COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Strengthening social dialogue in the European Union: harnessing its full potential for managing fair transitions
Date: 2023-01-25
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: EU action, European social policy, collective bargaining, labour market, social development, social dialogue (EU), social partners, social rights, social situation, working conditions

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 25.1.2023  COM(2023) 40 final  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Strengthening social dialogue in the European Union: harnessing its full potential for managing fair transitions       
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Social  dialogue  is  a  cornerstone  of  the  European  social  model.  One  of  the  EU’s  key 
objectives  is  to  improve  living  and  working  conditions.  Social  dialogue  and  collective 
bargaining are fundamental ways of doing this, contributing to higher productivity while also 
ensuring social fairness, a quality working environment and democracy at work. A strong social 
Europe requires strong social partners. Social dialogue is therefore one of the key principles of 
the European Pillar for Social Rights.  

Strong  social  partners  are  essential  for  effective  and  balanced  change  management. 
Climate  change,  digitalisation  and  demographic  trends  are  rapidly  changing  the  world, 
including the world of work. COVID-19 has accelerated some of these changes. Social dialogue 
is fundamental for finding balanced ways of dealing with the changes in the world of work. 
Across the EU, social dialogue was at the forefront of the design and implementation of policies 
limiting the impacts of the pandemic. At the  level of sectors and companies, social partners 
quickly  established  new  occupational  health  and  safety  (OSH)  protocols  or  implemented 
training.  At  national  level,  they  supported  authorities  in  financially  assisting  workers  and 
companies.  Social  partners  also  play  a  key  role  in  tackling  the  far-reaching  impacts  of  the 
Russian  war  of  aggression  against  Ukraine,  by  facilitating  labour  market  integration  of 
displaced people from Ukraine, as well as other refugees and migrants, and finding sustainable 
solutions to adjusting wages and collective agreements in response to the cost of living crisis 
and high levels of inflation.  

Social  partners’  involvement  improves  policy-making  and  law-making.  Social  partners 
have  unrivalled  knowledge  and  experience  of  the  employment  and  social  situation  ‘on  the 
ground’. Their input can strike the right balance between workers’ and employers’ interests and 
improve the acceptability  and  effectiveness  of policy  and legislation.  Social partners  have a 
unique  role  compared  to  other  stakeholders.  The  Treaty  (Article  154  TFEU)  obliges  the 
Commission to consult social partners on proposals in the social policy field (i.e. falling under 
Article  153  TFEU),  so  as  to  allow  social  partners  to  negotiate  agreements,  if  they  so  wish. 
Agreements of social partners can be implemented by means of EU law (Article 155 TFEU). 
Structured dialogues at EU level are regularly organised with the social partners in the context 
of the European Semester of economic and employment policy coordination at all key moments 
in the cycle.  

The EU promotes the role of social partners and urges better social dialogue. Promoting 
social dialogue is a common objective of the EU and its Member States, taking into account the 
diversity of national systems and respecting the autonomy of social partners. More needs to be 
done both nationally and at EU level to support collective bargaining coverage and build the 

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capacity of, encourage the involvement of and safeguard the autonomy of social partners1. The 
Commission announced in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan of March 20212 
that  it  would  present  an  initiative  to  support  national  and  EU  social  dialogue  following 
consultations with the social partners. Strengthened social dialogue at all levels was also urged 
at  the highest  political  level  with  the  Porto Social  Commitment3 signed  by the Portuguese 
Presidency  of  the  Council  of  the  EU,  the  European  Parliament,  the  European  Commission, 
social partners, and the Social Platform. The social dialogue initiative, also mentioned in the 
Commission  Communication  “Conference  on  the  Future  of  Europe,  Putting  Vision  into 
Concrete  Action”  of  June  2022,  makes  a  significant  contribution  to  the  follow-up  to  the 
Conference4.   

This  Commission  Communication  sets  out  a  number  of  concrete  measures  to  further 
strengthen  EU  social  dialogue  and  is  accompanied  by  a  proposal  for  a  Council 
Recommendation on how to strengthen national social dialogue and collective bargaining. The 
Commission has prepared this initiative with the close involvement of the social partners and 
has  also  held  exchanges  with  the  European  Parliament,  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee and the Committee of the Regions.  

