The European Federation of Building and Wood Workers, EFBWW, and the BWI have jointly adopted a “Platform of Action for a Social and Green Europe”, containing 23 concrete political demands addressed to the EU institutions and to the governments in EU Member States as well as in European states outside of the EU. The demands include the launching of investments programmes for climate-friendly renovation of buildings, for infrastructure and for new energy forms. It also proposes a European action plan to remove all still existing asbestos in buildings, as well as a European-wide program to promote the climate-friendly use of wood.

The Platform also emphasizes the need to strengthen social protection and secure equal treatment, maintaining the principle of “equal pay for equal work in the same place or the same geographical area”. It calls for the necessary amendments of EU primary and secondary law to uphold this principle. It also calls for the respect of fundamental social rights, laid down in the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which from 1 December 2009 forms a part of the Lisbon Treaty. And it emphasizes that the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights must now also be respected in the EU, thereby guiding the future case-law of the European Court of Justice.

In addition, the Platform addresses issues such as illegal employment, public procurement, bogus self-employment, co-operation between labour inspectorates, chain liability, employment intermediaries and letter-box companies. The Platform of Action can be downloaded below in different language versions.

The Platform for Action is to be used for campaigns, activities and presentations, etc, with a view to the Spanish and Belgian Presidencies in 2010 and in relation to the newly elected European Parliament and the newly elected European Commission.

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