SAK President Lauri Ihalainen: A framework agreement will promote the construction of a social Europe

SAK President Lauri Ihalainen argues that the European trade union movement must seek to build a more social Europe. The first step in this direction will be to enact the new European Union Constitution, which will tend to reinforce the role of labour market organisations in European Union policymaking.

"After the new Constitution has been installed we could seek a social framework agreement confirming the principles of social and working life in all of the Member States &#;8211 a kind of umbrella agreement supplanting the present web of separate agreements," Ihalainen observed at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation – ETUC in Brussels today.

Ihalainen believes that relocation of production and industrial restructuring have fostered a mood of pessimism in the European labour market in recent years. Sometimes the social dialogue appears to have ground to a halt. However, Ihalainen insists that it is precisely the social dialogue that can help us to tackle the challenges now facing the European continent. He views Finland as a favourable example of this, as this is a country in which the social dialogue is more than mere words. The model of a consensus society has continued to be effective in Finland.

In Ihalainen's view the Lisbon strategy is actually a survival strategy for the European social format, as our social format can be sustained only if we accelerate our economic growth and improve our employment rate. The strategic focus on growth and employment is a step in the right direction.

"As we finalise the strategy we must not lose sight of the original idea of Lisbon, which is that the three basic pillars of the strategy are mutually supporting. Any progress in reinforcing the social pillar will in turn and reciprocally support economic objectives. Indeed the Lisbon report notes that the European format is not a copy of the US model, and that reforms may not imply withdrawing employee rights and protection," Ihalainen stresses.

"There can be no question that Europe's recent economic progress has been modest in recent years. The concrete expression of this has been inadequate growth in employment and productivity. This poor performance was not due solely to the global economy outside of Europe, but fundamentally to the fact that Europe has been unable to generate growth of its own. It is becoming clear that the goals of the Lisbon strategy will not be achieved without new measures."

"From the point of view of financial policy the Stability and Growth Pact represents common regulations at European level. Europe will continue to need such a pact and it is my view that the need for this is actually growing. The pact must not be trivialised, but must be reinforced and must focus on the long-term sustainability of public finances. The rising and future generations of Europe already have a major burden to bear in the form of pension commitments. We cannot add to this burden by reckless borrowing. Responsible public financing is also a condition for restoring confidence and optimism in Europe," Ihalainen insists.