By Brian Johnson - 4th May 2009
The Barroso commission has failed to stop freedom of movement of workers from being exploited to undermine social standards... calling into question the principles of equal pay and collective bargaining and the right to strike action
Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
PES president Poul Nyrup Rasmussen has called on Europe's workers to vote against the "conservative-dominated EU" in June's European parliament elections.
Rasmussen used an open letter to Europe's trade unions on May 1 - international workers day - to accuse the EU's centre right leaders, including Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, as well as the commission president José Manuel Barroso, of presiding over "a period of repeated and serious attacks on workers' rights and public services".
The Danish MEP said that over the last five years, the EU's right had "had a majority in Europe - in all EU institutions and most member states".
"The Barroso commission has failed to stop freedom of movement of workers from being exploited to undermine social standards… calling into question the principles of equal pay and collective bargaining and the right to strike action," he said.
"The Party of European Socialists firmly believes that this 'race to the bottom' in social standards is unacceptable."
The former Danish prime minister said Europe faced its "worst recession since the 1930s" and warned that the EU was on the verge of having "27 million unemployed by early 2010 if nothing more is done to stop the downward spiral".
"Across Europe, millions of workers find themselves in this situation, workers who are in no way responsible for this crisis but are the ones paying the price," he added.
"The conservatives - like chancellor Merkel, president Sarkozy or prime minister Juncker - say that they have done enough. But I say that there are 27 million reasons to do more."
The veteran Socialist politician, who authored a damning report on private equity and hedge funds in September 2008, also accused the commission of ignoring the report's key demands and attacked Brussels for its "woefully inadequate" response.
"[The commission] finally published their draft proposal for regulation of private equity, which is so full of loopholes and gaps it is totally ineffective," he argued.
"For far too long, financial market actors such as private equity funds have treated our workplaces like a bundle for assets you can buy and sell at will, with no thought for the impact on workers. They load healthy companies with debt for short-term profit, leading to job losses, worse working conditions and weakened pensions for employees."
"This is the problem," Rasmussen said. "We face on workers day, and on every working day, with a conservative-dominated EU."
Calling on trade unionists to "get out the vote" for the upcoming parliament elections, Rasmussen said Europe was "at a crossroads, faced with two very different political visions".
He said Europe's socialists had a "clear and concrete plan" to tackle the economic crisis, outlined in its election manifesto, including seven key political demands which would be implemented within 100 days of the EU elections.
"We need a strong, new European economic recovery plan to safeguard employment and prevent mass unemployment hitting working families across Europe," he added.
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