A top-level get-together, designed to revive European social dialogue
Despite the breakdown, in December of last year, of the European negotiation on telework and the right to disconnect, which should have led to the adoption of a directive applicable in all Member States, the European Commission, the Belgian presidency of the EU and the European social partners managed to restore some optimism regarding the prospects for European social dialogue, at a summit held on 31 January at the château of Val Duchesse, near Brussels (see Val Duchesse). There, they signed a Tripartite Declaration for a Thriving European Social Dialogue, prefaced by a quotation from the late Jacques Delors: “If the European Union is to work, it will need competition to boost it, solidarity to unify it and cooperation to strengthen it” (see European Social Dialogue).
This declaration represents “a renewed commitment to strengthen social dialogue at EU level” and sets out several other commitments. One of them relates to the economic challenges facing the EU, and seeks to address labour and skills shortages by drawing up an “Action Plan” by spring 2024. The aim is to “bring more people to the labour market, improve working conditions, facilitate the recognition of qualifications and integrate workers coming from abroad, through social dialogue and collective bargaining”. The other commitments attempt to defuse the crisis surrounding the EPSU case, when the Commission refused to submit a European sectoral agreement to the Council for approval, with a view to converting it into a directive (see EPSU case). This review of the appropriateness of European agreements, exercised in the name of the Commission’s right of initiative, as recognised by the Treaty, was upheld by the EU Court of Justice, thereby increasing tensions between the Commission and the social partners. The declaration points out that “the role that the Treaty awards to social partners differentiates social dialogue from other forms of consultation, such as the dialogue with civil society”.
In more concrete terms, the Commission has decided to appoint “a dedicated European Social Dialogue Envoy” to “support and coordinate the implementation of the Commission Communication on strengthening social dialogue in the EU”, building on “the Commission’s network of social dialogue coordinators”, as recommended by the Nahles report. A mechanism will be put in place in cases “where social partners jointly identify that social dialogue is not being respected and appropriately promoted at EU level”. Similarly, if social partners “jointly identify concerns at national level, the Envoy will channel these joint concerns to the EU institutions”. The Envoy will contribute to the implementation of the commitments taken to support and promote social dialogue, including in the quadripartite statement “A New Start for Social Dialogue“.
Lastly, the signatories will initiate a process leading to the signing of a “Pact for European Social Dialogue” by the beginning of 2025. This process will take the form of a series of tripartite and bipartite meetings, designed to “identify new proposals to reinforce European Social Dialogue”. These will cover financial aspects, which have been an area of tension ever since the Commission expressed a desire to end direct funding of European social partners, by inviting them to draw up project funding applications, as part of EU funding arrangements. These meetings will also have to produce an “agreed bipartite approach on the negotiation processes and the implementation and promotion of European autonomous agreements and agreements implemented via European Directive/Council decision”, so that everyone can put the EPSU case behind them.
It remains to be seen whether the stakeholders concerned will finally decide to make use of the powers, granted to them under the Treaty, to be co-legislators on employment-related matters, by coming up with standards, even without the threat of a legislative intervention by the Commission.