ITUC and ETUC’s letter to Commissioner Piebalgs

Following up on the September meeting with Andris Piebalgs, the European Commissioner on Development, ITUC and ETUC have issued a letter to the Commissioner, summarising the key aspects of the trade unions’ contributions to the European development policy.

On October 6th a letter signed by Sharan Burrow and Bernadette Ségol, the General Secretary respectively of ITUC and ETUC, was sent to Commissioner Piebalgs to follow up on the meeting between ITUC and the Commissioner in September this year.

The letter comments on the recent Proposal of EU common position for HLF-4 in Busan, stressing the role of social dialogue, policy coherence as well as the need for stronger social and environmental standards for private sector in development cooperation, going beyond the voluntary CSR commitments. It also refers to the recently published new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), with an increased budget for Development Cooperation Instrument. The trade unions call for an adequate financial instrument for the support of Decent Work, supported by a number of EU commitments, as well as the revision of the formulation geographic programmes and thematic envelopes. In relation to the envelope for the non-state actors and local authorities, the letter points out the diversity of the actors and the need for support of transnational, networking initiatives, which constitute a large number of successful trade unions projects.
Referring to the fruitful experience of the Structured Dialogue on Effective Partnership for Development process, the trade unions suggest establishing a permanent, participatory and representative structure that would allow this kind of a dialogue happens on a regular basis.

Both organisations have also committed to contributing to the upcoming EC Communication on Social Protection, planned for 2012.

Read the full letter: