“Common social standards in Europe”: that’s the request formulated during the 6th Central European Congress of the Catholic Workers’ Movement (KAB) held in Vienna in recent days with the slogan “Europe needs us all”. “Prevention, assistance and welfare must ensure people of a decent life”, says the final resolution drafted by some 150 activists of the KAB from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria. The standard called for by Catholic workers “must be legally binding for all member states of the EU”. The KAB criticised the huge social disparities existing within the European Union. These differences, it underlined, “create distress and uncertainty. The lack of suitable European directives is increasing the gap between rich and poor”. To this situation the KAB opposes the principle according to which “the economy must be placed at the service of the person (and not vice versa). Work is not only a means of subsistence, but also a way of participating in social life. That’s why – says the document – “equitable social structures are needed”. “On the basis of the gospel message we ask for a fair distribution of incomes and a just salary for every job. We wish to support the commitment to a fair social order”, concludes the resolution.
