At social dialogue round table, unions saw Sunday opening in border towns as possible threat to EU enlargement

Social dialogue round table in Slovenia:
Unions see Sunday opening in border regions as possible threat to EU enlargement

Extensive shop opening hours in border regions can still threaten the enlargement of the European Union. This was highlighted by union representatives at a recent European social dialogue round table meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The meeting was held as a part of the European Union social dialogue for commerce between UNI-Europa Commerce and EuroCommerce.

Austria and Germany are two of the countries, which may experience major problems if neighbouring new EU member states do not introduce a reasonable regulation of shop opening hours and employment conditions.

Sandi Bartol, General Secretary of the Slovenian commercial workers trade union, is worried over increasing pressure for de-regulation in the retail sector. The union has recently affiliated to UNI, which means that UNI and UNI-Europa Commerce now represent retail and wholesale trade workers in all member states of the European Union, and all the candidate countries.

For UNI, there is only one Europe: Also unions from the countries outside the EU are equal partners in UNI-Europa Commerce.

Already now, border towns and villages are used by retailers, to draw customers from wealthy neighbouring regions for cheap shopping around the clock. When customs regulations disappear, there is a real risk that this social dumping will be even more widespread.

Speaking at the round table, Jan Furstenborg of UNI Commerce suggested that it would be better for Slovenian retailers, large or small, to seek sustainable business success from producing high level services to their own population. Slovenia is a highly developed country and the Slovenes have a strong purchasing power, so this would be a much more stable approach that trying to reap fast but insecure benefits from border trading.

Sandi Bartol, general secretary of the Slovenian commercial workers' union echoed Jan Furstenborg's views. He said that the country's commercial workers are very much worried over the recent developments in their industry, where particularly larger traders are pushing hard for increasing deregulation.

Representing the trade unions in present EU member states, Manfred Wolf of Austrian UNI Commerce affiliate GPA said that also his union is strongly concerned over unfair competition through shop opening deregulation. This can influence opinions very negatively in Austria, which can still make the necessary enlargement process into a complicated affair.