European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso defended spending cuts across Europe at talks with trade union leaders today, saying austerity was needed to restore investors' confidence and economic growth.
"I underlined the need of fiscal consolidation and structural reforms," Mr Barroso, the head of the European Union executive, told a news conference after talks with leaders of European trade unions and employers' groups.
"Only if we are serious about getting our house in order...we will be able to establish confidence in our economy and growth."
Many EU governments have announced budget cuts to try to restore confidence in their economies since Greece's debt crisis threatened to spread to other countries that use the euro, hitting the currency and financial markets.
But the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) said trimming public expenditure would harm recovery from the worst economic crisis in decades, especially if it is done in economically stronger countries.
"We made this call for a high-level meeting (with the EU) out of despair and alarm at the prospects of growth in Europe as all countries, not just those in distress, move to cut their budgets," ETUC chief John Monks told the news conference. "The fact that all of them are doing it at the same time is our biggest worry."
The ETUC announced plans on Wednesday to hold a "European Day of Action" on September 29th, including a rally in Brussels, to protest against the spending cuts.
Mr Monks said Germany should boost spending, for example by allowing wages to grow, to generate extra demand in the 16-nation euro zone.
Unions, which have so far reacted relatively calmly to austerity programmes, would press the governments to ensure the poorest in society are not burdened too much. "We will keep on the pressure in the months ahead, we don't want a bleak mid-winter for the unemployed," he said.
Reuters