2.  NATIONAL SOCIAL DIALOGUE  

Social  dialogue  arrangements  and  processes  vary  across  Member  States:  in  terms  of 
collective labour relations, the role of collective bargaining in determining working conditions, 
organisations’ capacity and membership, the formal structures for  the involvement  of  social 
partners in policy-making and implementation, as well as their political importance. Member 
States’  collective  bargaining  systems  also  vary  in  their  degree  of  centralisation  or 
decentralisation. 

Most Member States have one or more formal national social dialogue structures in place 
where  representatives  of  employers,  trade  unions  and  the  government  can  discuss  general 
economic and social matters. The role and powers of these bodies vary widely, but they usually 
play  an  advisory  and  consultative  role  on  draft  legislation  and  policies,  especially  in 
employment-related  areas,  and  can  sometimes  provide  a  forum  for  the  negotiation  of 
agreements. Many Member States also have tripartite bodies that deal with specific issues, such 
as social security, employment, training, and health and safety at work. Productive tripartite 
social dialogue, involving public authorities, is contingent on strong bipartite social dialogue. 

Social dialogue is under pressure to deliver in the changing world of work. While employer 
density  (share  of  employers  who  are  members  of  employers’  organisations)  has  remained 
relatively stable, trade union density has diminished (on average) across all Member States. The 

1   See also the Report on strengthening EU social dialogue of special advisor Andrea Nahles, available online. 
2   COM (2021) 102 final, available online. 
3   Porto Social Commitment of 7 May 2022, available online. 
4     COM(2022) 404 final, Annex, available online 

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shift of economic activity from manufacturing to private sector services and the changing world 
of work make it difficult for trade unions and employers’ organisations to recruit new members. 
Many workers active in most of the newer forms of employment, including a rising number of 
self-employed people, are not represented. The same applies to workers on fixed term contracts 
who are increasing in numbers but less likely to unionise. The flexibility in terms of the time at 
which the work is done, and where it’s done, makes it difficult for workers’ representatives to 
organise such a fragmented workforce. In recent years, social partners’ organisations have taken 
initiatives to attract new members or to give more of a say to certain underrepresented groups 
(notably, youth and platform workers) through targeted strategies and recruitment efforts and 
by  creating  specific  structures  within  the  organisations.  In  terms  of  gender  equality,  the 
proportion of women in trade unions varies strongly across the EU, with a general trend of a 
growing number of women members, despite the reduction in trade union membership overall. 
Women remain underrepresented in leadership positions. 

The share of workers covered by collective agreements has declined significantly  in the 
past 30 years. It decreased from an estimated EU average of about 66% in 2000 to about 56% 
in 2019 with particularly big drops in central and eastern Europe [Graph 1]. Across Member 
States,  a  broad  move  towards  the  decentralisation  of  bargaining  towards  company  level  has 
been observed. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 
(OECD), collective bargaining coverage is  high  (above 50%) only in  countries  with  at  least 
some form of sectoral bargaining. In countries where bargaining takes place predominantly at 
company level, collective bargaining coverage is typically low. Coordination across sectors and 
bargaining units as well as the level of coordination are particularly important dimensions of 
collective bargaining.  

The  degree  and  quality  of  involvement  of  social  partners  in  policy-making  vary 
considerably  among  Member  States.  Although  the  quality  of  the  involvement  of  social 
partners has remained stable over the past few years in most Member States, their timely and 
meaningful involvement varies greatly from country to country. Part of the reasons for this is 
the  different  institutional  settings,  procedures  and  practices5.  In  particular,  the  quality  and 
effectiveness of social dialogue in Member States is assessed by the Employment Committee 
in its annual “Social Dialogue review”. The latest conclusions endorsed by the Council in June 
2022  stress,  amongst  other,  the  importance  of  allocating  sufficient  time  for  consultations 
throughout  the  policymaking  process,  ensuring  adequate  institutional  frameworks,  and 
addressing  issues  related  to  capacity  building  and  the  declining  coverage  of  collective 
bargaining.6 The European Parliament also stressed that strong collective bargaining systems 
increase the resilience of the Member States in times of economic crisis and that Member States 

5   Eurofound (2021), available online. 
6     Available online. 

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should take measures to promote high trade union density and reverse the decline in collective 
bargaining coverage.7 

Graph 1:  Collective bargaining coverage in the EU, 2000-2019 

Number of employees covered by the collective agreement, divided by the total number of wage and salary-earners (in 
%, 2000 and 2019). 

