Conference explores role of social partners in the enlargement process

At the initiative of the European-level social partners, a major conference on EU enlargement was held in Warsaw on 18-19 March 1999. The conference brought together social partner organisations from the European Union and from the countries which have applied for accession to the EU, and prompted a wide-ranging debate on the role of the partners in the enlargement process. At the end of the conference, the social partners signed a joint declaration aimed at demonstrating their commitment and cooperation in furthering the process of enlargement.

A major conference on the social dimension of EU enlargement was held in Warsaw, Poland on 18-19 March 1999, at the initiative of European-level social partner organisations (the idea having been suggested by the European Trade Union Confederation, ETUC). The primary aim of the conference was to prompt a wide-ranging debate on the social partners' role in the process of enlarging the EU. This process aims at the accession to the EU of countries from central and eastern Europe (initially Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia) and the Mediterranean (Cyprus and Malta).

The conference was opened by the Polish Prime Minister, Jerzy Buzek, the Secretary of State in the German Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Werner Tegtmeier, and the member of the European Commission responsible for employment and social affairs, Pádraig Flynn. It was attended by 93 representatives of intersectoral social partner organisations from the EU - including ETUC, the Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe (UNICE), and the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and Enterprises of General Economic interest (CEEP) - and 80 from the applicant countries.

This was the first time that a meeting of this scale had occurred between the social partners from the European Union and those from the applicant countries. The meeting of the various social partners was also timely, considering the increasing emphasis on the role of the social partners in relation to the European employment strategy. (The meeting also provided the forum for the the formal signing of the CEEP/ETUC/UNICE framework agreement on fixed-term contracts - EU9903162N.)

A role for the social partners

With respect to the role and responsibilities of the social partners in the accession process, Commissioner Flynn, in his opening speech, identified what he saw as the main challenges facing the social partners in the process of enlargement: "For the accession negotiations to succeed, and for enlargement to work it is essential that trade unions and employer federations in the applicant countries organise themselves as independent and representative organisations, that you cooperate together in developing an independent social dialogue, and contribute to Community social legislation being implemented fully and complied with scrupulously."

This view is based on the recognition that applicant countries will have to adhere in full to the aims of Article 2 of the EC Treaty and comply with European rules in the social field (EU9808123F). The "acquis communautaire" goes beyond the adoption of binding legal provisions, as it requires the adoption of appropriate administrative and judicial structures at national level, as well as cooperation with the relevant parties within the economic and social sphere. Therefore, the social partners must be able to develop and independent social dialogue and fulfil their role in accordance with the "social chapter" of the EU Treaty.

However, effort and commitment is not a one-sided requirement on the part of the applicant countries, stated Commissioner Flynn, who argued that existing Member States and social partners are adjusting to new challenges, in particular the implementation of the Employment strategy and the refinement of National Action Plans for employment (EU9805107N). In addition, it was asserted by the Commissioner that cooperation needs to be strengthened between the existing economic and social actors and those of the future, in order for the employment and social agenda to accompany economic and monetary integration. Moreover, the commitment of the Commission to facilitate the EU social partners in assisting their counterparts in the applicant countries was reaffirmed.

To foster stronger links within and between social partners, "capacity building" will be required within the social partner organisations and in the relevant social dialogue structures. It was suggested by the Commissioner that support may be available to assist this process from mainstream PHARE funds (PHARE is the Community programme which aims to support the process of economic and social reform in central and eastern European countries). Indeed it was recognised that proposals on social affairs had already been made by a number of candidate countries.

The social partners in the applicant countries thus face a number of significant challenges. In order to meet these, it was asserted that it is vital that they develop their own social dialogue arrangements and activities to prepare them for participation in the various European structures, which are becoming increasingly demanding.

Concluding the conference, Allan Larson, director general of DGV of the Commission put forward three key messages to the social partners.

1. Economic success and social protection go hand in hand, and social policy should be viewed by all as a productive factor for the management of change in the Member States and in the applicant countries.

2. The social partners have a major role to play both in the enlargement process, and in further policy development across the employment agenda.

3. Capacity building is required, particularly amongst the social partners in the applicant countries, to enable the social partners to be strong and willing to strike a balance between flexibility and security. Assistance from the Member States and the social partners in the European Union to the applicant countries was argued to be required to achieve this.

