Economic governance of the European Union and strengthening the social pillar: how to combine stability, growth and jobs

"The European Union needs more efficient economic governance and it is necessary to dedicate its resources to investments and social cohesion" said Georges Dassis at the Luci sul lavoro (Spotlight on work) festival in Montepulciano, Italy, on 8 July. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee participated in the debate organized by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) alongside Luca Visentini, Valeria Ronzitti, Riccardo Viaggi, Ruth Paserman and Tommaso Nannicini.

Mr. Dassis also highlighted that the competition will bring the results of productivity and quality only if it is based on innovation and not by reducing the labour costs and cutting the wages of workers. In conclusion he mentioned the importance to expand the macroeconomic dialogue in the framework of the Eurozone and that the Member States should implement structural reforms but accordingly to their particularities.

Strengthening the social pillar is a central part of the work of the European Economic and Social Committee, which, in cooperation with the European Commission, is preparing to engage in a number of fact-finding missions on the social rights situation in the different European Union Member States.