International civil committee set up to push for European wage union

The civil initiative calls for cementing the principle of “equal pay for equal work” in the EU’s founding documents, Gyöngyösi told a news conference.The new committee includes representatives from Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The members represent political parties, unions and civil groups.

All participants cited emigration influenced by economic factors as their countries’ biggest problem, Gyöngyösi said.

Answering a question, Gyöngyösi said the belief that the committee wants to transfer powers over tax regulation to the EU or relinquish a part of their sovereignty was a “fatal misinterpretation” of their initiative.

He noted that the EC has 60 days to review the initiative. Should the commission give the green light to the initiative, one million signatures have to be collected within a year, he added.