Peep Peterson, the leader of the Confederation of Trade Unions, will meet Luca Visentin, General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, in Brussels today. Among other things, they will discuss the problems on the European labour market that have arisen as a result of Brexit and the possibility of including issues relating to the rebalancing of the labour market among the key issues for the Estonian Presidency.

According to Peterson, there is a tendency in various referendums in the Netherlands, the UK and elsewhere for workers to carry anti-EU sentiments, citing labour market insecurity and unbalanced immigration.

"If we want to keep the European Union and keep it functioning well, I think it is necessary for workers, we can't get over the root cause of Brexit and other failed referendums, which is the state of labour markets," Peterson assessed.

The European Commission has also recently come up with a number of initiatives on the labour market, ranging from strengthening social dialogue and ensuring equal working conditions in the Posted Workers Directive to the development of a Pillar of Social Rights, which underpins EU recommendations for the development of labour markets.

"Whether and in what wording the trade unions will come up with one of the priority topics of the Estonian presidency will become clear in the coming weeks, after consultations with Estonian and European partners," the trade union leader added.

Peterson will also meet trade union leaders from Slovakia and Malta in Brussels to share their experiences of preparing for the EU Council presidency.