Social dialogue as a fundamental component of the European social market model gained full recognition in the “founding treaty” – EEC Treaty (1957) with the Amsterdam Treaty reform (1997) to follow. No wonder, that the present EU basic law (Lisbon Treaty, art. 151-156, TFEU), stipulate that social partners (representatives of management and labour) have to contribute actively to designing European social policy. Thus, the promotion of dialogue between management and labour is recognised as the EU and EU and the member states common objective (art. 151 TFEU).

Thus, the aim of social dialogue is to improve European governance through the involvement of the social partners in decision-making and in the policies’ implementation process.

Following the initiative of Commission President Jacques Delors, the Val Duchesse social dialogue process was set up in 1985 with the aim of involving social partners [represented by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Union of Industries of the European Community (UNICE) and the European Centre of Public Enterprises (CEEP)], in the internal market process. A number of joint statements on employment, education, training and other social issues resulted from the meetings of these social partners in 1985.

Social dialogue and the EU development model

Effective social dialogue is the cornerstone of the European social model. It is a prerequisite for the functioning of Europe’s social market economy and crucial to promote both competitiveness and fairness.

In March 2015, during Latvian Presidency in the Council, to mark 30-years of the mentioned “Val Duchesse process” (involving European social partners in building the internal market), the European Commission together with the social partners organised a high-level conference to kick off a "new start for social dialogue".

Well-developed tripartite and bipartite structures have been already in place in numerous member states producing tangible results, including a range of agreements implemented by EU legislation. However, in recent years, the difficult socio-economic environment has made social dialogue more difficult. The Commission is committed to working more closely with social partners to improve the quality and effectiveness of social dialogue at all levels and to develop solutions jointly for the main challenges faced in Europe.

President Juncker in his new program (2014) mentioned the “new start for social dialogue” as a priority. Thus, Commission’s political guidelines and yearly work programmes (as well as changes in the Commission’s internal structure) reflect this commitment. Suffice it to say that in the new Commission there two Commissioners involved in social affairs: Vice-President for Social Dialogue, Valdis Dombrovskis and “regular” Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen. In: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4542_en.htm.

In March 2015, the Commission made an important step forward in strengthening and deepening dialogue with a broad cross-section of social partners in order to better address European economic and social challenges, following the Political Guidelines and Work Programme of the new European Commission for 2014-20.

Thus, Commission Vice-President for Social Dialogue, Valdis Dombrovskis underlined that the Commission would reaffirm its commitment to engaging with employers and workers in shaping numerous European and member states’ policies. No doubt, these issues are becoming increasingly important considering the Commission’s agenda for the European economic governance while striving for recovery of the European economy in a sustainable and fair way.

Commissioner Marianne Thyssen argued that economic and social challenges required a thriving social dialogue at both EU and national level. She added that when the social dialogue was strong, economies were more competitive and socially resilient.

The Commission is confident that involvement of social partners in the design and implementation of policies is crucial to strengthen competitiveness and fairness, and is a prerequisite for the functioning of Europe's social market economy.

The Commission identified that social dialogue can contribute in six specific areas: "the European Semester"; "industrial relations and capacity building at national level"; "the EU's macro-economic strategy"; "social dialogue and better regulation"; "the digital single market" and "skills, education and training needs in a changing working environment".

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4542_en.htm

In this way, the Commission launched a renewed partnership between social partners and the EU institutions to focus on a number of priorities to promote growth and create jobs.

During last year, the Commission, the Council and European social partners have delivered on this new start through a number of concrete actions. See more:

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=theme5.html

Bipartite social dialogue

According to the “founding” integration EEC Rome Treaty (1957), one of the Commission’s tasks in the social field was to promote close cooperation among the states with regard to the right of association and collective bargaining between employers and workers. However, this provision started to be implemented several decades after…  

Set up in 1985, the initiative of Commission President Jacques Delors towards a European social dialogue involved major social partners: European Trade Union Confederation, the Union of Industries of the European Community and the European Centre of Public Enterprises.

In 1992, the Social Dialogue Committee (SDC) was established as the main forum for bipartite social dialogue at European level. The SDC currently meets three or four times a year and comprises 64 members (32 representing employers and 32 representing workers) either from European secretariats or national organisations. Meanwhile, the Single European Act created a legal basis for the development of a ‘Community-wide social dialogue’. In October 1991, UNICE, ETUC and CEEP adopted a joint agreement which called for mandatory consultation of the social partners on the preparation of legislation in the area of social affairs and a possibility for the social partners to negotiate framework agreements at Community level. This request was acknowledged in the Agreement annexed to the Maastricht Protocol on Social Policy, which was signed by all Member States with the exception of the United Kingdom. At national level, the social partners were thereby given the opportunity to implement directives by way of collective agreement.

