The special advisor to the European Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Andrea Nahles, said at a press briefing on Thursday 4 February that one of her most effective proposals for revitalising social dialogue in Europe would be to create a new European programme for young leaders of social partner organisations.
Mrs Nahles ran through ten proposals for small group of journalists. She suggests, for example, creating an award for innovative social dialogue practices, setting up joint working groups between the social partners and the Commission with a view to improving the Tripartite Social Summit, and the designation of a person responsible for social dialogue by each Directorate-General of the European Commission.
However, responding to EUROPE, the former German Minister of Labour and Social Affairs considered the most important proposal to be the creation of a new European programme for young leaders of national social partner organisations.
The aim, explained Mrs Nahles, is to create a real culture of social dialogue in all Member States. The European Commission would organise an annual programme of 2 to 3 weeks of visits and information sessions in Brussels for future leaders from both employer-based and trade union organisations, to familiarise them with the workings of the European institutions and, above all, to establish informal contacts and create networks between the national social partners.
When asked by EUROPE, the Commissioner welcomed the proposal, which he compared to a kind of “Erasmus” for young leaders of social partner organisations. The Commissioner confirmed that the programme could be put in place quickly, adding that most of the proposals could be implemented in a short time.
He seemed somewhat less enthusiastic about the proposal to revise the 2002/14/EC framework directive on information and consultation of employees in order to set minimum standards in all European and national companies to combat the phenomenon of letter-box companies or abuses of subcontracting chains. “That is not on the European Commission’s agenda at this level”, he confirmed to EUROPE, adding that he did not want to commit to this project for the time being.
The Commissioner has made social dialogue one of the priorities of his mandate. For example, he has introduced mechanisms to consolidate and engender social dialogue at the national level in the framework of the directive to establish decent minimum wages in Europe (see EUROPE 12591/8).
To consult the report: http://bit.ly/39GdBYz (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)