Conclusions of the Council concerning an EU-level mechanism to help resolve disputes in employer/employee relations that transcend the national level
Date: 2001-12-13
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: employer, labour dispute, labour force, labour relations, social partners

13.12.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 354/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

Conclusions of the Council concerning an EU-level mechanism to help resolve disputes in
employer/employee relations that transcend the national level

(2001/C 354/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAVING REGARD TO

1. the objective of the Community and the Member States
the Treaty of promoting dialogue

under Article 136 of
between management and labour;

concerning employer/employee relations is acknowledged
and has been well established over time;

2. that, in addition, there exist in most Member States publicly
provided non-judicial dispute resolution mechanisms to help
resolve disputes with the collaboration of
the social
partners;

2. the importance of encouraging a positive approach to
change, an attitude that lies at the heart of the strategy
endorsed by the Lisbon European Council;

3. that such mechanisms contribute to resolving disputes at
level and thus play an important role in the

national
existing systems of employer/employee relations;

3. the task entrusted to the Commission of promoting the
consultation of management and labour at Community
level and of facilitating and supporting dialogue between
the parties;

BELIEVES, in the light of the success of these mechanisms at the
level of the Member States, that it would be appropriate to
resolution
investigate
mechanism might help to resolve employer/employee disputes
that transcend the national territories;

an EU-level dispute

fully whether

4. the rich and extensive social dialogue that has developed at

European level both horizontally and by sector;

WELCOMES THE COMMISSION’S INTENTION

5. recent

trends in the way that management and labour

conduct relations within the European Union;

6. the importance of supporting the development of tools that
can contribute to the better management of change and to
the prevention and resolution of conflicts that may arise;

7. the increased interest in voluntary, non-judicial methods of
dispute resolution such as conciliation and mediation which
can be seen as quicker and less costly ways of settling
disputes;

RECOGNISES

1. that,

in the Member States,

partners as

the primary actors

the key role of

the social
in resolving disputes

(cid:151) to deepen understanding of how dispute resolution mech-
anisms in the area of employer/employee relations in the
Member States are organised and function, by undertaking
a detailed study of the issue and widely disseminating its
results;

(cid:151) to continue its reflections in close collaboration with the
European social partners and the Member States on
whether a dispute resolution mechanism at European
level might have added value and, if so, on how such a
mechanism might function.

INVITES THE COMMISSION

(cid:151) to report on the outcome of the consultation of the social
partners on the need to establish, at European level,
voluntary mechanisms for dispute resolution.