SOCIAL PARTNERS : UNIONS PLAN DAY OF ACTION ON 29 FEBRUARY.

The future budget treaty, which was discussed at the informal EU summit on 30 January, is "undemocratic in both form and substance". This was the message adopted, on 25 January, by the Steering Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and defended at a trade union gathering in Brussels. The ETUC has already announced a day of action on 29 February, the eve of the spring European Council. "European trade unions are mobilising to say enough is enough'. Austerity measures are not the only answer to the crisis. On the contrary, they cause tremendous social damage," declared ETUC General Secretary Bernadette Segol.

The gathering, on 25 January, rallied around 50 union leaders, who met at lunch time outside the Council building (Justus Lipsus, in Brussels). Their objective was to denounce the international treaty that was discussed by the heads of state and government, on 30 January. "The treaty is not a solution. On the contrary, it hinders growth and social Europe," read banners. The unions denounce a problem of form and substance. On form, they reject the undemocratic manner in which the treaty has been drafted, ie without consultation of the social...