The incorporation of the Agreement on Social Policy into the EC Treaty following the entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam finally allowed for a single framework to apply to social dialogue within the EU. Cross-industry results of this process were the adoption of framework agreements on parental leave (1995), part-time working (1997) and fixed-term work (1999), which were implemented by Council directives.

At EU level, according to Article 154 TFEU, the Commission must consult the social partners before taking any action in the social policy field. The social partners may then choose to negotiate among themselves an agreement on the subject of the consultation and stop the Commission’s initiative. The negotiation process can take up to nine months and the social partners have the following possibilities:

·         they may conclude an agreement and jointly ask the Commission to propose that the Council adopt a decision on implementation, or

·         having concluded an agreement between themselves, they may prefer to implement it in accordance with their own specific procedures and practices and those of the Member States (‘voluntary’ or, later on, ‘autonomous’ agreements), or

·         they may be unable to reach an agreement, in which case the Commission will resume work on the proposal in question.

Negotiations between the social partners on a framework agreement on temporary agency work ended in failure in May 2001. Then, in March 2002, the Commission adopted a proposal for a directive based on the consensus, which had emerged among the social partners. After a modification of the proposal in November 2002, the process culminated in the adoption of Directive 2008/104.

Similarly, after the social partners had expressed their unwillingness to engage in negotiations, in 2004 the Commission put forward a proposal on the revision of Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, including recent developments such as on-call work and flexible weekly working time. Parliament, the Commission and the Council were subsequently unable to agree on the issue, and the European social partners tried to find an agreement during a year-long negotiation process, which also broke down in December 2012 due to major differences on the treatment of on-call time as working time. It is therefore still up to the Commission to put forward a new proposal.

From 1998, following a Commission decision to establish specific bodies (Commission Decision 98/500/EC of 20 May 1998), sectoral social dialogue was also strongly developed. Several committees were created in the main economic fields and they produced valuable results. Sectoral social dialogue produced three European agreements on the organisation of working time for seafarers (1998), on the organisation of working time for mobile workers in civil aviation (2000) and on certain aspects of the working conditions of mobile workers assigned to interoperable cross-border services in the railway sector (2005). These agreements were implemented by Council decision. The ‘Agreement on workers’ health protection through the good handling and use of “crystalline silica and products containing it”, signed in April 2006, was the first multi-sector outcome of the European social partners’ negotiations.

In 2014, the Council implemented, by means of a directive, a sectoral agreement concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time in inland waterway transport from 2012.

In April 2012, the social partners in the hairdressing sector concluded an agreement on clear guidance for hairdressers to work in a healthy and safe environment throughout their careers, and requested a Council implementing decision. Since then, the matter has got no further than the Commission, which announced in its REFIT Communication of 18 June 2014 that it would not be submitting a proposal to the Council. This suggests that the Commission’s role is evolving from that of an intermediary body to that of a player with its own tools, namely impact assessments to be conducted before deciding to turn a sectoral agreement into a directive, taking into account whether the Council is prone to agree on the directive, bearing in mind the principles of representativeness of social partners, subsidiarity and proportionality.

The agreement on “tele-working” concluded in May 2002 was implemented for the first time in accordance with the procedures and practices specific to the social partners and the Member States. ‘Autonomous agreements’ were also concluded by the social partners on work-related stress and on the European licence for drivers carrying out a cross-border interoperability service in 2004, as well as on harassment and violence at work (April 2007) and on inclusive labour markets (March 2010).

Following the changes introduced by the Treaty of Amsterdam, the consultation process has become even more important, since it covers all the fields now falling under Article 151 TFEU.

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, a new article (Article 152 TFEU) has been inserted, stating that ‘the Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy’. Article 153 TFEU also gives Member States the possibility to entrust the social partners with the implementation of a Council decision adopted on ratification of a collective agreement signed at European level.

However, since the economic and financial crisis started, social dialogue has increasingly suffered when crisis measures were implemented, being weakened by its decentralisation, a decline in bargaining coverage and state intervention in the area of wage policy. Against this background, and in view of the finding that the Member States in which the social partnership is strongest have been the most successful in overcoming the crisis, the new Commission undertook in November 2014 to re-launch and strengthen the dialogue with social partners, especially in the new economic governance set-up, as a prerequisite for the functioning of Europe’s social market economy.

