Worker Protection in the EU
I am a thirteen-year–old European citizen and, like many other young Europeans, I have certain fears and hopes about the EU and its future.
Above all, I fear that when I grow up and come to a point in my life when I have to find a job, the level of unemployment will be much higher than it is nowadays. Consequently, people will be finding it more difficult to get the job they like.
Recently, there were demonstrations, protests and strikes held by French students against the new Labour Law which claimed that, during the first two years of working, young people could be fired from their work without being given an explanation. This law has now been replaced by a new proposal; the two year probationary period has been removed and no worker can now be sacked without first being given a reason.
Personally, I understand the fears of these young men looking for a job and I also understand that the young employees are less mature than their older colleagues who have more working experience. However, I think that people looking for a job have to be given time to get used to a new working place and to widen their experience. Therefore, I would like to know whether the EU will take this into consideration while preparing the European Constitution.
Will the EU Constitution protect young workers against such or any other unfair treatment?
The biggest hope that I have is that in the future there will be no wars like the recent war in the former Republic of Yugoslavia or the bloody Second World War.
Julia Averianova
Maria Regina Girls’ Junior Lyceum
Blata l-Bajda