Tripartite social summit discusses growth and employment

The EU-level social partners took part in an extraordinary 'tripartite social summit' in December 2003 on the eve of the European Council meeting. They submitted a joint statement, setting out their concerns regarding the performance of the EU’s economy and labour markets, welcoming recent initiatives in the areas of growth and employment and setting out their future actions.

An extraordinary 'tripartite social summit' was held in Brussels on 11 December 2003, the day before the European Council meeting (EU0312209F). The decision to hold this meeting prior to this Council was taken at a European Council meeting in October 2003, during which concern was expressed by some Member States about the economic and employment situation in Europe. It was felt that the views of the social partners would play a vital role in restoring the potential for economic and employment growth in Europe. Tripartite social summits are usually held on the eve of the annual spring European Council meeting on economic and social issues (EU0304201N).

Joint statement

Before the December tripartite summit took place, the EU-level social partners - the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), including representatives of the Council of European Professional and Managerial Staff (EUROCADRES)/European Confederation of Executives and Managerial Staff (CEC) Liaison Committee, the Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe (UNICE), the European Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (UEAPME) and the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP) - issued a joint statement to the meeting.

In the statement, the social partners assert that, three years after the Lisbon European Council (EU0004241F) - which set employment targets and laid out the strategic objective of the European Union becoming the most competitive economy in the world, based on economic growth, full employment, innovation, knowledge and social cohesion - the EU is now confronted with low economic growth and increasing unemployment. They maintain that this casts doubt on whether it will be possible to achieve the goals set at the Lisbon Council. However, they welcome the European Commission’s proposal for a European initiative on growth, issued in October 2003 and designed to stimulate economic recovery in Europe.

The social partners state that job creation is the key to fulfilling the Lisbon targets and therefore welcome the European Employment Taskforce’s report, issued in November 2003 and presented at the 12 December European Council (EU0312209F). The report sets out ways in which the EU Member States can improve their implementation of the European employment strategy and consequently achieve the Lisbon goals. The partners maintain that the key requirements contained in the report are in line with the goals of the European employment strategy and also with the aims of the social partners’ multiannual work programme covering 2003 to 2005 (EU0212206F). They highlight the following forthcoming social partner initiatives as being particularly relevant to the debate on employment:

• a second annual follow-up report to the social partners’ framework of actions for the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications, concluded in March 2002 (EU0204210F). The first annual follow-up was issued in March 2003 (EU0306205F), and the second will be presented to the 2004 spring European Council;

• the social partners' joint Orientations for reference in managing change and its social consequences. This joint text was concluded in June 2003 (EU0307203F) following a Commission consultation of the social partners on the issue of 'socially intelligent' restructuring. It was submitted to the Commission in October 2003 following examination by the executive bodies of the signatory parties. This will be followed by a study on restructuring in the countries acceding to the EU;

• ongoing negotiations on stress at work;

• the preparation of a framework of actions on gender quality; and

• a seminar to discuss case studies and explore possible joint actions relating to the ageing workforce. This will be held in 2004.

The social partners called on the European Council to 'give a strong commitment to action. Failing that, Europe will not achieve the Lisbon objectives'.

Tripartite summit

The tripartite social summit was chaired jointly by the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers (the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi) and Romano Prodi, the President of the European Commission. Prime Minister Berlusconi and President Prodi reported the discussions with the social partners to the European Council meeting the following day. The conclusions of the European Council stated that it welcomed the results of the work carried out by the social partners at the extraordinary summit in the area of employment and growth.

Speaking at the summit, ETUC general secretary John Monks urged the Commission, national governments and employers not to 'close down social Europe. It is that which gives a popular base to Europe - and frankly no more social Europe runs the risk of strengthening those who believe in no more Europe. It is an effective social dimension which has solidified Europe’s trade unions behind the European project. Do not place that at unnecessary risk.'

Jacques Schraven, the vice-president of UNICE, welcomed both the Commission’s initiative for growth and the report of the European Employment Taskforce. He stressed that these two initiatives 'have the right ingredients', but argued that to make a real difference, governments must act: 'We count on the Irish and Dutch Presidencies to build proactively on these two initiatives.' He added that 'sustainable growth in an enlarged Europe will only come through competitiveness. The solution lies in the implementation at national level of structural reforms.'

Referring to the social summit, President Prodi stated that :'The European social model is based on mutual confidence and a partnership approach. The European Commission sees dialogue with the social partners as a fundamental part of that model.' Anna Diamantopoulou, the Commissioner for employment and social affairs, added that: 'These tripartite summits confirm the importance of the social dialogue at European level. Social partners now need to ensure that they play their part in tackling the challenges posed by the current economic situation and the forthcoming enlargement of the European Union.'

Commentary

There is clearly concern that the European Union is underperforming, in terms of both economic growth and employment growth. The existence of concrete target for employment growth, to be achieved by 2010, means that if the EU fails to meet performance expectations in this area, this failure will be a very public one. Therefore, all actors will make a concerted effort to do their best to ensure that performance is sufficient to meet the targets. The fact that the social partners have been invited to discuss the issues of growth and employment at a special tripartite summit, with the results of their deliberations fed back into the European Council, highlights the importance accorded to the views and actions of the social partners in the area of European economic, employment and social policy. (Andrea Broughton, IRS)