Note: (1) Latest available data is from: 2019 (AT, BE, CZ, HU, IT, LT, NL, PL, PT), 2018 (BG, DE, DK, ES, FR, LU, LV, 
SE), 2017 (EL, FI, IE, SI, RO), 2016 (CY, MT), 2015 (SK) and 2014 (HR). (2) For IT the coverage has been revised to 100% 
reflecting the fact that the base wages fixed in collective agreements are used by labour courts as a reference for the application 
of the constitutional principle of commensurate and sufficient remuneration. The 100% level of collective bargaining coverage 
in RO and EL in 2000 are explained by the existence of mechanisms extending collective agreements to all companies while 
the  drop  results  mainly  as  a  consequence  of  abolishing  those  extension  mechanisms  and  other  changes  leading  to 
decentralisation of collective bargaining. 

Source: For 2000 or closest - ICTWSS database, Version 6.1, University of Amsterdam. Variable AdjCov (# 111). For latest 
available data - OECD/AIAS database (2021)  

The EU has a number of instruments aiming at  strengthening national social dialogue. 
The Minimum Wage Directive8 requires Member States to take action to help social partners to 
develop  their  capacity to engage in  collective bargaining on wage setting, and to  encourage 
constructive,  meaningful  and  informed  wage  negotiations.  The  Directive  also  asks  Member 
States where collective bargaining coverage does not reach at least 80% of workers, to put in 

7     European Parliament resolution of 11 March 2021 on the ‘European Semester for economic policy  
      coordination: Employment and Social Aspects in the Annual Sustainable Growth Strategy 2021’, available  
      online. 
8     Directive (EU) 2022/2041, available online. 

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place  an  enabling  framework  for  collective  bargaining  and  an  action  plan  to  promote  it. 
Ongoing  technological  shifts  and  increasing  automation  are  fast  manifesting  themselves  as 
restructuring  throughout  the  economy.  In  this  context,  the  2013  EU  quality  framework  for 
restructuring helps companies anticipate change and mitigate the employment and social effects 
of  restructuring9.  A  comprehensive  framework  of  Directives  on  the  information  and 
consultation  of  workers,  at  both  national  and  transnational  levels,  also  establishes  rules  to 
protect  the  rights  of  workers  at  company  level10,  in  particular  at  times  of  restructuring.  The 
European Parliament is considering a resolution with recommendations to the Commission on 
the  revision  of  the  European  Works  Councils  Directive.  The  EU  public  procurement 
Directives11 require Member States to respect the right to organise and collective bargaining 
following the ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and the Protection of the Right to 
Organise and ILO Convention 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining. 

The Commission  proposal for a  Directive on improving the working conditions  of  platform 
workers12  strives  for  strengthening  social  dialogue  in  the  platform  economy,  including  by 
granting  new  information  and  consultation  rights  on  algorithmic  management  and  requiring 
digital labour platforms to create the possibility for people doing platform work to contact and 
communicate with each other and their representatives. The recent guidelines on the application 
of  EU  competition  law  to  collective  agreements  by  solo  self-employed  persons  clarify  the 
circumstances in which certain solo self-employed people can negotiate collectively to improve 
their working conditions without breaching EU competition rules.13 The involvement of social 
partners in designing and implementing social and employment policies and reforms has also 
been acknowledged and further encouraged in the employment guidelines.  

Over  the  past  few  years,  social  dialogue  has  become  more  important  in  the  European 
Semester with the result that a number country specific recommendations have been issued in 
relation to the involvement of national social partners in policy-making. In the 2023 Annual 
Sustainable Growth Survey, the Commission reiterates the importance of an inclusive process 
and the timely involvement of social partners in economic and employment policy coordination 
and implementation at European and national level, including at all the relevant stages of the 
European Semester, many of which are also relevant for the implementation of the Recovery 
and Resilience Facility (RRF). The 2023 Commission proposal for a Joint Employment Report 
underlines  how  predictable,  meaningful  and  timely  involvement  of  social  partners  plays  an 
important role to ensure that reforms and investment are designed and implemented effectively. 
The Commission regularly stresses the importance of stakeholder involvement in its dealings 

 COM/2013/0882 final, available online. 

9  
10    Directive 1998/59/EC, Directive 2001/23/EC, Directive 2002/14/EC and Directive 2009/38/EC. 
11    Directive 2014/24/EU , Directive 2014/25/EU and Directive 2014/23/EU. 
12    COM(2021) 762 final, available online. 
13    C/2022/6846 available online. 

