BRUSSELS - Europe's new charter of rights will enshrine the "right to strike" and to be consulted on workplace decisions, according to a new draft of the document which caused a bitter row last night.
The latest version of the charter was welcomed by trade unions, but its emphasis on workers' entitlements flies in the face of opposition from the British Government, which has sought to minimise the charter's impact on social and economic rights.
The Confederation of British Industry claimed that the document raised the possibility of cross-border strikes and secondary industrial action and would stop the liberalisation of European economies.
That stark division presents British Prime Minister Tony Blair with a political dilemma ahead of the first debate over the document by EU leaders at a summit in Biarritz next month.
Some believe Blair may refuse to sign the charter at a later summit in December, although that would anger unions and risk alienating old Labour supporters.
Early this year, Blair and other more sceptical EU Prime Ministers insisted that the charter of fundamental rights should not be legally binding. However, some believe that the document will be referred to in legal judgments from the European Court of Justice, gaining a quasi-legal status or forming the basis of a future European constitution.
The latest draft, produced by a convention of European politicians and Government representatives, is expected to be approved next week as the basis of the text that goes to Biarritz.
Far from being watered down, as the British Government had hoped, the text has been strengthened.
Added to the new version is a stipulation that workers or their representatives must "at all levels" be guaranteed information and consultation in good time on matters which concern them."
That is an embarrassment for the Government, which is opposing plans for a European directive which would extend the right of information and consultation throughout the EU.
Earlier drafts had stated that workers should have the right to take "collective action to defend their interests," but the latest document adds the words "including strike action" and stipulates that this must apply "at all levels."
British officials point out that both clauses give the Government some form of get-out by adding that entitlements are "in accordance with Community law and national laws and practices."
They argue that drafting will continue and that the finished product will not create new rights or be in conflict with the law in any member state.
Giampiero Alhadeff, secretary-general of Solidar, an umbrella group of non-governmental organisations and unions, said the charter had been "pulled back from the brink."
But the deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), John Cridland, described the latest draft as "even worse" and said it would create "confusion and ambiguity for employers." The CBI said the right to strike "would raise the possibility of cross-border industrial action when secondary strike action has been illegal in the UK since the 80s."
Andrew Duff, a Liberal Democrat member of the convention, said: "Tony Blair must now confront a political decision. He must decide whether he is bold enough to take the plunge and back the charter despite Conservative opposition."
While Britain has sought to avoid the inclusion of political aspirations, the convention drafting the document seems to be heading in the opposite direction.
Under pressure from the European Commission and the European Parliament it has included a paragraph calling for "a high level of environmental protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment" to be at the heart of the EU's policies.
The charter was originally a German idea designed to help European citizens relate to the EU.
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