Business and union chiefs call on EU to take decisive action to tackle financial crisis

Trade union and business leaders have presented a ‘wish list’ of demands to EU leaders meeting in Brussels.

The two-day summit is due to discuss climate change and the EU’s economic recovery plan aimed at tackling the global financial crisis.

BusinessEurope, the umbrella body for EU-wide business groups, says that decisions taken at the gathering will “decisively shape” the EU’s economic future.

Its president Ernest-Antoine Seilliere said, “There is special concern for those member states that face exceptional financial difficulties.”

He said that, specifically, member states “should, therefore, relax the proposed €25bn cap on the EU medium-term financial assistance facility.

He also calls for a “clear commitment” from member states to “deliver economic stimulus packages of at least 1.2 per cent of their national GDP.”

Turning to climate change, Seilliere says his members are “highly concerned” about the “considerable negative” impact on industry of the EU’s renewable energy proposals.

“European companies are already 24 per cent more energy-efficient than in 1997 and industry has agreed to intensify its efforts,” he said.

He hopes the summit will result in decisions which will "pave the way", rather than "hamper", the EU's economic recovery.

His comments come in a letter to French president Nicolas Sarkozy and commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.

Meanwhile, the Brussels-based European Trade Union Confederation  (ETUC) has urged the summit to take ‘emergency action’ to stop the downwards spiral as well as to end ‘casino capitalism’.

John Monks, ETUC general secretary, said, 'The economy is already in the grip of recession and we are facing the prospect of a prolonged economic depression.

"We can not afford a ‘wait and see’ attitude, nor another supply side reform policy that weakens workers’ rights and wages. Social recession as well as economic catastrophe would follow this."

He added, “We need short term emergency action to prevent the economy from going into a downwards tailspin. At the same time, we also need to take structural measures: we need a new green deal, fair wages and distributive justice to stop basing growth and jobs on speculation and asset price bubbles."

He said ETUC sees the commission’s European recovery plan as a good starting point but says it is “extremely limited.”

In an open letter sent to the summit, Monks said, 'A time of crisis is also a time of choice. We call upon the European council to provide workers the clear message that only European action can get us out of this credit crunch.

"That only European cooperation can ensure us that such a crisis never happens again."

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