EU interference in wage setting lacks legal basis, ignores social partners’ autonomy and is opposite of what industry needs to bring Europe out of the crisis. The EU must rather look more into aspects of improving international competitiveness of manufacturing industry and do so with an improved, transparent procedure of social partner involvement, in particular from the sector level. IndustriAll Europe, Ceemet, ECEG and EURATEX are the EU recognised social partner organisations for their respective sectors.

• Ceemet, ECEG, EURATEX and industriAll Europe underline the importance of the EU’s Europe 2020 strategy to restore competitiveness and economic growth in Europe.
• Council and Commission must abide by the Treaty and fully respect the autonomy of social partners at all levels and take into account national traditions and Industrial Relations systems.
• Sectoral social partners insist that the EU Institutions must respect the autonomy of social partners – employers and workers – and do not intervene with wage setting at national level.
• IndustriAll Europe, Ceemet, ECEG and EURATEX are very apprehensive concerning the possibility of correcting imbalances in the area of labour costs. All are particularly opposed to the idea from the Commission to extensively interpret this procedure to prepare ground for EU-level interference in national wage setting mechanisms as is mentioned in the 2012 Employment Package and in the Commission discussion note for the tripartite exchange of views on wage developments that took place on 1 February 2013. It is in this context the Commission is highly ambiguous as to whether it wants to leave developments related to wages “to the self-correcting mechanisms of markets”.
• The EU must rather look more into aspects of improving international competitiveness of manufacturing industry and do so with an improved, transparent procedure of social partner involvement, in particular from the sector level.