncertainty. After the Irish rejection of the Treaty of Lisbon, no one knows how the EU is going to progress or what will happen in coming months. The EU was preparing itself to move forward and focus on the important issues including climate change, energy security and further EU enlargement. Now there will have to be further inward examination and reflection which cannot be good for the citizens of Europe nor for the image of the EU.
All of us in CLEG can identify positive and important developments in the EU from our own political perspectives. From my perspective social policy progress is a key area. When the French rejected the previous treaty in 2005 one of their main concerns was the neglect of the social dimension of Europe. Now, three years later, we are facing a global economic downturn and so citizens will be turning to the EU to protect them in times of fear and uncertainty. However in recent months there have been a number of judgements passed down by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) which do little to placate these fears. Instead the judgements have serious implications for workers across the EU. The cases - known as Viking, Laval and Rüffert - concerned companies from one member state operating in another and using labour from which ever country was cheaper. For more information see ECJ press releases on
Rüffert,
Laval and
Viking.
The ECJ consistently ruled in favour of the companies and against the trade unions which has caused many to argue that these rulings open the way for social dumping and exploitation of cheap labour - something which internal market rules have tried to avoid.
The ECJ judgments were based on legislation adopted under the existing European treaties and the general view is that the Treaty of Lisbon would make it easier to rectify the current legal situation thanks to its changes to the decision-making procedures. The Treaty also contains some important new social safeguards that do not exist in the current treaties, and the treaty makes the Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding on the EU institutions. The charter includes a number of social and workplace rights, including the right to negotiate collective agreements, take collective action and to fair workplace conditions. The EU institutions and member states, when implementing EU law, will have to respect these rights.
The social legislation aspects of the Lisbon Treaty are often overlooked but demonstrate another reason why ratification is important. In the meantime, I am happy to say that there have been some significant
advances from Brussels in social policy in recent months. Agreement has finally been reached by member states on a Directive on Temporary Agency Workers and a revision of the Working Time Directive. Both of these pieces of legislation had been tussled over for a number of years and the agreements mark an important point for moving forward. Both files will come back to the European Parliament for MEPs to have their input in the autumn. It is unlikely that things will go smoothly but it is good that the stalemate has been resolved for the time being.
Another major achievement on the social front is the announcement of a new
directive against discrimination. EU legislation outlawing discrimination on the grounds of race in goods and services already exists but this newly proposed law will extend rules to cover discrimination on the grounds of age, disability, sexual orientation, and religion or belief. I have fought hard with my colleagues to ensure that all grounds for discrimination are covered equally under the law to prevent a hierarchy of discrimination.
Members of CLEG come from all political parties and varied, often influential backgrounds. What unites all of us is a commitment to this unique European project which faces huge challenges following the Irish referendum. During this challenging time, it is vital that we all maintain our positive European outlook and communicate the achievements of the EU as we see them in our spheres of activity and influence.
I wish you a very pleasant remainder of the summer and look forward to continuing our common work in the future. I would, too, like to extend my thanks and encouragement to all active members and organisers of CLEG.
Let’s keep up the good work!
Claude Moraes MEP
President of CLEG
July 2008
Read more of Claude's work as a London MEP or
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