Britain prepares to sign Social Chapter
Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has confirmed that Britain will take its first step towards signing the European Social Chapter today.
"We do not accept that the British people should be second-class citizens with less rights than employees on the Continent," Mr Cook said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme Mr Cook assured employers that they "need not have anxiety" that the burden for social security taxation would fall on them.
He emphasised that this move was "good for Britain" and would help to lead to a more skilled, flexible workforce and "signal a fresh start in Britain's relations with Europe".
"We're confident we are going to get a better deal for Britain if we work together with the other member states rather than fight them as enemies" he said.
The Foriegn Secretary said the veto on social security issues would be retained and that between now and the Amsterdam summit next month he would be pressing to ensure the protection of Britain's external border controls.
The move towards the Social Chapter will come at a meeting of representatives at the rolling Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels.
Labour had always promised that signing up to the Chapter on employees' rights
and working conditions would be one of its first moves.
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Doug Henderson
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The newly appointed minister responsible for handling the complex discussions in Brussels is Doug Henderson. Mr Henderson faces four two-day Inter-governmental conference sessions this month and will also attend a special gathering of EU leaders alongside Mr Blair in Holland before the June summit.
Such an early move on the Social Chapter by Mr Cook will be an opportunity to restore relations
between the EU and Britain which have suffered as a result of clashes over the
beef export ban and the Tories' opposition to the maximum 48-hour working week.
Mr Cook went on: "At today's meeting, Britain will take the first step
towards signing up to the Social Chapter. We will tell our European partners that we want the rights and benefits of the Social Chapter to extend to the people of Britain."
The Social Chapter is more of an enabling mechanism than a long list of
demands that must be met by business immediately. Only two directives have been passed under the chapter in its five-year existence.
One gives all working parents the right to three months' unpaid leave after
the birth of their child. The other concerns the setting up of works councils in multi-national firms, which many British companies already have.
Mr Cook said: "We want our people to enjoy the right to information about
their company and parental leave to be with their family, as good as those who
work on the Continent, often for the same companies.
"The British people have demanded to share in the benefits of the Social
Chapter in repeated opinion polls. Today's initiative is a democratic response to the wishes of the British people and the interests of British employees. Partnership between innovative management and a committed workforce is the key to a competitive company. We will test all future proposals under the Social Chapter by whether they promote competitiveness and help us meet our goal of a skilled, flexible workforce."
See also What is the Social Chapter?
Downing Street has announced that Mr Blair is to have talks with President Clinton at the end of the month. The meeting between the two leaders will take place in The Netherlands where they're both due to attend an international summit.
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