Proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment
Date: 2002-06-26
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: economic growth, employment policy, social dialogue, social dialogue (EU), social partners, social policy, tripartite conference

24.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 227 E/565

Proposal

for a Council Decision establishing a Tripartite Social Summit

for Growth and

Employment

(2002/C 227 E/31)

COM(2002) 341 final — 2002/0136(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 26 June 2002)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 202 thereof,

(5) The Laeken European Council which met on 14 and 15
December 2001 took note of
the social partners’ will-
ingness to develop and improve coordination of concer-
tation on the various aspects of the Lisbon strategy. This
was confirmed by the Barcelona European Council of 15
and 16 March 2002,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Whereas:

strategy

(1) The social partners are associated in implementation of the
the
coordinated employment
Luxembourg European Council of 20 and 21 November
1997 within the Standing Committee on Employment
established by Council Decision 70/532/EC setting up the
Standing Committee on Employment of
the European
Communities (1), amended by Decision 99/207/EC of 9
March 1999 (2).

established by

(2) The Cologne European Council of 3 and 4 June 1999 set
up a macroeconomic dialogue with the participation of
representatives from the Council,
the
European Central Bank and the social partners.

the Commission,

that goal

(3) The Lisbon European Council of 23 and 24 March 2000
set a new strategic goal for the next decade and agreed that
achievement of
required an overall strategy
designed to integrate structural reforms, the coordinated
European employment
social protection and
strategy,
In its Communication on the
macroeconomic policies.
social dialogue, the Commission stresses that the Tripartite
Social Summit should contribute to the debate on these
topics.

social partners pointed out

(4) In their joint contribution to the Laeken European Council,
the
Standing
Committee on Employment had not led to a similar inte-
gration of concertation and that it did not meet the need
for coherence and synergy between the various processes in
which they were involved.

that

the

concertation

They also proposed, in their contribution, that the Standing
should be replaced by a
Committee on Employment
tripartite
and
employment which would be the forum for consultation
between the social partners and the public authorities in
the overall European strategy defined at
the Lisbon
European Council.

committee

growth

for

Article 1

Establishment

A Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment (here-
inafter referred to as ‘the Summit’) is hereby established.

Article 2

Tasks

The task of the Summit shall be to ensure, in compliance with
the Treaty and with due regard for the powers of the insti-
tutions and bodies of the European Community, that there is
continuous concertation between the Council, the Commission
and the social partners in order to enable the social partners to
contribute, on the basis of their social dialogue, to the various
components of the integrated economic and social strategy
launched at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 and
supplemented by the Gothenburg European Council
in June
2001. For that purpose, it shall draw on the upstream work
of and discussions between the Council, the Commission and
the social partners in the different concertation forums.

Article 3

Membership

1.
The Summit shall consist of the Council Presidency at
Head of State or Government level and the two subsequent
Presidencies,
the
social partners.

the Commission and representatives of

The social partners’ representatives shall number 20 at
2.
most and shall be divided into two delegations of equal size
comprising 10 workers’ representatives and 10 employers’
representatives.

Each delegation shall consist of representatives of European
cross-industry
general
interests or more specific interests of supervisory and mana-
gerial staff and small and medium-sized businesses at European
level.

organisations

representing

either

(1) OJ L 273, 17.12.1970, p. 25; Decision amended by Decision

75/62/EEC (OJ L 21, 28.1.1975, p. 17).

(2) OJ L 72, 18.3.1999, p. 33.

The technical coordination shall be provided for the workers’
delegation by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC)
and for the employers’ delegation by the Union of Industrial
and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE).

C 227 E/566

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

24.9.2002

Article 4

Operation

The Summit shall meet at least once a year. A meeting

1.
shall be held just before the spring European Council.

2.
The Summit shall be chaired jointly by the President-
in-Office of the Council and the President of the Commission.

3.
The matters to be discussed shall be determined jointly by
the Council Presidency, the Commission and the workers’ and
employers’ cross-industry organisations
in the
Summit’s work.

taking part

The joint chairs of

4.
to the
European Council on the discussions and the results at the
meetings.

the Summit shall report

The Summit members representing the social partners’
6.
organisations referred to in Article 3(2) shall receive travelling
and subsistence expenses as determined by the Council.

Rules of procedure shall be drawn up on the initiative of

7.
the joint chairs to determine how the Summit operates.

Article 5

Repeal

Decision 99/207/EEC shall be repealed. The repeal shall take
effect from the date of the first meeting of the Summit estab-
lished by this Decision.

Article 6

Entry into force

The meetings of the Summit shall be convened by the

5.
joint chairs on their own initiative.

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day
following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.