European social agents demand from the EU measures similar to those of the pandemic

If the European Union does not adopt urgent and far-reaching measures, the crisis caused by the rise in energy prices may have even more devastating consequences than those caused by the pandemic for the economy and workers, employers and unions warned yesterday.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
19 October 2022 Wednesday 18:42
4 Reads
European social agents demand from the EU measures similar to those of the pandemic

If the European Union does not adopt urgent and far-reaching measures, the crisis caused by the rise in energy prices may have even more devastating consequences than those caused by the pandemic for the economy and workers, employers and unions warned yesterday. at the end of the tripartite social summit held yesterday in Brussels with EU representatives.

"The actions have to live up to the urgency of the situation," stressed the general secretary of the European Conference of Trade Unions, Luca Visentini, who called for doing "something similar" to what was done in 2020. Visentini opted for the launch of a new SURE plan, the European funds that financed the ERTE during the covid to avoid a wave of massive layoffs in companies, although in this case, he said, they should also be used to support wage increases. Otherwise, he warned, we will find ourselves "first with a problem of unemployment and then of poverty", even among the middle class.

The analysis of the situation of the general director of the European employers' association BusinessEurope, Markus J. Beyrer, was quite similar. After warning that there are many European companies that are on the verge of closing because they are unable to absorb the rise in energy prices and the growing phenomenon of relocations, Beyrer called for a cap on the price of gas and measures of "European solidarity" to help countries with lower fiscal capacity to support vulnerable households and industries, so that not only the rich can be saved.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, joined his calls to make decisions as soon as possible to put pressure on the leaders of the Twenty-seven and the European Commission ahead of the summit that starts today in Brussels. His objective is to make "decisions", among them, a formula to cap the price of gas. “Only if we act together can we overcome the difficulties and alleviate the situation of our people. It became very clear in the covid crisis. It is the moment of truth, let's hope that decisions are made, ”he concluded.

Spain was represented by Vice President Yolanda Díaz, who agreed with the unions on the need to protect workers' wages and joined the employers' warnings about the risk of deindustrialization in Europe. Díaz also advocated applying the lessons of the pandemic to this crisis. "It is essential so that there is no way out of the crisis that we have already suffered in the previous governance, both in Europe and in Spain."