In the lead up to, and during the negotiations on the Amsterdam Treaty, the European Trade Union Confederation formulated a clear policy and strategy to ensure that the treaty would not just concern itself with institutional and technical issues, but that the opportunity would be taken to renew and revitalise the spirit of European solidarity.
From the start of the Intergovernmental Conference in March, 1996, to the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty in June, 1997, the trade union movement at European and national level pressed for the inclusion of two key issues in the treaty - employment and social rights.
Employment: the long road to Amsterdam
The inclusion in the treaty of a new Title on Employment marks the culmination of a series of important policy decisions and initiatives since the Maastricht Treaty which were primarily the result of the pressures for action on employment put on the European institutions and the member states by the European Trade Union Confederation and national trade union centres. The most important developments were:
the Commission's White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment (1993)
the Essen Employment Guidelines (1994)
the Confidence Pact on Employment (1995)
the Dublin Declaration on Employment: The Jobs Challenge (1996)
The key trade union demands on employment can be summarised as follows:
recognition of the need to develop a co-ordinated European policy on employment
setting employment targets and giving them the same status as the monetary criteria for EMU
putting in place an effective mechanism to monitor progress in the member states and to intervene if necessary
education and training activities to be increased at all levels
investment to be oriented towards the infrastructure of the 21st century
Does the Amsterdam Treaty meet these objectives?
The inclusion of a new Title on Employment in the treaty marks a very important breakthrough, as does the inclusion of "a high level of employment" as an explicit objective in the treaty.
The new Title on Employment provides for: developing a co-ordinated strategy for employment
promoting a skilled, trained and adaptable workforce
"Employment Proofing" of other EU policies
procedures for monitoring national employment policies
incentives for pilot projects
establishment of a new Employment Committee
The Luxembourg Summit on Employment (November, 1997) brought forward the implementation of the Employment Title ahead of ratification. The social partners were consulted on the Government's National Action Plan recently submitted to the Commission specifying its actions designed to fulfil the different criteria set down in the guidelines adopted at the summit.
Social rights - what does the Amsterdam Treaty provide?
The Treaty responds to the trade union, the community and voluntary organisations' demands for action on social rights as follows:
it incorporates into the Recitals a reference to the Charter on Fundamental Social Rights for Workers
it incorporates the Social Agreement into the treaty
it strengthens Article 119 of the treaty dealing with equal pay and broadens the reference to equal treatment in the workplace
a new article on non-discrimination is included which empowers the EU to take action to combat discrimination based on sex, race, religion, disability, age and sexual orientation
it provides for co-operation between the member states to fight social exclusion
In addition to the key trade union concerns of employment and social rights, the treaty also contains substantive provisions on:
free movement of persons
closer co-operation between member states
police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters
a common foreign and security policy
Having regard to Congress policy in support of this State's position of military neutrality, we have also had regard to the explicit statement in the treaty that the EU's policy shall not prejudice "the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member states", and that the Government has given a commitment to hold a referendum if this issue should arise in the future.
While the Amsterdam Treaty is not going to radically change the direction in which Europe is going, it contains important new commitments in the areas of employment and social rights. These have the potential to impact significantly on the lives of workers and the citizens of Europe. If these provisions can be activated and developed in a meaningful way, then the Amsterdam Treaty could come to be regarded as an important milestone on the way to building a citizens' Europe.
It is for these reasons that Congress supports ratification of the treaty and is urging trade union members to vote "yes" in the forthcoming referendum.
Patricia O'Donovan is deputy general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions