Higher taxes on the highest incomes are needed to redistribute wealth and tackle soaring inequality, and increase public revenues and spending. The ETUC supports the introduction of an EU-wide Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) and a common corporate tax of at least 25%. In recent years, shocking levels of tax evasion and fraud, tax avoidance, and tax competition through preferential tax rates for international companies have been uncovered across Europe. They lead to a loss of public funds and general disillusionment with unfair policies that penalise the poor while offering massive benefits to the very rich. These practices must end, and the criminal perpetrators punished. 

      The ETUC reiterates its very strong support for the French trade unions united in their mobilisation for social dialogue and against the pension reform in France. The way in which the French pension reform was adopted, without any dialogue with social partners, is not acceptable. The European Social model is based on social dialogue.  The respect for social dialogue and for the role of social partners is a key component of democracy in Europe and must be promoted, not disregarded.

      In the Laval and Viking cases, the European Court of Justice gave economic freedoms precedence over fundamental social rights, and restricted the right to collective bargaining and action. These judgments violate fundamental rights, set out in national constitutions and legislation, Article 28 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and numerous international instruments. The EU is not only an economic union, but has as its main objective to improve the living and working conditions of its citizens. The principle of social progress is of fundamental importance for Europeans. The ETUC is pressing for a Social Progress Protocol to be added to the EU Treaties to underline this point. Such a protocol would clearly state that economic freedoms cannot take precedence over fundamental social rights. The protocol would be binding at the highest level and influence the decisions of the European Court of Justice. 

      Freedom of movement for people within the EU is one of the four fundamental freedoms on which the Union is built. But fair and efficient labour mobility depends on workers having the same rights in all Member States. Workers and their families should have access to social protection and unemployment benefits, healthcare, education, pensions, and to be covered by local trade union collective agreements on pay and working conditions. Over 11.3 million people of working age live in a different EU country to the one where they have citizenship. Furthermore, some 1.3 million ‘frontier workers’ travel across EU borders to their place of work. The European Commission’s so-called ‘Mobility Package’ published in December 2016 failed to deal comprehensively with the many problems faced by mobile workers, and the ETUC continues to campaign for the rights of mobile workers and their families.

      The ETUC response to the High-Level Group report on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State Position adopted at the Executive Committee Meeting of 30-31 March 2023 Summary of the Position a.  The Final Report of the High-Level Group of experts on the future of social protection and the welfare state in the EU was launched on 7 February 2023.

      Good occupational health and safety benefits both workers and employers, and prevention of risks is key. Pressure from trade unions is a major factor in driving prevention measures. Unions make workplaces safer and union action at EU level to promote improvement in EU Health and Safety rules is crucial. Work-related cancer is the cause of over 100,000 deaths each year. We call on the EU to impose binding occupational exposure limits (BOELs) on at least 50 carcinogenic substances used in European workplaces. Legislation is needed on repro-toxins and nanotechnology and the EU must catch up with other workplace developments like robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Musculoskeletal disorders are the number one occupational illness in the EU, while psychosocial problems such as stress, violence and bullying are increasingly common. The ETUC demands strong, Europe-wide legislation to make European workplaces healthy and safe, with regular, independent inspection.

      The European trade union movement, rejects the war and violence, condemns continuous aggression by Russian Federation against Ukraine and expresses full support and solidarity to Ukrainian people in their fight for democracy, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

      The ETUC was set up in 1973 and now comprises 93 national trade union confederations in 41 countries, plus 10 European trade union federations. Congress, Executive & Steering Committee Congress determines the organisation's general policy. It takes place every four years and is attended by delegates from national confederations and European trade union federations. It elects the members of the Executive Committee, the President, the General Secretary, the two Deputy General Secretaries and the four Confederal Secretaries.

      Much of the ETUC’s external relations work is closely linked to trade relations between the EU and other countries or regions. The ETUC has consistently supported equitable trade regulated by multilateral institutions, and called for strong cooperation between the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the ILO. In recent years, with the faltering of the Doha Round and a proliferation of bilateral trade agreements, the EU has also engaged in bi-regional and bilateral negotiations in which, generally, trade agreements have been included within association, cooperation and strategic agreements. The ETUC agrees that trade and investment agreements should be part of a wider political relationship, and has developed cooperation with trade unions in these countries. The ETUC insists on the strict application of the provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, which lays down that the Union’s external and international trade policies should seek to advance its values in the wider world. These include democracy and peace, the rule of law, the universality and indivisibility of human rights and fundamental freedoms, respect for human dignity, the principles of equality and solidarity, and respect for the principles of the European Charter of Human Rights, the UN Charter and international law. The EU acquis, collective preferences and regulatory practices must in no way be undermined by external trade and investment relationships. The ETUC has an International Matters, Trade and International Development Committee which meets at least twice a year and debates policy positions. The ETUC also collaborates with the Trade Union Development Cooperation Network (TUDCN), an initiative of the ITUC to bring trade unions’ perspective into international development policy debates and improve the coordination and effectiveness of trade union development cooperation activities.