THE EU has downgraded a jobs summit scheduled to take place in Prague at the beginning of May over fears that it would not produce enough concrete results.
The employment summit was initially called in February by Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek in response to public criticism from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who accused the Czech presidency of the EU of not doing enough to tackle the economic crisis. But at last week’s EU summit Mr Sarkozy proposed to other EU leaders that the summit be downgraded because it risked prompting unrealistic hopes.
Britain, Italy and Germany all supported Mr Sarkozy, noting that most policy tools used to meet the problem of unemployment rest with national governments rather than the EU.
A Czech presidency spokesman confirmed the summit would not be a full meeting of all 27 EU leaders but rather would involve the leaders of the EU troika – the Czech Republic and the two future presidencies Sweden and Spain. The European Commission and the social partners will also be present at the downgraded meeting, although it is still not clear whether the event will be held in Prague or Brussels.
The decision to demote the summit has irked the European Trade Union Congress which accused the EU of complacency. “It gives the impression that European leaders are not sufficiently concerned about unemployment, and we lose now a major opportunity to be heard at the very top level,” said congress secretary general John Monks.
It also underscores the tensions between Mr Sarkozy and Mr Topolanek who clashed publicly in February over protectionism.