Introduction:

The Convention on the Future of Europe represents an important initiative for young trade unionists across Europe, which is aimed at defining a social and democratic Europe. ETUC Youth very much hopes that through this contribution our voice will be heard and attention will be paid to the keen interest young people are displaying towards their future.

What young people want in an ideal Europe

Peace, stability, an end to poverty, decent jobs, access to housing, transport, health and education, a society free from discrimination racism + xenophobia, freedom, justice, democracy and transparency, a voice which is heard. We want a Europe where we can live and work, where we can move about freely, where we can breathe fresh air, where we feel safe and secure, where diversity is welcome and where we can realise our dreams and our hopes. We want a Europe where young people are empowered and active, have financial independence and are socially secure.

To achieve this we need to overcome many of the problems facing young people today. In particular we need to overcome the sense of isolation and inertia experienced by young people towards the Union, by encouraging the active participation of young people in its structures. This is key if we are to ensure young peoples ownership of tomorrows Europe.

We need to develop new and better policies to ensure a better future for young Europeans in areas such as human rights, employment, poverty and social exclusion, gender equality, education and training, combating racism and xenophobia, mobility, healthcare, social security and parity democracy.

Developing policies alone however will not be sufficient if the Union is to flourish. Changes to the structures and operating methods are vital. For ETUC Youth however, the most important aspect of the reform is that it results in a Union that has structures, competencies and instruments with which to develop and implement policy. These same structures and powers must be transparent, efficient, democratically legitimate and accountable for their actions and must recognise the role of the social partners.

This contribution represents the views and aspirations of young trade union members of the ETUC. We call on the Convention members to take heed of our concerns in the following areas in their discussions on the priorities for the future of Europe:
· Respect for fundamental human rights
· Social Europe at the Core
· Right to a decent quality of life for everyone
· Real democratic participation
· Institutional Reform

Respect for fundamental human rights

Bringing the EU closer to its citizens requires political, civil, social and trade union rights to be fully recognised by the Union and enshrined in the Treaty. ETUC Youth welcomes the fact that the Charter on Fundamental Rights reflects the indivisibility of these rights, although it does have a number of short-comings, in particular with regard to the right for trade unions to act beyond national borders. Nonetheless, we insist on the need for the Charter to become legally binding and incorporated as a cornerstone of the Treaty.

Social Europe at the Core

ETUC Youth wants a future where the European Social Model remains central. We see the European Social model as one of the strengths of the EU and one which must be anchored. Social dialogue and the autonomous role of the social partners including their role as co-regulators must also be enshrined. In addition the Social Union/Employment Policy and Economic and Monetary Union must be integrated on an equal footing.

We are facing a future where globalisation continues to grow, with all of its associated opportunities and threats. Left to its own devices, we must ask ourselves what this will mean –more short-term contracts, unstable jobs, poor pay, no social security, a society where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? For ETUC Youth, the counter-weight to all of this must be a combination of strong trade unions, strengthened European social dialogue as well as real policies of European Economic Government.

Role for Social Partners

ETUC youth calls for the role of social partners to be further strengthened and enshrined in the Treaty. The progress made to date in the European social dialogue process must not be undermined and must be maintained. This will become increasingly important as the world becomes smaller and globalisation continues to grow. A central feature of the role for social partners at the EU level is their specific role as co-regulators which must be reinforced.

Role for Trade Unions

Trade union solidarity will continue to grow in importance, whether it is on a rural/urban basis or a transnational basis. Faced with the growth of multi-national companies, national trade union actions alone will no longer suffice. Cross border trade union actions will become increasingly necessary and the right for trade unions to remain autonomous, and to move in this direction must be enshrined if Europe is to allow for social justice to reign and if trade unions are to be able to defend the interests of all of their members young and old.

Right to a decent quality of life for everyone

The Union has an obligation to develop policies which provide a decent standard of living for all its citizens. To this end ETUC Youth suggests that a number of policy areas should be prioritised with clear reference to the competencies and instruments to be used – legislation, OMC etc:

Education and lifelong learning

Education and access to education are indispensable elements of a young persons integration into society, and a means for personal and social development. In most countries there is a clear correlation between educational achievement and successful integration into the employment market.

Life long learning is an extremely important element and has been given added importance since the Lisbon Council. For young people, initial vocational education and training is the form of lifelong learning which is currently most relevant to them.

