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The Social Dialogue at Community level is a method of involving the representatives of employers and trade unions in the process of decision making on matters concerned with social and employment policy.  European social partners have concluded different cross-industry framework agreements under Articles 154 and 155 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Dialogue between the European social partners exists at both cross-sectoral and sectoral level.

The social Partners include:

ETUC – European trade Union Confederation, representing all trade unions within the EU.

CEEP – Public Sector Employers

UNICE - Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE)

They have concluded and been ratified by the Council of Ministers and are now part of European legislation:

parental leave (1996) ,  part-time work (1997) ,   fixed-term contracts (1999). The social partners have also concluded voluntary agreements on telework (2002), work-related stress (2004) and a framework of actions for the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications (2002), and a framework of actions on gender equality (2005).

The current demands are to the employers to open a dialogue on how to strengthen and further develop collective bargaining in each EU country; and the ETUC is supporting the two initiatives by the current EU President, Directive for fair minimum wages and collective bargaining and a directive on pay transparency.

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Social Dialogue

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These 2 Councils are the EU’s most important decision-making bodies. The first body is made up of ministers from national governments. Its main task is to approve European laws. A government minister from each member country sits on the Council each time it meets. Different ministers attend depending on the subject being discussed. For example, Britain would have sent its Agriculture Minister when the Council is discussion on agricultural matter or a minister from the Scottish Executive or Welsh Assembly represents Britain. Council meetings are held in Brussels or Luxemburg.

There is also the European Council which is a body where the Heads of state (eg it would have included the prime minister) and the President of the Commission meet. This is done 4 times a year and they decide and agree on overall EU policy, their meetings are normally known as ‘summits’.

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The European Council/

The Council of the European Union

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The Parliament’s main role is to consider most of the laws proposed by the Commission and to approve them in agreement with the Council. It monitors the actions of the other EU bodies and helps to set the EU’s budget. Its members (MEPs) are chosen every five years in direct elections by the people of every member country. The Parliament meets in Strasbourg and in Brussels.
1. Passing European laws — jointly with the Council in many policy areas. The fact that the EP is directly elected by the citizens helps guarantee the democratic legitimacy of European law.
2. Parliament exercises democratic supervision over the other EU institutions, and in particular the Commission. It has the power to approve or reject the nomination of commissioners, and it has the right to censure the Commission as a whole.
3. The power of the purse. Parliament shares with the Council authority over the EU budget and can therefore influence EU spending. At the end of the procedure, it adopts or rejects the budget in its entirety.
NB There are 705 MEPs. at the last elections the UK had the third highest number 73 (with Brexit party has 29 MEPs)

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The European Parliament

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The Commission Proposes new laws for the Council and Parliament to Consider. It also ensures that existing directives are implemented by each member country. Every five years, at the beginning of a new Commission term, the president of the Commission also determines the political priorities for its upcoming term of office. Under the Lisbon Treaty (applied in 2014) the European Council will nominated what is known as a “leading candidates”. These leading candidates are then voted in by the European Parliament. This has reinforced the role of the European Parliament.  The Commission remains accountable to the European Parliament.

There are 18 Commissioners and 8 vice-presidents, one from each EU country, this provides the Commission’s political leadership during their 5-year term. Each Commissioner is assigned responsibility for specific policy areas by the President. Ursula von Leyen is the president. Britain has 2 commissioners up and till 31st Dec 2019. This new Commission European Green Deal, a Europe fit for the digital age, an economy that works for people, protecting our European way of life, a stronger Europe in the world and a new push for European democracy.

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The European Union began with the Treaty of Rome to create the European Economic Community in 1957. The treaty was purely on grounds of developing economic growth during post war Europe. It was not until 1972 that the idea of a “Social fund” was developed to assist member countries in improving social policy ie building infrastructure, supporting education.

In 1985, social dialogue was developed, also known as the “European Community principles”.  These principles are contained in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of Workers which was adopted by 11 out of 12 member states at the Strasburg summit in 1989. The charter included rights for protection of workers, right to strike, welfare rights and social protection for elderly, young and disabled. In 2000, the Charter was included in the European Constitution. Although Britain has resisted ratifying this charter as it includes rights for trade unions and right to strike

In 1992, with the ratification of another Treaty of the European Union called the Maastricht Treaty. One of the key parts of the social dialogue aspects in this treaty was the inclusion in an agreement called the “Social Chapter” which included many of the directives we are now familiar with e.g. age discrimination directive, working time directive etc. Britain did not sign up to the Social Chapter until 1997 as this became a manifesto pledge by the then Labour Party.

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European Treaty

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European Commission