Tripartite social dialogue

From the very start of the European integration process, it was considered important to involve economic and social stakeholders in drawing up Community legislation. The Consultative Committee for Coal and Steel and the European Economic and Social Committee bear witness to this. Since the 1960s a number of advisory committees have existed, the role of which is to support the Commission in formulating specific policies. In general, these committees, such as the Committee on Social Security for Migrant Workers are made up of representatives of national employers’ organisations and trade unions, as well as representatives of the Member States. From 1970 the key tripartite social dialogue forum at European level was the Standing Committee on Employment, composed of 20 representatives of the social partners, equally divided between trade unions and employers’ organisations.

Reformed in 1999, the Committee was fully integrated into the coordinated European employment strategy. On the basis of a joint contribution from the social partners, the Council launched a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment in March 2003 (Council Decision 2003/174/EC) which has replaced the Committee on Employment. Facilitating ongoing consultation between the Council, the Commission and the social partners on economic, social and employment questions, it meets at least once a year and one of its meetings must be held before the Spring European Council.

Formalising a process that had been developing since 1997, the Summit now officially consists of the current EU Council presidency and the two subsequent presidencies, the Commission and the social partners. The three Council presidencies are normally represented by the heads of state or government and the ministers in charge of employment and social affairs; equally, the Commission has two representatives, who are usually its President and the member responsible for employment and social affairs. The social partners’ members are divided into two delegations of equal size, comprising 10 workers’ representatives and 10 employers’ representatives, with special attention being paid to the need to ensure a balanced participation between men and women. Each group consists of delegates of European cross-industry organisations either representing general interests or more specific interests of supervisory and managerial staff and small and medium-sized businesses at European level. Technical coordination is provided for the workers’ delegation by ETUC and for the employers’ delegation by UNICE. Following the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the role of the Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment is now acknowledged under Article 152 TFEU.

Source: Marion Schmid-Drüner, Social dialogue, in: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/atyourservice/en/displayFtu.html?ftuId=FTU_5.10.7.html

Agreements from 2015  

The high level conference gathered the leaders of the EU institutions and the European and national social partners at cross-industry and sectoral levels.

President Juncker highlighted that the new start for social dialogue should take place at both EU and national level, and in the context of both tri-partite and bi-partite social dialogue.

Social partners and the Commission agreed that the new start for social dialogue should aim for (1) more substantial involvement of the social partners in the European Semester, (2) a stronger emphasis on capacity building of national social partners, (3) a strengthened involvement of social partners in EU policy- and law-making and (4) a clearer relation between social partners' agreements and the Better Regulation agenda.

Implementing commitments

Two Thematic Groups have been established to build on the commitments made and to monitor the follow-up to the high-level conference. Representatives from the social partners (at EU and national level and at cross-industry and sectoral level), representatives from the past, present and future Council presidencies (Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Slovakia and Malta), the Council Secretariat, Eurofound and the Commission services also attended.

Thematic Group 1 focused on social dialogue, economic governance and capacity building. It assessed the involvement and positions of the national and European social partner organisations in the assessment, design, agreement and implementation of semester-related reforms and policies at national level.

Main conclusions were:

·         The involvement of social partners at EU level has significantly improved in recent years, but there is room for further improvement at national level,

·         The involvement of national social partners in the preparation of the National Reform Programmes and in the design and implementation of relevant policy reforms could be reinforced while respecting national practices.

·         Annexing the views of social partners to the National Reform Programmes was considered a good practice

.

The Thematic Group also discussed the functioning of social dialogue in Member States. The main conclusions were:

·         A well-functioning social dialogue requires appropriate settings for both bipartite and tripartite social dialogue.

·         A suitable institutional framework for social partners to engage in bipartite and tripartite dialogue is essential.

·         There is also a need to ensure adequate financial resources and support for capacity building activities, primarily via social partners and national resources, but also possibly through the use of EU funds.

Thematic Group 2 focused on social dialogue, policy-making and law-making, specifically the involvement of social partners in policy- and law-making in the context of initiatives in the social and employment area as well as in other policy areas.

Main conclusions were:

·         Tripartite fora such as the Tripartite Social Summit, the Macro-Economic Dialogue and the Social Dialogue Committee were and remain the key fora for exchanges with EU institutions and social partners. However, the functioning and impact of these fora should be enhanced, where possible.

·         The need to make use of the expertise of social partners when developing EU initiatives, in particular in areas beyond the Treaty-based consultation of social partners.

·         Social partners and the EU institutions, while respecting their respective responsibilities and autonomy, should support synergies between their work programmes in order to enhance delivery on the goals that they share.

The Thematic Group also discussed the concept of representativeness at EU level, in particular in the cases where social partners requested their agreements to be implemented through EU law.