At the end of the conference the social partners - CEEP, ETUC and UNICE/the European Association of Craft and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) - adopted a joint declaration, which included the statement that:

Enlargement of the European Union to the East and South is a process of historical importance. The candidate countries and the European Union face the twofold challenge of the profound economic and social reform, which is currently taking place in almost all candidate countries and the challenge of taking on board the Community acquis. The tasks to be fulfilled require active participation by social partners who must fully live up to their responsibilities by contributing to the enlargement process, both at national and European level. The social partners are convinced that social dialogue and participation of trade unions' and employers' organisations are necessary for the success of the reform process and for the preparation for enlargement in the candidate countries.

As part of the declaration, the EU-level social partners asked the European Union and the governments of the applicant countries to take suitable steps to involve the social partners in the enlargement process

The general secretary of ETUC, Emilio Gabaglio, emphasised the need for greater involvement of the social partners in upholding the social dimension of enlargement. He also supported the concept of an "ongoing information network" and called for the Commission to promote and support research into the realities of the current situation in eastern Europe. Furthermore, Mr Gabaglio called for social partners from applicant countries to be more closely involved in various aspects of the EU social consultation and dialogue process. This last point is based on ETUC's view that the vast majority of applicant country governments have failed to involve the social partners, notably the trade unions, in preparatory negotiations and consultations with the European Commission. ETUC has called on the Commission to give a clear sign to applicant country governments on this matter, as it sees consultation with social partners as a vital element of the European social model, as well as guaranteeing consensus on the enlargement process.

Commentary

The conference represented a positive development for a number of reasons, namely the enhancement of the accession process, the advancement of social policy and employment legislation in the applicant countries, and the strengthening of the social dialogue and the role of the social partners.

The role for the social dialogue in the enlargement process has clearly been widened, building upon the recent developments associated with the Agreement on social policy annexed to the Maastricht Treaty, which is to be consolidated into the body of the EU Treaty when the Treaty of Amsterdam comes into force from 1 May 1999. Clearly, the roles and responsibilities of the social partners, as envisaged by Commissioner Flynn, parallel the commitment and energy of the social partners to this process, most notably signified by the joint declaration.

However, for the enlargement process to be truly successful, and the potential role of the social partners to be fully realised, the social partners from the applicant countries need to be further included in consultation and the social dialogue process more generally. This view is based on reports from ETUC that initial accession discussions and negotiations have remained very much at inter-governmental level and have not permeated to the level of civil society. An example of this is that an extensive questionnaire was issued to applicant countries which included sections on social partners and social dialogue: however the majority of trade unions in the applicant countries were reportedly not consulted on this matter.

Another problem facing the social dialogue, and the accession process more generally, results from the process of enlargement itself. Like their economic systems, the industrial relations frameworks within the accession states are somewhat turbulent and operate in very different environment than that of western European models of industrial relations, thus making interconnections between social partners problematic (EU9709146F). In particular, employers' organisations undergoing processes of privatisation and restructuring often do not really constitute an organised entity, while trade unions are experiencing problems of representation, with a reduction in density levels resulting from a number of factors. These conditions are by no means conducive to stable sectoral and intersectoral bargaining between social partners.

An associated problem cited by ETUC, related to the "representation gap", is the applicant countries' alleged reliance upon tripartite structures as an "alibi" for not adopting or promoting structures of social dialogue. For example, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic have been claimed to be examples of tripartite structures being utilised in a regressive way. The situation in Hungary has reportedly been even more adverse, as the current government has, it is claimed, made efforts to destroy the tripartite system. A spokesperson from the ETUC stated that these conditions prevent the active development and engagement of the social dialogue process, which is seen to be more dynamic in managing accession than more bureaucratic and rigid tripartite structures. However, this is not to rule out the contribution of tripartite negotiations to the process or to say that trade unions desire sole responsibility for this process.

It is clear that the social partners are keen to embrace the new role envisaged for them, as they believe that a contribution from civil society is essential to the success of the accession process. However, there is, at present, a clear difference between the capabilities of the existing EU social partners and the social partners in the applicant countries to engage in the accession process. (Peter Foster, ECOTEC Research & Consulting)