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Abstract

In 2022, the European Semester process was updated to take into account the launch of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in February 2021. Over the past year, Member States have implemented national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) in a context of huge geopolitical and economic upheaval triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This report analyses national social partners’ involvement in carrying out the reforms and investments included in the RRPs. The findings point to a degree of unevenness across Member States in terms of the quality of the social partners’ involvement in the preparation of the plans. Reasons cited include insufficient time allotted, inability to provide effective input and lack of genuine consultation and discussion. However, given their key involvement during the COVID-19 crisis – when they rallied together to manage the crisis and mitigate its negative effects – engaging the social partners in the necessary structural reforms is even more critical now due to rising energy and commodity prices, high levels of inflation and the risk of lower economic growth.

Key findings

Two years after its launch, the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) set up to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic is at cruising speed. All 27 national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) have been endorsed by the European Commission, including actions aimed at accelerating the digital and green transitions.

The involvement of social partners in the implementation of the many policy measures in the RRPs is currently uneven. While social partners in some Member States have been involved and consulted, others claim that they have been unable to provide effective input. This is in part due to the different pace in the implementation of reforms and investments in some countries, where reform and investment plans have not yet started and consequently no consultation has taken place.

The complexity and diversity of the measures in the RRPs, as well as the insufficient time allotted to consultation, have been identified by social partners as factors limiting the quality of their involvement. The inclusion of the REPowerEU – the EU’s plan to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels – as part of the RRPs is an opportunity to open the way for greater involvement of the social partners.

Several Member States have established specific bodies to boost social partners’ participation in the implementation of the RRPs, although their effectiveness has not yet been confirmed. And while the engagement of social partners through tripartite social dialogue institutions can provide better opportunities for meaningful contributions, this may not be entirely effective.

Social partner involvement in the implementation of the RRPs is crucial in this period of global instability as their contribution will help to ensure the successful and timely delivery of planned reforms and investments. As seen during the COVID-19 crisis, high quality social dialogue can provide important stability in turbulent times.

The report contains the following tables and graphs.

Table 1: Time allotted for consultation in the implementation of the RRP
Table 2: Opportunity to contribute to the implementation of the RRP and receive feedback
Table 3: Social partners consulted on an equal footing in the implementation of the RRP
Table 4: Time allotted for consultation regarding the preparation of the NRP
Table 5: Opportunity to contribute to the implementation of the NRP and receive feedback
Table 6: Social partners consulted on an equal footing in relation to the NRP
Table 7: Social partners’ views explicitly summarised in the NRP
Table 8: Social partners’ influence in the preparation of the 2022 NRPs
Table 9: Institutional settings for involving social partners in the implementation of the RRPs
Table 10: Main institutional settings for involving social partners in the NRPs
Table 11: Social partners’ methods of involvement in the implementation of policy measures related to fairness
Table 12: Social partners’ methods of involvement in the implementation of policy measures related to digital transition and productivity
Table 13: Social partners’ methods of involvement in the implementation of policy measures related to sustainability

Figure 1: Total number of measures addressed by each policy dimension

 

Number of pages
46
Reference nº
EF22044
ISBN
978-92-897-2314-5
Catalogue nº
TJ-04-23-079-EN-N
DOI
10.2806/844669
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