SOCIO-ECONOMIC REFORMS : SOCIAL PARTNERS OPEN SPRING SUMMIT BALL.

Wolfgang Schlussel was in fine form opening the meeting with the social partners, presenting each delegate with an extract of a sonata written in Brussels by his illustrious counterpart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, whose 250th anniversary is being celebrated by the Austrian Presidency. 'This piece is allegro pas lento. Let us hope Europe keeps to the same beat', he announced with a touch of irony.

This meeting has become a traditional fixture before each spring summit bringing together the social partners (UNICE representing industry, CEEP speaking for public enterprises, UEAPME representing SMEs, and ETUC as the trade unions' voice), the Presidency of the European Union and the European Commission. Under the Austrian Presidency, the social partners have won another stripe. Ernest-Antoine Seilliere and Candido Mendez, the Presidents of the European employers' organisation UNICE and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) respectively, were able to attend the first formal meeting of the European Council alongside European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.

'The social partners represent an extremely important part of Europe's way of life', said Wolfgang Schlussel after the meeting. 'We need them to achieve our objectives. To create jobs, we need entrepreneurs, reasonable and cooperative trade unions and a climate in which dynamism and optimism can prosper. He recalled 'the target of 1% more jobs each year by 2010 if possible' and struck an optimistic note regarding the outcome of the Summit, betting on its 'combative spirit' to 'put a little lustre on the conclusions', counting on 'heads of state and government (...) to outline more concrete objectives'. Referring to the situation in France, he added 'we all know that reforms are necessary if we want to avoid standing still or moving backwards. However, security is needed at the same time. The question is (therefore) how to combine change, stability and security'.

Jose Manuel Barroso emphasised that 'the European Commission supports all European social dialogue'. He also recalled the 'general consensus on growth and employment targets', adding that the implementation phase must now be triggered and that this is precisely what the Commission...