MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETING
The General Assembly of I.T.U.C. 3 Friuli Venezia Giulia/Veneto/Croatian Istria met on 16th May 2003.
Attending members: Luca Visentini (UIL FVG), Michele Berti (UIL FVG, substitute), Silvano Hrelja (SSSH Istria), Luciano Del Rosso (CGIL FVG), Giovanni Fania (CISL FVG), Monica Ukmar (substitute of Roberto Treu, CGIL FVG), Umberto Brusciano (CISL FVG), Giuliano Sadar (UIL FVG) as observer and minute-taker.
The General Assembly had the following agenda:
- Planning of 2003 activities;
- Among those selected under point 1., workshop on the findings of the survey on the feasibility of a bilateral agreement on frontier work between the Italian and the Croatian governments;
- Identification of members of the Presidency Office;
- Any other business.
The General Assembly meeting started at 17.40. A switch between item n. 3 and item n. 4 was suggested. The General Assembly adopted the proposal submitted by Luca Visentini.
3. Luca Visentini notified the General Assembly with the joint decision taken by Giovanni Della Valle (CISL Veneto), Luciana Levi Bettin (CGIL Veneto) and Gerardo Colamarco (UIL Veneto), sent by email to all members, to appoint Giovanni Della Valle as member of the Presidency Office, instead of Antonio Zett (CGIL Veneto), who resigned. Now all members of the Presidency Office have been appointed. Luca Visentini opened the vote on the appointment. The General Assembly unanimously adopted the appointment of Giovanni Della Valle as new member of the Presidency Office.
1. Luca Visentini informed the General Assembly that there was a further financing opportunity for I.T.U.C. activity, under the latest law adopted within the framework of the regional financing bill. As I.T.U.C. intended to apply to such financing, a final decision must be taken on the 2003 planning activity in the next meeting of the Presidency Office, scheduled in June, when procedures and deadlines will be published. The General Assembly adopted the proposal.
2. The already planned activities for 2003 also included a conference on the presentation of a survey on the feasibility of an agreement on frontier work in Friuli Venezia Giulia between the Italian and the Croatian governments. This suggestion had been submitted by Silvano Hrelja in the last meeting of the Presidency Office. In this respect, Luca Visentini informed the General Assembly that I.T.U.C. was already looking for similar bilateral agreements (see Germany-Czech Republic and Poland) with a view to making a comparison. Luca Visentini suggested that the diplomatic staff of the two countries should not be involved to avoid any possible interference with the action the Italian diplomacy will hopefully implement over the year to achieve a similar agreement with the Slovenian government. Monica Ukmar pointed out that a similar study was carried out by the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia on Slovenia and was not successful, as Slovenia started the EU membership process and, consequently, this kind of activity was no longer relevant. She suggested to take into account this study for the purposes of this item of the agenda. In this perspective, Giovanni Fania highlighted that the starting point could be the Udine Agreement signed in 1982 which was a successful example of bilateral agreements of this kind.
Upon request from Luca Visentini, Silvano Hrelja agreed that the abovementioned conference should take place in Istria, not in Italy, also for financial reasons, with a view to increasing attendance also from abroad. Silvano Hrelja added that the number of frontier workers from Croatia towards Italy amounted to 35,000 persons (20,000 from Istria and 15,000 from the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County). This sum was calculated by deducting the number of the active population from the number of actual workers and adding the number of the unemployed. The remaining amount of people was about this number and significant evidence showed that these people actually work in Italy.
Michele Berti suggested that a comparative study and an accurate proposal on the possible contents of the agreement should be presented in the conference. In this respect, he pointed out the importance of the agreement between Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland, as Länder – at least on German side – seemed to have the responsibility to define the number of frontier workers to admit on an annual basis on German territory. This is the same stance of many Italian regional governments, which are asking for more independence from the central government concerning the quotas of not-EU workers. He also pointed out that without a bilateral agreement, the work of Croatian frontier workers in Friuli Venezia Giulia is bound to remain an illegal black market. The strict limits set by the Bossi-Fini Decree is not compatible with the needs of these workers and their Italian employers, who have a long standing tradition in the availment of frontier work.
Giuliano Sadar added that there’s an agreement on frontier work between the Austrian Land of Burgerland and Hungary, which may provide further criteria for this study. I.T.U.C. will try and find this agreement as well as any other agreement that may be useful for this purpose.
The General Assembly asked the Presidency Office, which will meet in June, to define the organisational details of this initiative scheduled for the Autumn.
4. Silvano Hrelja asked if I.T.U.C. could finance his mission in Brussels to attend a conference on 12-13 June, upon invitation from E.T.U.C., on regulations on safety at work. The General Assembly adopted the proposal.
The General Assembly meeting was closed at 18.40.
The minute-taker
Giuliano Sadar