Brussels, 27/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - Still in shock, following the British referendum, the European Union has just made a formal commitment to strengthening social dialogue. On Monday 27 June, representatives from the Council and the European Commission, signed a joint statement in this connection with social partners.
During an agreement signing ceremony organised in Brussels, the Commissioner for Employment, Marianne Thyssen, stated, "Today is a good day for social dialogue in Europe". Other figures attending the event included: Valdis Dombrovskis (European Commission), Wepke Kingma (Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU), Luca Visentini (the European Trade Union Confederation: ETUC), Markus J Beyrer (BusinessEurope, employers), Valeria Ronzitti (CEEP- European Centre of Employers and Enterprises providing Public service), Peter Faross (UEAPME- European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises).
The joint statement calls for greater involvement from social partners in the conceptualisation and implementation of policies decided at European and national levels, including the European Semester. It also supports enhanced capacity and a clear relationship between the social partners' agreements and the agenda for smart regulation.
The Secretary General of the ETUC, Luca Visentini, said "We want to be involved in all policies. Even better, we want to be as influential as possible". Valeria Ronzitti, the CEEP Secretary-General, stated "Today's statement puts down the building blocks of strengthened and improved participation by social partners". The Director-General of BusinessEurope, Markus J Beyrer, highlighted the problems currently facing the European Union and indicated "Last Friday we all woke up in a different Europe. We now need to limit the damage. We also need some distance to see what more we need to do and how to do it better".
The statement follows a process that began in March 2015 (see EUROPE 11268) and contains commitments from different stakeholders. For example, European trans-sectoral social partners are committed to publishing a report on the way in which to use European funds better at a national level, such as the Social Fund. The Commission is committed to involving social partners in policy and drawing up laws at a European level "For example, by way of consultations with European social partners". The member states will reiterate their conclusions on 16 June 2016. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)