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6 December, 2000The trade union demonstration in Nice was fantastic, says the IMF president, Klaus Zwickel.
GENEVA: The IMF president, Klaus Zwickel, arrived for the IMF Executive Committee meeting in Geneva directly from Nice and the demonstration which took place before the Summit of the European Union heads of state.
The streets of Nice were full of demonstrators. Most of the participants in the 60,000-strong march came from European trade unions. Under a sea of red banners, French, German, Italian and Spanish trade unionists marched side by side with those from Poland, Slovenia and Luxemburg.
The EU Summit in Nice is aimed at strengthening its decision-making capacity so that it will be able to expand EU membership.
Zwickel reported that European trade unions are supporting the idea of Europe, but they have demands, in particular with regard to the labour market. They called upon the Summit to adopt a far-reaching social agenda, to promote the development of social policy in the European Union in the next five years, and to create more and better jobs, to fight against discrimination, inequalities and social exclusion.
"We are proud about what we succeeded to do," said Zwickel.
The streets of Nice were full of demonstrators. Most of the participants in the 60,000-strong march came from European trade unions. Under a sea of red banners, French, German, Italian and Spanish trade unionists marched side by side with those from Poland, Slovenia and Luxemburg.
The EU Summit in Nice is aimed at strengthening its decision-making capacity so that it will be able to expand EU membership.
Zwickel reported that European trade unions are supporting the idea of Europe, but they have demands, in particular with regard to the labour market. They called upon the Summit to adopt a far-reaching social agenda, to promote the development of social policy in the European Union in the next five years, and to create more and better jobs, to fight against discrimination, inequalities and social exclusion.
"We are proud about what we succeeded to do," said Zwickel.