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Trades unions' green delegates for Europe 2020

Issue date

Trades unions' green delegates for Europe 2020 - Update and next steps

Steering Group meeting: 30-31 May 2012.

Following on from the second international steering group meeting in early April, a much more detailed and informative text was drafted incorporating many of the additions and amendments put forward during that meeting. This draft was circulated to the UK steering group prior to their meeting on 28 May and comments were invited.

All agreed that whilst a more detailed guide was welcome, the new draft was now too long and needed to be condensed and simplified in order to be an effective tool for workplace representatives and their trade union officials.

Comments from the UK Steering Group, through the Trade Unions Sustainable Development Advisory Committee (TUSDAC), were circulated to the project partners ahead of the third meeting at the end of May and other partners followed suit. The consensus was that the third draft contained a wealth of really useful material but that this was somewhat lost within so much supporting text.

International steering group

The third and final international steering group meeting took place on 30 - 31 May. The meeting was well attended with representatives from all project partners with the exception of Bulgaria. The purpose of this meeting was to review the most recent draft and to reach agreement on what should be included in the final text going forward as the project draws to an end.

The meeting opened with an update from Judith Kirton-Darling from the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) on a number of developments at the European level since the last meeting in April.

Judith reported there had been a useful meeting with Connie Hedegaard, European Union (EU) Commissioner for Climate Action, on 16 April to raise the importance of engaging workers on the environment in order to meet the environmental objectives set by the European Commission (EC) and to strengthen the social dimension in any moves to a green economy. This meeting was particularly timely as the EC unveiled a new employment package on 18 April which underlined the need for a stronger employment and social dimension to EU governance and laid down ways to involve employers' and workers' representatives more in setting EU priorities.

Judith also reported on the EC conference "Mission Growth: Europe at the Lead of the New Industrial Revolution", held on 29 May, where ways for a radical reshape of European industry were discussed to make it robust, sustainable, and growth-oriented.

Finally Judith drew attention to the public consultation on industrial policy launched on 16 May citing this as a good opportunity for trade unions to respond to ensure sustainability is linked to competitiveness. The ETUC will be submitting a consultation response and is seeking active participation from its members.

Judith's update was followed by a discussion about the general structure and content of the guide. It was agreed the introduction would be reworked as a preface to be drafted by the ETUC to introduce the guide and set the scene at European level, leaving the introduction to refer to what is included in the guide. It was also agreed that a summary box would be added to the end of each chapter to provide a quick reference point for workplace representatives. The conclusion will be strengthened and will pull together the key messages from the guide.

Each chapter was then looked at in turn with real progress made by the end of the two days. The final version will be simplified with more annexes for those who would like more detailed information and each partner will contribute examples of best practice to ensure the guide is practical as well as informative.

UK examples have been submitted and we are awaiting the final version of the guide which is due on 2 July. We will then have 2 weeks to edit the English text and submit any final comments before the text is sent to a designer for editing. It is envisaged the final text will go to print on 31 July. We are due to receive 50 printed copies with the text available on the website, details of which are yet to be confirmed. We will post further details as and when these come through.

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