Tripartite Social Summit
The Tripartite Social Summit consists of the Council Presidency and the two subsequent Presidencies, the European Commission and the social partners represented at the highest level. The Tripartite Social Summit acts as a bridge between the different processes of concertation and enables the social partners to contribute, in an integrated way, to the different components of the Lisbon strategy, now superseded by the Europe 2020 strategy.
There are four fields in which tripartite concertation takes place: macro-economic issues; employment issues; social protection issues; and education and training issues.
The conclusions of the Nice European Council of December 2000 provided for an annual meeting of the social partners before the Spring European Council. In its 2002 Communication on social dialogue, the Commission supported the establishment of a Tripartite Social Summit for growth and employment, bringing together the troika, the Commission President and a restricted delegation of social partners and replacing the Standing Committee on Employment, on the basis that it would provide an informal arena for discussion of the social partners’ contribution to the Lisbon Agenda.
The establishment of the Tripartite Social Summit by Council decision represented an important political step, which set European-level tripartite concertation within a new framework. The first formal Tripartite social summit for growth and employment took place in 2003 when the social partners reported on how they were contributing to the Lisbon strategy through their own initiatives. Under the terms of the Council Decision of 6 March 2003, the President of the Council and the President of the Commission jointly chair meetings of the Summit.
The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) reinforces the importance of the Tripartite Social Summit by stating in Article 152 that ‘the Union recognises and promotes the role of the social partners at its level, taking into account the diversity of national systems. It shall facilitate dialogue between the social partners, respecting their autonomy. The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment shall contribute to social dialogue’.
At the most recent Tripartite Social Summit, in October 2011, the European social partners discussed the current economic and employment situation in Europe and the key policy responses required for a sustained recovery, as well as the important role of the social partners in EU governance. There was a broad consensus on the importance of close cooperation between EU institutions, governments and social partners at all levels. The key role of social dialogue in sustaining recovery and structural change was also highlighted, as well as the need to involve the social partners in the national reform programmes implementing the Europe 2020 objectives.
See also: Collective industrial relations; Lisbon strategy; open method of coordination; tripartite concertation; Europe 2020