As Ursula von der Leyen is about to deliver her State of the Union speech, EFFAT calls for honesty and consistency in EU policymaking.
Our expectations are clear:
Consistency with EU Treaties and Values
Article 3(5) TEU commits the EU to peace, security, sustainable development, solidarity, and respect among peoples. Yet the EU’s current political trajectory appears to move in the opposite direction. Its unacceptable inaction in the face of the dramatic and widespread civilian suffering in Gaza gravely undermines its credibility. Peace must not only be proclaimed, it must be practiced. Military escalation cannot be Europe’s default response to a growing insecure geopolitical context.
An Economy that Works for People and the Planet
Growth alone is not enough. The EU must champion a just transition, guarantee decent jobs, and channel public funding into green and social infrastructure, with strong social conditionalities attached. Yet this is not what the EU is putting into practice. While budget for military expenditure gets 5 times bigger, the new MFF proposal sees a 20% cut in the CAP budget, the undermining of CAP social conditionality and no mandatory ring-fencing for cohesion funds and the European Social Fund. At the same time Deregulation and attacks on workers’ and environmental standards as evident in the Omnibus proposals, threaten the foundations of a Europe that protects.
Delivering for Workers and responsible employers
Strengthening collective bargaining, robust labour rights, and industrial policies that protect jobs must be at the heart of EU action. The fight against abusive subcontracting and unregulated labour intermediation is urgent to prevent wage dumping and unfair competition. EFFAT’s model Directive should be used as blueprint for a binding initiative in the framework of the quality jobs package.
Protecting Europe’s Sovereignty
Trade deals without reciprocity, such as the latest agreement with the United States, weaken Europe’s sovereignty and undermine both workers and companies. While predictability is important, the EU must not compromise its social model. International trade should be a tool to deliver growth, create quality jobs and raise standards globally, not a source of dumping or a threat to our export.
Europe’s future depends on policies that put peace, people, and the planet before narrow interests.
Is this too much to ask from tomorrow’s State of the Union?
#SOTEU
