15/07/2020

Over 10 per cent of the EU’s population are relying on the recovery fund to avoid or escape unemployment, trade unions have told national leaders ahead of a crucial EU summit.

The European Trade Union Confederation has written to the leaders of the EU institutions and all 27 heads of state to urge them not to further delay adoption of the 750bn Euro package needed to save and create jobs.

The ETUC told leaders that there are currently:

• 45 million workers on short-time work schemes whose jobs depend on investment
• 14.3 million permanently unemployed in the EU – up by 900,000 during the crisis
• 2 million workers on very short-term contracts vulnerable to unemployment

The letter from ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini and President Laurent Berger says:

“Together these are over 60 million reasons to launch an EU Recovery Plan now. The Recovery Plan is probably the most important decision to be taken by the European Union for more than a decade and cannot be postponed again. Delaying it risks pushing millions into unemployment at a financial cost to governments far higher than funding the recovery.”

The ETUC also calls on EU leaders to defend certain red lines during negotiations on the package:

• No increase in the share of loans in order to minimise its impact on national debt
• No reduction in the MFF in order protect crucial cohesion and social funds
• No veto rights or budgetary conditionalities on national recovery plans

Notes: