Irish Referendum on the Nice Treaty

national | miscellaneous | news report Tuesday October 15, 2002 12:51 by pat c

Statement by the ETUC Executive Committee

The following statement was issued by the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation in their meeting in Brussels 9-10 October ***(This is the ETUC position, not mine. I'm posting it here so that people will know the ETUC policy rather than tilting at imaginary positions.)

Irish Referendum on the Nice Treaty

Statement by the ETUC Executive Committee

The following statement was issued by the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation in their meeting in Brussels 9-10 October in which it strongly supports the position of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) in advocating a «Yes » vote in the referendum on the Nice Treaty.

The ETUC represents 60 Million Workers throughout Europe including the Candidate Countries. The Executive Committee is unanimous in expressing the opinion that enlargement will be to the benefit of all workers. It further believes that the Nice Treaty is the only practical instrument for achieving enlargement.

The ETUC is satisfied that the Nice Treaty does not constitute a threat to public services by way of privatisation or otherwise.

Collective action is the foundation stone of trade unionism and enlargement will allow the organised workers of Europe to be more effective in acting to shape and control the forces of globalisation so that the interests of ordinary citizens can be protected.

Brussels 9 October 2002

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EG/DB/WB/dm