Responsibility must be taken by all actors to ensure that access is guaranteed to all young people to education and training opportunities. All students must have access to technology and training in computer skills must be a fundamental part of all curricula. Language training is also vital and young people should be encouraged to speak languages other than their mother tongue. Broader social studies such as diversity and respect and understanding of cultures and practices should be introduced to school curricula

In addition more must be done to facilitate mobility and to ensure freedom of movement for young people within the EU – this means not only ensuring recognition of qualifications and diplomas within the EU and the accession countries, but also ensuring the same working rights and conditions apply to young workers and apprentices / trainees, irrespective of their country of origin.

More and better jobs / European Economic Governance

Despite the progress made in the EU’s employment performance over recent years, certain groups such as young people are being left behind. Unacceptably high levels of youth unemployment persist. In addition, a common thread underlying youth employment is that it tends to be largely unprotected and precarious.

Furthermore, the reality facing many young workers today is that they are the “working poor”. For these young people, although they have a job, it is not one which provides them with a real future, as these jobs are usually without career prospects, or access to initial or ongoing training. Neither do these jobs enable young people to be financially independent or stable. This is visible across the EU where growing numbers of young people are having to live at home for longer as they cannot afford to rent, and certainly not to own their own home. This has implications in many areas including the fact that young people are setting up their own home later in life, and as a consequence having children later in life too.

The EU must act and must act now on order to provide a decent future for its young people and future generations. We need an Economic Union, not just Monetary Union if we are to move in the right direction and secure the working and living conditions of workers and citizens. Such an Economic Union would require strong and efficient economic governance with a clear role for the social partners.

An end to poverty and social exclusion

Poverty and social exclusion are a major problem throughout Europe, with data showing that some 17% of the population, or about 65 million people, are living with less than 60% of the national median income. Those figures are likely to rise significantly when the applicant countries join from 2004.

People are living in poverty if their income and resources (material, cultural and social) are so inadequate as to preclude them from having a standard of living that is regarded as acceptable by society generally. Poverty is not just about money. It is also about not having the resources to participate fully in society. Not having enough money is often compounded by being marginalised and isolated, discriminated against and powerless – experiencing social exclusion.

We must never forget that poverty and social exclusion have a human face. The consequences of poverty and social exclusion are that many people lead lives of constant struggle, pain and misery. Poverty and exclusion undermine people's self-confidence, their creativity and their potential to develop and lead fulfilled and active lives. At its worst this can lead to isolation, dependence and alienation. Children growing up in poverty are denied the opportunity to achieve their full potential. Poverty is thus both a waste of human resources and a denial of fundamental rights.

ETUC Youth calls on the Union to take actions to ensure the eradication and prevention of poverty and social exclusion. The Open Method of Coordination which applies in this field must be inserted into the Treaty.

The promotion of gender equality

Equality between women and men is already enshrined in the Treaty as an objective of the Community. However, to ensure an inclusive and fair society for all, equality between men and women must be strengthened, and the right to equality of men and women should become one of the ultimate aims of the EU.

ETUC Youth believes that the policy on equality between women and men should be given the same legal status as other policies of the Community. A coherent and extensive title on gender equality, establishing a European policy on gender equality, would provide a firm basis for the development of an integrated European legal framework and would give the means to take effective actions in order to fulfil is compulsory mission of achieving gender equality.

And end to racism and xenophobia

The European Union is founded on certain fundamental objectives – attaining a high level of employment and social protection, raising standards of living and quality of life, promoting economic and social cohesion, solidarity and social justice. Racism and xenophobia undermines all of these.

Racism and xenophobia are problems of society and all of society must play its part in tackling and stamping out these scourges.

The Charter of Fundamental rights prohibits discrimination based on any ground including race, colour, ethnic or social origin. This must be fully enshrined in the Treaty as current Treaty provisions do not cover racism based on social origin.

Migrants, while not the only victims of racism are certainly amongst the most vulnerable groups. Common immigration and asylum policies need to be developed so as to be able to deal with discrimination levelled at them.

A Chapter for Services of General Interest

Equal access to public health, free education and social services including child and elder care are prerequisites for ensuring a decent standard of living for all people. Increasingly however, such services are being placed in competition with private services and are consequently under pressure to operate as solely economic interests.

