In 1973 Ireland joined the Common Market. Twenty-five years on, the European project has progressed from a common market for six independent national economies to a European Union of 15 sovereign nation states aspiring to promote the common good of its citizens.
This evolution from Common Market to common good has been driven primarily by economic considerations, but gradually, the social dimension has gained momentum and is now securely established as one of the pillars on which the future of the EU depends.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), which represents 53 million workers, has played an important role in putting social issues on the EU agenda. As a member of the executive council of the ETUC, I am well aware of the energy and commitment that the organisation has put into winning minds and hearts for a social Europe. Hand in hand with the ETUC, national union organisations, such as the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, have made the case to national governments for widening the EU agenda beyond the narrow focus of a single market and monetary union.
Years of lobbying and campaigning by unions at both national and European level have borne fruit in the Amsterdam Treaty. When this treaty was first broached in March 1996 the unions made it clear that unless employment and social rights were included we would not be supporting the new treaty.
The inclusion in the Amsterdam Treaty of a new Title on Employment and of "a high level of employment" as an explicit objective marks an important breakthrough. The Title on Employment provides for a co-ordinated strategy for employment, the promotion of a skilled workforce, employment proofing of other EU policies, procedures for monitoring national employment policies, incentives for pilot projects and a new Employment Committee with two members nominated by each of the member- states and by the Commission. While these measures do not meet the full demands of the ETUC or of Congress, they do represent a significant departure and provide a basis for making further gains in the future.
Community and voluntary organisations, as well as unions, demanded action on social rights in this treaty. The treaty responds positively to these demands by incorporating the Charter on Fundamental Social Rights for Workers into the Recitals, by incorporating the Social Agreement into the treaty, by strengthening Article 119 of the treaty dealing with equal pay, and by broadening the reference to equal treatment in the workplace.
A new article on non-discrimination is included which empowers the EU to take action to combat discrimination based on sex, race, religion, disability, age, and sexual orientation. For the first time, the new treaty provides a legal basis for measures to be adopted to encourage memberstates to co-operate to combat social exclusion.
As well as responding to key union concerns on employment and social rights, the treaty contains substantive provisions on the free movement of persons, closer co-operation between member states, police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters, and a common foreign and security policy.
It is Congress policy to support this State's position of military neutrality. In recommending a Yes vote on the Amsterdam Treaty, the executive council of Congress considered the implications of the treaty for Ireland, including its implications for Ireland's military neutrality. They concluded that the treaty does not infringe Ireland's neutral status. In arriving at this conclusion, the executive council had regard to the explicit statement in the treaty that the EU's policy shall not prejudice "the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain member-states" and that the Government has given a commitment to hold a referendum if this issue should arise in the future.
The Amsterdam Treaty is not going to change radically the direction in which the European Union is going. However, the treaty does contain important new commitments in the areas of employment and social rights which have the potential to improve the quality of life for all workers and citizens.
Gains already made by women workers under EU directives will be strengthened by the new treaty.
As Kay Kearns, chairwoman of Congress's women's committee, pointed out in the committee's statement calling for a Yes vote, "The Amsterdam Treaty will oblige all member-states to promote equality between women and men in all its activities, and in particular to incorporate equal opportunities into its Employment and Social Policy."
The Amsterdam Treaty marks a small step on the road to a fairer Europe. The family of nations that makes up the European Union will continue to expand, with Cyprus and several countries from Central and Eastern Europe already seeking membership. With this expansion the risk of the EU becoming more remote from the needs and concerns of its citizens increases.
If the provisions in the Amsterdam Treaty are activated and developed in a substantial and meaningful way then this treaty could come to be regarded as an important milestone on the way to building a citizens' Europe.
Congress's decision to campaign in favour of the Amsterdam Treaty has the unanimous support of our executive council. This is not because we think it will lead to some kind of European Utopia, but because we know it will put workers' interests, job creation and social rights firmly on the agenda of the European Union.
It will be up to organisations such as ourselves, the ETUC and the hundreds of voluntary and community organisations who are committed to a "Social Europe", to have this agenda implemented. It is in our interest to broaden the vision of the EU from its narrow obsession with the common market to a broader concern for the common good.
I will be voting Yes with enthusiasm and conviction on May 22nd and I hope that most of our half a million members and their families in the Republic do likewise.
Peter Cassells is general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions