IR Notes

On 8 May, at their meeting at Porto, the Heads of State and of Government of the Twenty-Seven adopted the “Porto declaration”, reaffirming their “pledge to work towards a social Europe”. However, it took some time for certain Nordic countries, which are still worried that the European Union wants to change their social model, to accept the expression “Social Europe”. They prefer the expression “continent of social cohesion and prosperity”. In the end, both concepts appear in the declaration. This is how the EU operates: laborious compromises have to be worked out among its Twenty-Seven members. In this instance, the notion of “gender equality”, which Hungary and Poland were unhappy with, was also excluded. So, what can be taken away from this summit? First and foremost, this was the first time for more than twenty years that the EU had reaffirmed its social dimension. Member States’ representatives point out that “the social dimension, social dialogue and the active involvement of social partners have always been at the core of a highly competitive social market economy”. Next, the Twenty-Seven have ratified the social chapter of the European Union’s new strategy, based on the recovery plan and the “green plan”. In concrete terms, the Twenty-Seven validated firstly the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan put forward by the European Commission (see IR Notes no. 159), and secondly, its three 2030 targets to be achieved by 2030: 1) at least 78% of people aged 20 to 64 to have a job; 2) at least 60% of adults to participate in training activities every year; 3) the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion to be cut by at least 15 million. The progress made by States towards achieving these targets and applying the Pillar’s 20 principles will be measured each year “as part of the policy coordination framework in the context of the European Semester” and followed “closely, including at the highest level”. These social commitments constitute “a fundamental element of the recovery”, which is intended to deliver a “digital, green and fair transition”.
Even though no concrete announcements were expected, the Twenty-Seven emphasised the importance they attach to the texts being discussed and prepared, such as those relating to “changes linked to digitalisation, artificial intelligence, teleworking and the platform economy (…) with a view to reinforcing workers’ rights, social security systems and occupational health and safety”. On the other hand, they hid their disagreements and made no direct reference either to the proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages – despite stating that they were determined to “defend fair wages” – or to that on financial transparency – despite wanting to work “actively to close gender gaps in employment, pay and pensions”. Lastly, the Twenty-Seven expressed satisfaction “that the European Social Partners have made a joint proposal for an alternative set of indicators to measure economic, social and environmental progress, supplementing GDP as welfare measure for inclusive and sustainable growth”.

The Porto commitments : In their Porto Social Commitment adopted on 7 May, representatives of the European institutions, social partners and representatives of civil society called on the Union to “maintain emergency measures as long as necessary while promoting a strategic approach to facilitate the creation of new quality jobs and job-to-job transitions” (see press release). They also agreed to “promote autonomous social dialogue as a structuring component of the European Social Model and strengthen it at the European, national, regional, sectorial and company levels, with special emphasis on ensuring an enabling framework for collective bargaining within the various models that exist in the Member States”. This summit looks set to mark collective bargaining’s return to favour. In his closing speech, the European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, emphasised that the EU plans to reinforce social dialogue and promote collective bargaining, “which should be the gold standard in our labour markets”.

• Individual learning accounts : On 28 April, the European Commission launched an open consultation aimed at all European citizens, lasting until 16 July, on its proposal to develop an individual learning account, in order to address the two major challenges facing the Union: firstly, the far-reaching changes taking place in terms of skills, as a result of the dual (digital and green) transition, and, secondly, the need to facilitate access to vocational training for atypical workers, such as temporary and platform workers. The results of this consultation will be used in a future proposal for a Council recommendation relating to individual learning accounts, which the Commission is due to present at the year end.
  > See also: a study by the Institut Jacques Delors dedicated to this arrangement, which envisages the notion of a European individual learning account “to make training rights not only portable across occupations and status, but also across countries”.

Revision of industrial strategy: : On 5 May, the European Commission set out an update of the Union’s industrial strategy in the form of a communication (in English) and of a proposal for a regulation on foreign subsidies distorting the internal market (in English) and its impact assessment (see press release). It also published the Annual Single Market Report 2021; an analysis on Europe’s strategic dependencies and capacities and a paper on competitive and clean European steel (see press release and a Questions and Answers press release). The IndustriAll Europe trade union federation expresses satisfaction that its repeated warnings about deindustrialisation have finally been heard. Going forward, says IndustriAll Europe, “it is crucial that European governments and the EU act decisively to tackle strategic dependencies through reindustrialisation, the circular economy and trade policy measures”. It expresses approval for the series of measures announced “to tackle unfair competition due to foreign subsidies” and calls for “active social dialogue at all levels”. The federation’s view is that: “Social dialogue and worker participation are vital tools – under-recognised by many member states – and must be better promoted and strengthened by the EU institutions” (see IndustriAll Europe press release). On the employers’ side, the initiative has been welcomed by Ceemet (see press release).

• EGF intervention: On 6 May, the European Commission proposed a European Globalisation Adjustment Fund support package worth 6.8 million euros for workers formerly employed by KLM (1200 people) in the Netherlands and by Finnair in Finland (500 people), who lost their jobs due to the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on passenger air transport (see press release).


• Conference on the Future of Europe: On 9 May, the Conference on the Future of Europe was officially launched at Strasbourg (see press release), with the adoption of Rules of Procedure fixing the composition of the Conference Plenary, and how it will work (see press release). A digital platform has been set up to enable citizens “to speak up, to say what kind of Europe” they want “to live in, to help shape our future”. One of the topics chosen includes “social justice and jobs”. The platform allows users to share their ideas, and to attend or organise an event.