Main conclusions were:

·         The concept of representativeness at both national and European levels and its implications in terms of policy- and law- making at EU level should be examined.

·         In particular, representativeness checks need to ensure that EU social dialogue relies on recognised social partners at national level across Member States.

Social partners’ involvement in the European Semester

In the framework of the European Semester, the Commission reinforced the consultation of social partners in various areas:

·         The Commission consulted the European social partners on their views and the challenges ahead before the publication of the 2016 Annual Growth Survey (meeting on 23 September 2015).

·         The Commission, through its Representations in the Member States, stepped up and encouraged discussions with national social partners on the Country Reports and Country-Specific Recommendations at key milestones of the Semester.

Reinforcing social partners’ capacity  

The dedicated budget lines on social dialogue and the European Social Fund (ESF) were identified as the appropriate tool to support the capacity-building of social partners.

The so-called prerogative budget lines for social dialogue provide more than €30 million a year of funding to promote European social dialogue at cross-industry, sector and company level.

In October 2015, the Commission organised a workshop for managing authorities and social partners on the use of the ESF for the capacity-building of the social partners.

A mapping of ESF support to capacity-building of social partners in both the past and current financing periods is being prepared with the managing authorities and social partners and should be available by mid-2016.

Social partners’ involvement in the making of EU employment and social policies  

The Commission launched a first stage consultation of the social partners, as foreseen by Article 154 TFEU, on "information and consultation of workers" in April 2015 and on "work-life balance" in November 2015.

Three dedicated hearings with cross-industry and sectoral social partners were held since March 2015 on the long-term unemployment recommendation, on Labour Mobility and on the planned New Skills Agenda. The social partners are also invited to play a key role in the consultation, which was just launched, on the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The same is with other EU policies; a more systematic consultation beyond employment and social policies of the social partners in EU policy- and law-making is pursued (i.e. beyond the formal procedure applicable to social policy initiatives referred to in Article 153 TFEU):

·         First Vice-President Timmermans met the EU social partners ahead of the adoption of the Better Regulation package.

·         Vice-President J. Katainen organised a discussion on the Investment Plan.

·         Vice-President A. Ansip met with the EU social partners and invited them to include the Digital Single Market in their dialogue at EU level.

·         Vice-President M. Šefčovič met twice with EU social partners to discuss the Energy Union and how the social partners can contribute to accommodating the impact of the energy transition, which will require among others retraining or up-skilling of employees in certain sectors.

·         In the field of trade policy, the Commission is committed to enhancing consultation of social partners on the possible impacts of trade and investment on jobs, in particular, in the framework of Sustainability Impact Assessments.

Bi-partite social dialogue

EU cross-industry social partners presented on 14 July 2015 their in-depth employment analysis and joint work programme 2015-2017. Of their eight priorities, social partners have started their negotiations on an autonomous framework agreement on active ageing (priority 1).  EU cross-industry social partners also foresee the adoption of joint conclusions on work-life balance (priority 2). Exchanges of views and joint activities are foreseen on the five remaining priorities of mobility and migration (priority 3), investment and job creation (priority 4), digitalisation and skills (priority 5), active labour market policies (priority 6) and youth employment (priority 7). A working group was created to look at the implementation of the previous autonomous framework agreements with a view to promoting capacity-building and better implementation of outcomes (priority 8).

EU sectoral social partners, active in 43 different sectoral social dialogue committees representing 75% of the work force, and supported by the European Commission, have continued to deliver on their respective joint work programmes. This includes the preparation of common products such as joint opinions, declarations or projects on themes related to job creation and job matching, skills and apprenticeships, mobility and migration, energy and climate change, digitalisation and the collaborative economy.

All these themes are at the core of the EU priorities and in line with President Juncker political guidelines. EU sectoral social partners have also signed agreements for which they have requested implementation through EU legislation in two sectors (sea-fishing in 2013 and central administrations in 2015). Social partners in two other sectors (hairdressers and maritime transport) are also negotiating two further agreements.

Social dialogue’s perspectives

Important progress has been achieved in implementing the commitments made one year ago as part of the 'new start for social dialogue'.

The Commission will continue these efforts in the coming years, guided by the following two main principles:

1) EU social dialogue cannot deliver without a well-functioning and effective social dialogue at national level, which requires a corresponding institutional setting.

2) Tripartite concentration, involving public authorities, needs to build upon a strong bipartite social dialogue; it will be valid both for the EU and the member states.

Reference: European Commission, press release “New start for social dialogue- one year on”, Brussels, 16 March 2016. In:

http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-823_en.htm?locale=en