Responding to the Commission and Council statements on the proposed "Social Package" in the European Parliament this morning, Gabi Zimmer (GUE/NGL Germany) asked the French presidency how 2008 would see a revival of social Europe when the French government had refused to include social issues on the agenda for its term of office. She also contested the Commission's claim that the Social Package was in line with the expectations of Europe's citizens.

On 29 August, in a joint letter, BUSINESSEUROPE, UEAPME, CEEP and ETUC
agreed to take the Commission’s 2 July proposal for a directive on European works
councils (recast) as the basis for the revision of the 1994 directive.

In order to realise the revision of the Directive in 2008 or early in 2009, the European
social partners call on the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers to take
their joint amendments into consideration in the adoption process.

St. Paul, 3 September 2008: On Tuesday, 2 September 2008, the European People’s Party (EPP) hosted in St. Paul (U.S.) a public event with representatives of the Republican Party, international leaders, policy experts and business executives. More than 300 participants attended the event, which took place on the margins of the Convention that the Republican Party, which will be officially nominating Senator John McCain as its candidate for President of the United States.