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with all Member States. The Commission will use the existing European Semester forums to 
keep social partners informed of and involved in the RRF implementation. 

The  EU  has  been  supporting  social  partners  improve  their  membership  basis  and 
administrative  capacities.  In  a  number  of  Member  States,  social  partners  lack  capacity 
preventing them from effectively participating in social dialogue.14 Social partners’  capacity 
was highlighted as a challenge for 10 countries in the 2019 European Semester country reports 
and for additional four countries in 2020. Capacity building is first and foremost a task for social 
partners  themselves  to  accomplish.  However,  public  authorities  have  a  key  role  to  play  by 
providing technical, financial and other support.  

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+)15 requires Member States to whom a country specific 
recommendation on social dialogue has been addressed to spend at least 0.25% of the funds on 
supporting the capacity-building of social partners and/or NGOs, while all other Member States 
must  allocate  an  appropriate  amount  of  ESF+  resources  to  this  area.  The  Commission  is 
facilitating the programming of ESF+ for the capacity building of national social partners. It is 
also  promoting  mutual  learning  and  the  sharing  of  good  practices  across  Member  States 
including through the prerogative budget lines for social dialogue.  

The efforts to address the challenges outlined above need to be redoubled at national level 
to harness  all  the benefits  of social dialogue. EU action can  help  Member States  promote 
social  dialogue  and  support  social  partners,  but  it  is  not  enough  on  its  own.  The  challenges 
social  partners  are  facing,  including  the  declining  trends  in  collective  agreements  and  the 
varying  quality  of  social  dialogue  from  one  Member  States  to  another,  can  only  be  tackled 
through action at national level. In addition to the instruments presented above, the Commission 
will support Member States in implementing Principle 8 of the European Pillar of Social Rights 
by presenting a Council Recommendation on social dialogue. This proposed Recommendation, 
once  adopted,  will  provide  Member  States  with  guidance  on  how  best  to  promote  social 
dialogue and strengthen collective bargaining. The promotion of social dialogue and collective 
bargaining is also important in the context of the ongoing enlargement negotiations as candidate 
countries  need  to  strengthen  their  social  dialogue  structures  and  processes  to  meet  the 
challenges the changing world of work gives rise to. 

Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation 

  The  Commission  proposes  a  Council  Recommendation  to  support  the  continued 
implementation of Principle 8 of the European Pillar of Social Rights  by Member 
States.  The  proposal  recommends  that  Member States  ensure  there  is  an  enabling 
environment  for  tripartite  and  bipartite  social  dialogue,  including  collective 
bargaining  that  respects  the  fundamental  rights  of  freedom  of  association  and 

14    Eurofound (2020), available online. 
15   Regulation (EU) 2021/1057, available online 

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collective  bargaining;    promotes  strong,  independent  workers’  and  employers’ 
organisations, includes measures to strengthen  their capacity ; ensures access to the 
relevant  information  needed  in  order  to    participate  in  social  dialogue;  promotes 
engagement  in  social  dialogue on the part of all  parties; adapts  to  the digital  age,   
promotes collective bargaining  in the new world of work and a fair and just transition 
towards climate neutrality; and ensures appropriate institutional support. 

  The  Commission  will  regularly  take  stock  of  the  implementation  of  the 
Recommendation by Member States in consultation with the relevant social partners 
and the Member States, to assess progress immediately following its implementation 
date.  This  will  complement  the  regular  and  well-established  consultation  and 
involvement of social partners as part of the yearly European Semester process. 

3.  SOCIAL DIALOGUE AT EU LEVEL 

The Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) fully recognises the  key 
role of social partners in a social market economy, conferring on them a specific role in 
EU law-making in the social policy field. The possibility the Treaty  provides to put social 
partner agreements into practice in EU law confirms the importance of EU social dialogue and 
the special status of representative social partners. In applying these provisions, it is essential 
to respect the autonomy and roles of social partners and the EU institutions. Their role is also 
recognised through the tripartite nature of three EU Agencies (Eurofound, the European Centre 
for the Development of Vocational Training and the European Agency for Safety and Health at 
Work) and through the tripartite Advisory Committees in the area of safety and health at work, 
on free movement of workers, social security coordination and vocational training.  