• Employers adopt a united front against the minimum wage: On 5 May, ten European sectoral employers’ organisations adopted a joint position, calling on the European Commission to review its plans regarding the proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages. They denounce the Commission for undermining the social partners’ autonomy by seeking to strengthen collective bargaining, and set out their view that a (non-binding) recommendation would be more appropriate than a directive, and more respectful of the prerogatives of Member States, which have sole competence to intervene in the area of remuneration.

Workers’ status adapts to algorithms : Royal decree-law 9/2021, of 11 May, modifying the status of workers, comprises just two articles, but they are innovative: 1) It adds a provision applicable to all employees: employers must inform them “of the parameters, rules and instructions underlying any algorithms or artificial intelligence systems that affect the taking of decisions impacting on working conditions, access to and remaining in employment, including profiling”. Although this is an important step towards achieving the transparency needed for using AI, it does not go far enough. For example, the provision does not specify either how the company will use the results obtained by the system using AI or the respective importance of the various parameters contained in the algorithm. 2) Under the agreement concluded between the government and the social partners on 10 March, the law establishes a presumption of salaried employment for anyone who provides services, in return for payment, involving the delivery or distribution of any consumer products or goods by employers who exercise powers of organisation, management and control over the company – either directly, indirectly or implicitly – by means of algorithmic management of the service provided or of their working conditions, via a digital platform.

Bill to combat climate disruption : MPs adopted, at first reading, the bill to combat climate disruption, which has been strongly criticised for the modest level of its ambitions in relation to the new greenhouse-gas reduction targets. This law does however include a number of interesting social provisions, which have been strengthened by MPs. For example, the bill broadens the competence of economic and social committees (formerly known as “works councils”) to take in the environmental consequences of decisions made by the employer with regard to the company’s management and its economic and financial evolution. In future, the database of information that the employer is required to make available to workforce representatives would have to include data on the environmental consequences of the company’s activity, in addition to the economic and social data currently provided. The duties of the chartered accountant whose services the works council is entitled to use, would also be expanded to include the environmental data necessary for an understanding of the company’s strategic direction, its social policy, working conditions and employment-related matters. The training currently provided on economic, social and trade-union affairs for employees holding office as trade union representatives would also cover environmental issues.
> Further information on the bill: legislative dossier published (in French) by the French Parliament.

Lifetime skills and lexible working : On 11 May, in her Queen’s Speech, the British sovereign announced legislation designed to support a lifetime skills guarantee to enable flexible access to high quality education and training throughout people’s lives. The Skills and post-16 Education Bill was introduced in Parliament on 8 May (see press release), and is designed to create more routes into skilled employment in sectors the economy needs such as engineering, digital, clean energy, etc.). It requires employers and colleges to work together to develop skills plans “so that the training on offer meets the need of local areas, and so people no longer have to leave their home-towns to find great jobs”. On the other hand, it made no mention of legislation on employment rights, and in particular flexible working. The TUC (the UK’s trade union confederation) “is concerned that the government does not share the same sense of urgency” when it comes to legislating in favour of flexible working, “given that employers’ policies and practices are likely to alter considerably following the pandemic” (see press release).

Fundamental rights : The European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs has announced  that a public hearing will be held on 27 May, entitled “Amazon attacks on fundamental workers’ rights and freedoms: freedom of assembly and association and the right to collective bargain and action”. It will be chaired by Lucia Duris Nicholsonova, Chair of the Committee. It will also investigate how much truth there is in the information published by several media outlets, revealing that Amazon is engaging in surveillance of its employees, and in other practices that might be in breach of European labour, data and privacy laws (see also UNI Europa press release).

A “volcanic eruption” of sectoral social dialogue : In 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, European sectoral social dialogue had its busiest-ever year since it first came into being in the late 1970s. This is one of the quantitative lessons learned from the study performed by Christophe Degryse, Senior Researcher and Head of the Foresight Unit at the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI). According to the author: “never before has one subject given rise to such extensive discussions and negotiations between trade unions and management in Europe”. He continues: “Unlike the financial crisis of 2008, the Covid‐19 crisis demonstrates the vital nature of social dialogue, good working conditions and employment support measures”. Likewise, “the importance of social dialogue, of providing information and consultation for workers, and of training, is emphasised by all sectors”. As a result, the pandemic has “relaunched European social dialogue more effectively than any other conference” organised by the European institutions and social partners “could have done”. While “the usefulness of inclusive sectoral social dialogue” in managing this crisis is clearly apparent, the social partners still have to pass a “final test” in order to demonstrate their usefulness: “stimulating and reinforcing social dialogue and collective bargaining at national level”.

• Data skills: the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport has published a study on the need for data processing skills.  “As technology continues to progress, the demand for ‘data skills’ continues to rise dramatically” and the report provides a quantitative assessment of the mismatch between the demand and supply of data skills, recommending regional and industry-specific measures. To this end, interviews were conducted with 1,045 businesses across the UK, 5,000 UK workers and 1,000 UK students, for the purpose of defining the specific need for data skills, depending on business sizes and sectors, and identifying needs to boost training (summary of the report and full report).