UNICE and ETUC clash in labour-law row[fr][de] 

On 5 October 2006, the Commission postponed the publication of its Green Paper on the modernisation of labour law (intitially scheduled for 13 September and then for mid-October) until November at the earliest. In doing so, the Brussels executive seemed to be reacting to a critical letter from UNICE, in which the business lobby said the publication of the paper "would lead to unnecessary confrontation during the tripartite social summit". 

In an interview with EurActiv, Thérèse de Liedekerke, director for social affairs with UNICE, justified her organisation's criticism of the draft Green Paper, which, she said, "would  have crystallised differences in opinion rather than facilitated the emergence of a consensus in the member states on what is necessary to modernise labour law".

Catelene Passchier, confederal secretary of ETUC in charge of social policy and labour law, said that UNICE attempted to prevent the whole debate linked to the future of social security in the EU. "Now that the Commission is taking some first steps to start this debate, UNICE attempts to blow up the whole thing before it is even officially published. For European workers, that's really deplorable, because it goes to illustrate that the employers are not ready for a serious discussion about the 'security' dimension of flexibility."

De Liedekerke said that UNICE agrees "that there is a need to look at labour law across Europe, to look out for the obstacles to job creation, which come from outdated or excessively rigid labour legislation. But we believe that this must essentially be done in the member states."

Read the full interview with Catelene Passchier here. 

Read the full interview with Thérèse de Liedekerke here.