European social partners met EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Commissioner László Andor today to discuss the economic and public debt crisis. They also presented their Joint Statement on the Europe 2020 strategy.

The Joint Statement reinforces the social dialogue at both the European and national level, and puts the emphasis on an ambitious growth strategy as a key way to foster recovery
European employers feel that a sense of urgency is missing from the Europe 2020 strategy.

Europe is lagging behind in the global economic recovery. The Europe 2020 strategy must put Europe on a sustained growth path, ensure a rapid return to more and better jobs while securing fiscal sustainability.

The European social partners’ Joint Statement calls for an increase in the EU growth rate to an average of at least 2 % in the coming years. This could translate into 6.5 million additional jobs and a public debt consolidation of 450 billion Euros.

BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME and CEEP have asked President Barroso to convey this message to his entire team in the Commission, to the European Council and to national governments.

For further information, please contact: Maria-Fernanda Fau, BUSINESSEUROPE, +32(0)2 237.65.02

Francesco Longu, UEAPME, +32(0)2 285.07.18

Valeria Ronzitti, CEEP, +32(0)2 229.21.42