The social partners (BusinessEurope, SMEunited, CEEP and ETUC) all stressed at the EU Tripartite Social Summit on Wednesday 14 October the importance of being fully heard and taken into account at both European and national level in the European Recovery Plan and in future EU policies.
Thus, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) regretted, before the European Commission and the German Presidency of the Council of the EU, represented by Chancellor Angela Merkel, that all references to the social dimension and the European pillar of social rights as well as to the involvement of the social partners in the recovery plans had been deleted by the Member States (see EUROPE 12532/2).
SMEunited, as well as CEEP, called for the full involvement of the social partners, in particular SME organisations, in the development and deployment of national recovery and resilience plans. The latter organisation recalled the importance of having a mechanism to address and sanction violations of the Rule of law and to ensure respect for social dialogue.
For its part, BusinessEurope insisted on respecting the autonomy of the social partners in wage setting in view of the initiative due to be presented at the end of October (see EUROPE 12561/2). In this respect, SMEunited recalled that only recommendations were possible, where trade unions insisted on the importance of a Directive.
The social partners generally deplored the budget cuts in the Just Transition Fund, Horizon Europe, in the health sector or, like the trade unions, an overall budget that was not ambitious enough in the face of the issues at stake.
Business also stressed the importance of updating workers’ skills to meet the needs of the market in both the digital and green transition areas. With regards to the Green Deal, BusinessEurope and SMEunited reiterated their commitment, but asked that commitments always be associated with a growth target. SMEunited recalled that SMEs had been heavily affected by the pandemic and that this needed to be taken into account and therefore a “realistic” approach should be taken.
The SURE instrument, which aims to support national short-time working schemes, was mentioned by the trade unions, who called for it to be maintained until the health crisis is over and full economic recovery and job stabilisation is achieved.
The Tripartite Social Summit is devoted to socio-economic discussions between the European institutions and the social partners. It takes place twice a year, ahead of the meetings of the European Council. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)