European social partners welcome accession of Bulgaria and Romania to EU

A monitoring report from the European Commission has outlined Bulgaria and Romania’s readiness for EU membership; the report confirms that each country has taken further steps to complete their preparations for membership, demonstrating their capacity to apply EU principles and legislation from 1 January 2007. Both the European Trade Union Confederation and the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe welcome the decision of the Commission to allow Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU on 1 January 2007, while also drawing attention to the further progress required in the area of social dialogue and law enforcement.

On 26 September 2006, the European Commission published the monitoring report (190Kb PDF) on Bulgaria and Romania’s readiness for EU membership. The report shows that both countries have made considerable progress during the past months, escalating their efforts to complete their preparations for EU membership. Both states are ready to become members of the European Union on 1 January 2007, as scheduled in the Treaty of Accession signed in 2005. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania will represent the fifth enlargement of the EU.

To identify the challenges facing Bulgaria on the eve of its accession, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the Economic and Social Council of Bulgaria (ESC) organised a conference on the ‘European social model and the challenges facing Bulgaria’, held in Sofia on 2 October 2006 (BG0610029I). Members of the EESC and the ESC delivered key note reports on the European social model, the role of social dialogue, the labour market and free movement of citizens, as well as on corporate social responsibility.

Position of trade unions

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomes the decision of the European Commission to give the go-ahead for Bulgaria and Romania to join the EU from 1 January 2007. At the same time, ETUC draws attention to areas identified by the Commission in which further progress is still needed, particularly in relation to social policy and to employment issues, which were raised during the negotiation process.

As far as social dialogue is concerned, ETUC notes that, in relation to Bulgaria, ‘bipartite dialogue has not been sufficiently strengthened and the need for more capacity building is still an outstanding issue’, while ‘participation in the tripartite dialogue must be restricted to social partner organisations with a social mandate. Bulgaria needs to step up its preparations in this field’. In relation to Romania, ETUC states that:

efforts are needed to continue in terms of improving social dialogue in general, particularly in order to promote the weak bipartite dialogue, clarify representativeness criteria and solve the outstanding issues of fragmentation and insufficient capacity of social partner organisations.

ETUC calls on the national and European authorities to act to resolve these matters and states that it will continue to support its affiliates in both countries in their efforts.

The trade union confederation also notes that progress is required on the issue of protecting and integrating minorities – particularly the Roma population – in both countries and reiterates its call for swift action in this regard.

In relation to transitional arrangements in respect of the free movement of workers in the EU, ETUC is in favour of an open labour market allied with better social protection for all. Furthermore, the European trade union movement insists on:

• the realisation of equal pay and access to the same working conditions for work of equal value on the same territory;

• respect for national collective bargaining and industrial relations systems;

• equal access for all workers to social benefits;

• proper mechanisms, involving the social partners, for monitoring and enforcement.

According to ETUC General Secretary, John Monks, the accession of Romania and Bulgaria ‘marks another important step in European construction. Further work is needed to build the social Europe that we all aspire to and the time is now to redouble our efforts to achieve it’.

Position of employers

The Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE) is also supportive of the European Commission’s assessments of Romania and Bulgaria, and acknowledges the enormous progress that has been made in both countries in meeting EU requirements. However, according to UNICE, strengthening the rule of law, modernising customs and border procedures, and ensuring the full application of EU product standards remain the key challenges for the successful accession of both countries.

The President of UNICE, Ernest-Antoine Seillière, stated that:

Today’s decision is a positive result for the great efforts Bulgaria and Romania have undertaken to meet the EU accession criteria. Enlargement to a European Union of 27 Member States also poses a number of challenges for the EU regarding its institutional structure: a Union of almost 500 million inhabitants makes it more urgent to review its institutional decision-making procedure. Adequate solutions have to be found to give Europe the means to meet those challenges successfully. This will be positive for the new countries as well as for the EU itself.

Volker Telljohann and Maite Tapia, Institute for Labour Foundation, Bologna