ETUC Youth calls for a chapter on services of general interest to be included in the Treaty, which could be interpreted as a sign of the Union’s commitment to providing all citizens with services which can help provide a decent quality of life for all.

Real democratic participation

The democratic deficit is a reality and steps to must be taken urgently to rectify this. Recent events across Europe have shown that the present political system is not reaching all citizens – many young people in particular feel far-removed and unrepresented. ETUC Youth calls on the Convention to take steps to remedy this problem in particular by :

Empower young people to voice their opinions and be associated with all decisions related to them.

There are currently 46.9 million young people aged between 15-24 in the EU. The youth population in the 10 pre-accession countries in Central and Eastern Europe stood at 16.9 million in 1999. The full and democratic participation of all of these young people is fundamental to the future of the European Union.

While it is true that youth participation has been very low throughout the Member States young people feel strongly about a number of issues. For that reason, it is essential that youth policy, irrespective of the level (local, regional, national or European) must involve young people in its preparation and implementation stages.

Across Europe systems must be improved to ensure that all citizens who are eligible to vote are given every opportunity to exercise this right – e.g. postal voting, weekend voting etc.

There is a clear need for better consultation with young people by all EU institutions, if young people are to feel any sense of ownership of the Union. A more participatory model in the field of youth is required and ETUC youth calls on the European Commission, European Parliament and Council to establish clear procedures for consulting youth organisations in social and civil society.

In this respect we would welcome the setting up of a European Commission’s Advisory Committee on youth policies, based on the model employed by the EC Advisory Committee on equal opportunities.

We also call on the Economic and Social Committee to strengthen their efforts to involve and represent young people and in particular call on the workers group to appoint young members.

ETUC Youth stresses the need for the Union to have efficient and democratic institutions, especially with the reality of a Union almost double its current size post enlargement. This is also of immense importance in convincing citizens, in particular young citizens who feel very far removed from the decision-making powers, of the importance and relevance of the Union.

Ensuring parity democracy for an equal representation of women and men in politics

The full participation of citizens in all aspects of life is contingent upon their equal participation in political decision making positions. Gender parity in all democratic processes is a pre-requisite to democracy.

Given that one of the underlying concerns today is the fall in youth participation, one possible reason for this may be that not only do young people feel far removed from the world of politics, but they also feel very distant from those elected to represent them. This is particularly true for many young women who are confronted by an overwhelming presence of men amongst the ranks of decision makers, alongside few if any women.

ETUC Youth therefore calls for a new provision to be introduced to the Treaty whereby the equal participation of men and women in decision-making is mandatory in the composition of assemblies, bodies and institutions of the Community

Institutional Reforms

Developing policies alone however will not be sufficient if the Union is to flourish. Changes to the structures and operating methods are vital. For ETUC Youth however, the most important aspect of the reform is that it results in a Union that has structures and instruments with which to develop and implement policy, and that the same structures and powers are transparent, efficient and accountable for their actions.

ETUC Youth believes that the overall objective must be to achieve a European Union built upon peace, democracy, solidarity, fundamental rights, social justice, full employment and quality jobs, social and territorial cohesion, welfare and a European social model. European integration consequently cannot be confined to the single market and the single currency; it must be completed by economic governance, a real social union and evolve towards a political union based on democratic and effective institutions and the full recognition of civil and social rights for all.

ETUC Youth stresses the urgent need to simplify and strengthen the Treaties in a way that clearly defines the aims, jurisdiction and responsibilities of the Union. We stress that our top priority for ETUC Youth would be that the European Social Model is anchored in the Treaty and that Social Europe/Employment Policy and Economic and Monetary Union are integrated on an equal footing. This is vital is we are to combat the prevalence of precarious, poorly paid jobs for young people.

It will be even more important in an enlarged Union to secure the independence and competencies of the European Commission as a collective body in its role as initiator and in safeguarding the Treaty. It must also become more transparent.

The function of the European Parliament -whose members are democratically elected representatives - as an instrument of democratic control on EU policies and decisions must be enhanced, as must its legislative power. ETUC Youth therefore welcomes proposals to link, as a general rule, majority voting with the co-decision procedure.

Irrespective of the model chosen for reforming the weighting of votes in the Council, it is essential that all citizens across Europe consider the decisions taken by Council to be legitimate and transparent in the way they are made.

For further Information contact:
www.etuc.org
mailto:stiernan@etuc.org