Brussels, 31/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The EU says that it wants to create a climate more conducive to social dialogue. This is at least the objective outlined by both the European Commission and the European Council. Nevertheless, a recent study by Eurofound demonstrates that there is little social dialogue in important areas of reform, particularly in countries that are currently receiving financial support from the EU. Social dialogue is important to both the democratic and electoral process but it is likely that it will only be a minor point on the agenda of the heads of state and governments' meeting in Brussels at the end of December. The stated aim of this meeting is to “develop at national and European levels” a better relationship with social partners.
The European Council is seeking to win backing for its conclusions and recommendations throughout the Union. It is for this reason that the conclusions adopted at the last summit on Friday 25 October (see EUROPE 10951) indicate that the European Council wants to include social partners more in the decision-making process, including the European Semester. In its communication on the social dimension of economic and monetary union (EMU), the Commission also recommends that member states examine all the reforms deriving from the county-specific recommendations with the social partners (see EUROPE 10934).
These recommendations particularly affect reform of the pensions systems. Following the line developed in its White Paper of February 2012 (see EUROPE 10555), the Commission suggests that there should be a recalibration between the time spent at work and pensions (which is what the majority of member states are doing) and development of complementary private systems (which a minority are doing). Although some reforms undertaken are subject to criticism, it is practically universally accepted that they are needed in order to guarantee the long-term financial viability of the public pension systems. The crisis affecting the EU since 2008 has only exacerbated this need and this has led to a wave of reform over recent years. This has frequently resulted in increases in the legal retirement age, pension age equality between men and women, new limits imposed on early retirement and increases in pension contributions.
In the “Social partners' involvement in pension reform” study published at the beginning of October, Eurofound looked at how social partners had been involved in these reforms. The result appeared to support the Council and Commission with regard to the need to examine the quality of social dialogue. Fifteen member states have carried out reforms of the compulsory pension systems and social partners have had absolutely no influence on the final result of these reforms. Countries receiving EU financial assistance (Greece, Cyprus and Portugal), together with Romania, are the most flagrant examples of this in this field because no social dialogue at all was established. According to Eurofound, this can most often be explained by the urgency with which these reforms were drawn up and undertaken. Austria and Finland appear, on the contrary, to be the models that should be followed.
The trade unions are generally opposed to these reforms, particularly because compensatory measures were insufficent, such as improved protection for vulnerable people or support measures for leading longer and more active lives, explains Eurofound. All the different social partners now agree, however, that most of these reforms have only partly responded to the challenge. Future forms are likely to provide another opportunity to see how member states define social dialogue and put it into practice. (JK/transl.fl)