Brussels, 10/09/2004 (Agence Europe) - "More than ever before, social partnership is a prerequisite for non-conflictual and successful management of modernisation and change. European social dialogue must be able to make a contribution to this process", Odile Quintin, Director General of the DG Employment and Social Affairs (European Commission) said when, on Thursday 9 September, she presented to the press the communication on a "Partnership for Change in an Enlarged Europe - Enhancing European social dialogue" (see EUROPE of 26 August, p.7).
The communication aims to open a new stage in European social dialogue development, Ms Quintin noted, insisting on two of the stakes of the current evolution in European social dialogue: 1) improved connection between the European and national levels with growing use of recommendations and autonomous agreements. The fact that European social dialogue looks increasingly to national organisations for implementation of results is a new, positive development which makes the quality of national industrial relations a basis for future progress, Ms Quintin noted. 2) There is today the need to strengthen social partners' ability to contribute to negotiating necessary compromises and to apply agreements made in an enlarged Europe. This responsibility requires investing where necessary in the training of social partners, for example by taking advantage of the possibilities provided by the European Social Fund (ESF), and by promoting exchanges in order to ensure that these major players in social policy have more weight. In this respect, Ms Quintin stressed that the ESF proposal of regulation provides under the Convergence Objective for "at least 2% of resources to be attributed to the development of capacities and activities jointly undertaken by social partners". She went on to recall that social partners have, in their working programme, provided for the development of many initiatives in Member States.
The new Commission communication concerns clarification of the status of texts adopted by European social partners. "Over 300 texts have been adopted by inter-professional and sectoral social partners. It is essential for this to mean concrete prolongation", Ms Quintin said. With this clarification, the Commission hopes to optimise the impact of what is achieved through social dialogue, improve transparency and effectiveness and stress the need to give greater attention to follow-up and implementation of texts adopted by the social partners at European level. She also pointed out that, for autonomous agreements, it is appropriate to be able to assess their impact precisely. The responsibility of implementation is up to social partners but the Commission undertakes to make its own assessment, which it will do with the agreement on stress to be finalised in coming weeks.
Ms Quintin went on to explain that it is through contributions and various kinds of support to European social dialogue that the partnership for change will shape up after its launch at the three-way Social Summit for growth and employment in March 2004. She recalled that the Commission has always preferred a contractual treatment of work-related questions and noted that the partnership has largely shown its worth in Europe. In the implementation of the guidelines decided in Lisbon, action of social partners is necessary and essential, Odile Quintin continued. She explained that one sees: - vocational training and access to lifelong learning are indispensable levers for adjusting the labour market to the jobs of tomorrow; - the quality of employment can be the federating theme allowing to manage change, stimulate organisational innovation and strengthen business effectiveness and performance; - and access to employment remains very unequal in Europe. Social partners can lift part of the obstacles to such access, whether it is a question of promoting reconciliation between family and professional life or providing real career prospects for older workers.