Bonde’s Briefing 20.05.2008
Bondes briefing – use it for free
9 May I left my seat in the European parliament to Hanne Dahl. She will now speak on behalf of the Danish JuneMovement and can be contacted at her GSM +45 – 22 88 15 38. I will not speak for the JuneMovement any longer. Instead, I have been elected European president of our trans national alliance, the EU Democrats and will comment on European affairs from my Danish GSM +45 20 49 02 51 or my Belgian +32 47 31 32 322
I also left as Co-president of the Group for Independence and Democracy. The Irish MEP, Kathy Sinnott was unanimously placed in my function co-presiding the group with Nigel Farage.
My weekly newsletter will change character. I will leave it to the members of the EP to comment on the EP agenda questions. Instead I will focus on broader political issues. You will find my comment at Bonde.eu and EUDemocrats.org.
Medias are always welcome to use or print my comments for free. Here is the first new type of actual comment, with documentation included, in the end.
Jens-Peter Bonde leave his seat in the European parliament after 29 years and greet his successor, Hanne Dahl, with flowers
Has ETUC been asked to lie for Lisbon?
The secretary general of all European workers is named John Monks. He heads the European Trade Union Federation, ETUC. Understandably he was chocked by the revolutionary court verdicts 11 December (Viking) and 18 December (Laval) limiting the right to strike. He reacted promptly to defend his members and called for a protocol to be added to the Lisbon treaty in a press release.
In a hearing in the European parliament he said, according to his manuscript:
“Firstly, quickly, we need a “Social Progress Clause” issued in anticipation of the EU Reform Treaty (article 5(a)), which firmly establishes that the Treaty and especially its fundamental freedoms shall be interpreted as respecting the observance of fundamental freedoms shall be interpreted as respecting the observance of fundamental rights and especially collective action. It should also establish the rights of workers and their representatives to take collective action to improve their working and living conditions above minimum standards”.
I could not agree more, and together with an Irish MEP, Kathy Sinnott - now my successor as the co-president of my political group - we send a proposal for such a social protocol to the prime ministers before their summit in March. There, they could easily have adopted a protocol delete the Court decided limits in the right to strike.
They did not want this protocol, simply because they disagree. Most new member states want the right to work for less than the normal salary in Ireland and Scandinavia. The European Commission want Europe to be competitive with India and China and want the free competition on salaries between European workers.
Already in the two conventions on the Charter and the Constitution I proposed a social clause (in cooperation with the Danish TUC) – unfortunately with no success because we disagreed on the content.
This fact raise trouble for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty approving all existing Court cases. Why should Irish workers vote for a treaty which will not only allow foreign workers to come to Ireland and work for the minimum salary close to 9 € an hour, but also forbid them to act against this social dumping?
The Court has interpreted the right to strike against the other fundamental principle on the right to sell services free across the old borders. The judge made law is treaty interpretation and can only be amended at treaty level. A non-binding Declaration from a summit cannot change the treaty. Therefore, Monks proposal for a social protocol is the right and only possible answer – and there is a realistic chance to obtain it now when the other member states may realise that the missing protocol may endanger the whole treaty.
Here, you could imagine that the Irish government and particularly the Irish social democrats would be very eager to convince the Commission and the other member states about their urgent need. But I have not observed any move from them to safeguard the right to strike at treaty level. Instead, the socialist member of the European parliament, Proinsias De Rossa, may have asked John Monk to deny what he both wrote and said.
At least, John Monks have now sent a letter to my Irish colleague, Kathy Sinnott – with a copy to De Rossa where the ETUC secretary general now state:
“I have never called, nor has ETUC, for a social progress clause to be added to the Lisbon treaty”. “We also want, additionally and separately, a social progress clause to reinforce our efforts to combat the effects of the Viking, Laval and Rüffert cases”.
Well, this is a nice wish – but it cannot change interpretation at treaty level. And this was not what he said. Please, read the first quote again. In his manuscript there is a parentheses stating: “There is a precedent for this procedure with the Amsterdam Treaty to which the Employment Chapter was added at a late stage.” There are only options: He has changed his mind and does not want to protect the right to strike as he first suggested. Or, he has been told to deny what he said by Irish Yes-campaigners.
It is very serious when a campaigner ask the ETUC secretary general to lie. It needs an investigation by journalists. Who asked and safeguarded this lie? Is it De Rossa? - who had the copy sent from Monks?
And why will a workers representative as De Rossa not safeguard the normal Irish salaries also to be applied for foreign workers in Ireland?
Bondes testament
When I left the European parliament I published a ten point program for actual demands on particularly transparency and democracy. Have you any comments or amendments? It is called Bonde’s Testament
Bondes last speeches
The mini session in Brussels 7-8 May was my last meeting speaking as a MEP. Here are my last speeches and my farewell speech from a very well visited reception in the EP: Bonde’s Last Speech and Bonde on Lobbyism
