USEU LABOR/SOCIAL AFFAIRS HIGHLIGHTS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 005469

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR DRL/IL; LABOR FOR ILAB AND ODEP; FOR LABOR
REPORTING OFFICERS AND LABOR ATTACHES

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EUN USEU BRUSSELS
SUBJECT: USEU LABOR/SOCIAL AFFAIRS HIGHLIGHTS
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2003

REF: BRUSSELS 5457 (NOTAL)


1. (U) This is first cable in new series designed to provide
labor reporting officers and attaches with a review of recent
key EU actions in the areas of labor affairs and social
policy as well as a look-ahead of what to expect in coming
months. This report will highlight areas of US/EU
dialogue/cooperation on labor affairs as well as labor
related issues that we currently are tracking. USEU will
continue to provide a separate monthly report on EU
unemployment statistics (reftel).

US/EU Seminar on Disabled in the Workplace
--------------


2. (U) US Department of Labor Assistant Secretary Dr. Roy
Grizzard (Office of Disability Policy) headed an USG/private
sector delegation here November 17-19 attending an US/EU
Seminar on Access of People with Disabilities to Employment.
Conference highlights included mutual recognition that both
sides of the Atlantic face a very high unemployment rate -
about 70%- among their disabled -- and that the EU has no
equivalent of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). EU
NGO participants were especially interested in developing ADA
protections for EU workplaces. To our pleasant surprise,
there were no expressions of an alleged European superiority
over the US on the treatment of the handicapped; in fact,
most Europeans agreed that there was much that Europe could
learn from the US. Adding urgency to EU concern is the high
rate of disabled workers (25 percent) among the forthcoming
ten new EU members; among the current 15 members, 15 percent
of their workforce is disabled.

EU Commissioner trip to the US: hits and misses
-------------- --


3. (SBU) EU Commissioner for Labor and Social Affairs Anna
Diamantopoulou traveled to NY and Boston November 20-24. She
stunned some of her staff when she decided to cancel the
Washington leg of her trip allegedly because of difficulties
in getting appointments on the Hill. According to one of her
closest advisors, the highlight of her trip was meeting with
UNSYG Kofi Annan where the central topic of their
conversation was what the EU is doing in the area of
Corporate Social Responsibility. In Boston, she argued at a
Kennedy School speech that Europe can learn from the US and
that the transatlantic relationship is too important to let
it break up. Of particular note is that during most of her
speech, she sounded more like the Commissioner for foreign
relations than a Commissioner for Labor and Social Affairs -
but it is open secret in Brussels that the Diamantopoulou is
very interested in pursuing a political career back in Greece
once her term on the Commission expires next October 31.

EU Commissioner to G-8 Labor Ministerial
--------------


4. (SBU) Secretary of Labor Chao has agreed to a request from
Diamantopoulou for a bilateral meeting (December 15) at the
G-8 labor ministerial in Stuttgart later this month.
According to the Commissioner's deputy chief of staff, the
Commissioner will be interested in talking about labor
standards, corporate social responsibility, and the impact of
enlargement on the EU work force.

Labor Experts Gloom on Meeting Lisbon Goals
--------------


5. (U) For the last half year, former Dutch PM Wim Kok has
chaired a committee of labor market experts on how EU member
states are meeting the three Lisbon employment goals of 70
percent labor force utilization; 60 percent utilization of
female workers and 50 percent utilization of older workers
(defined as 55-64). In their report released November 26, the
experts note that the EU is meeting none of these goals -
unlike the US. The reports cited inflexible labor market
policies as a particular problem and argued that Europe
should not respond just to the current slowdown, but also
needs to more effectively address the structural challenge of
globalization and the rapid aging of its population. USEU
Labor Counselor participated in a November 27 panel
discussion on the report (sponsored by the European Voice) in
Brussels called "2010: a Work Odyssey: Shaping the European
Employment Market." The discussion was somewhat gloomy
because of fear that with enlargement, the EU is more likely
to go even further backwards in meeting their Lisbon
employment goals.

US/EU Labor and Social Affairs Task Force
--------------


6. (U) On November 18, USEU attended the first-ever DVC of
the US/EU working group on employment and labor related
issues (between USDOL and DG-Employment). Main purpose of the
meeting was to lay out a joint work plan for 2005 and confirm
2004 work plan. Future projects include joint seminars on
Information and Communication Technology outsourcing,
immigration and labor market integration, and a possible
joint conference/seminar on anti-discrimination in 2005. Also
discussed were follow-up projects from the disability seminar
(above) and an earlier joint US/EU occupational safety and
health seminar in Greece.

US Department of Labor visitor
--------------


7. (SBU) USDOL/ILAB European Area Advisor Bill Brumfield
visited Brussels 11/20-21. We met with EC, Union of
Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE),
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and International
Confederation of Free Trade Union (ICFTU) officials. We had
a key meeting with Tom Jenkins, the newly arrived
international affairs advisor to ETUC secretary general John
Monks. Under Monks, the ETUC is much more receptive to
working with the ICFTU and us than the previous standoffish
leadership. Our ICFTU interlocutor previewed ICFTU interest
in hearing more about how the US will handle the labor
aspects of its forthcoming G-8 presidency.

What we're tracking
--------------


8. (SBU) ICFTU plans/projects for Iraq labor unions, EU
assessment of its "2003: the European Year of People with
Disabilities," Irish EU Presidency Plans for Labor and Social
Issues; Commission concerns on the impact of the enlargement
on the EU labor market; potential impact of EU
Intergovernmental Convention (IGC)/Constitution process on
labor and social issues.
Foster