In  2015,  the  Commission  launched  a  New  Start  for  Social  Dialogue  together  with  the 
European  social  partners.  The  European  social  partners,  the  Commission  and  the  Council 
subsequently signed a Joint Statement on the New Start for Social Dialogue.16 As part of the 
follow up, the Commission strengthened the role of European social partners in the European 
Semester by consulting them at key points in the process, getting them more involved in policy-
making and law-making by introducing new forms  of social partner consultations.  It  is  also 
giving more emphasis to the capacity-building of national social partners, including through 
increased funding, as social dialogue at EU level cannot deliver without a well-functioning and 
effective national social dialogue. 

The framework for EU social dialogue has become a strong framework for both bilateral 
and tripartite negotiations and consultations. However, it is crucial that the framework is 
regularly updated to ensure that social partners can fully contribute to rising to economic and 
social  challenges.  It  is  time  to  take  stock  of  the  progress  made  following  the  New  Start  for 

16   Joint Statement on the New Start for Social Dialogue (2016), available online.   

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Social Dialogue and look at ways of better harnessing the potential of European social dialogue. 
The Commission, based on its consultations with the social partners, proposes a set of measures 
to  strengthen  European  social  dialogue  by  modernising  its  structures,  encouraging  and 
supporting social partner agreements, strengthening the involvement of social partners in EU 
policymaking and making the Commission’s financial and technical support more effective. 

3.1. Social dialogue structures  

Cross-industry level 

European  social  dialogue  has  well-established  cross-industry  structures  in  place.  The 
Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment ensures a biannual concertation between 
the  Council,  the  Commission,  and  European-level  social  partners.17  The  Macroeconomic 
Dialogue provides a forum for the Council, the Commission, the European Central Bank and 
the Eurogroup to exchange views on monetary and budgetary policies and wage developments 
with European social partners. In recent years, the Employment Committee (EMCO) has also 
organised several seminars with European and relevant national social partners to discuss topics 
of  particular  importance  to  them  (for  example  skills,  COVID-19  related  measures  or  job 
transitions)  on  top  of  the  traditional  yearly  Social  Dialogue  review.  The  Social  Protection 
Committee (SPC) regularly involves social partners in its discussions (for example on pensions, 
long-term care or access to social protection). The Social Dialogue Committee, organised by 
the Commission, is the main forum for cross-industry social dialogue among European cross-
industry social partner organisations.  

While these fora enable a comprehensive bipartite and tripartite EU dialogue, recent experience 
of developing better tools to deal with rapid labour market and social changes has brought into 
focus a complementary need for more in-depth tripartite dialogue on employment and social 
matters. This need has been strongly emphasised by social partners in the consultation process. 

The Commission will: 

 

 

invite  the  Employment  Committee  and  Social  Protection  Committee  to  organise 
regular tripartite exchanges on relevant topics with the participation of European and 
national social partners.  
In  the  context  of  the  Social  Dialogue  Committee  meetings  and  in  agreement  with 
social partners, organise on relevant topics (for example on labour and skills shortages 
or just transition) ad-hoc/extraordinary tripartite discussions involving European and 
national social partners and Member State representatives.  

Sectoral level 

17   Article 152 TFEU and Council Decision 2016/1859, available online. 

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EU sectoral social dialogue covers more than 80% of the EU workforce. The 43 Sectoral 
Social Dialogue Committees consist of 65 European employers’ organisations and 15 European 
trade union federations and represent approximately 185 million workers and over 6 million 
firms  across  the  EU.  They  discuss  and  agree  on  how  to  improve  working  conditions  and 
industrial relations in their respective sectors and are consulted on developments at EU level 
with  social  and  employment  implications.  Besides  agreements,  each  year  European  sectoral 
social partners adopt between 30 and 50 joint outcome positions on a wide range of topics, such 
as  health  and  safety  at  work,  working  conditions,  the  impacts  of  the  transition  to  climate 
neutrality, digitalisation, skills, labour mobility or gender equality.18 High coverage of workers 
and  companies  gives  the  committees  legitimacy  and  ensures  that  joint  outcomes  such  as 
autonomous agreements have a real impact in terms of implementation. Despite big differences 
among  sectors,  the  committees  have  provided  a  common  social  dialogue  framework  at  EU 
level.  

This framework has developed over time in response to the need for the social partners to 
influence and contribute to greater EU integration. Social partners may however appear or 
disappear in any given sector. For example, new operators such as low-cost companies in civil 
aviation, new companies in postal services or private social services providers have appeared 
in  recent  years.  To  better  react  to  sectoral  developments  and  the  changing  world  of  work, 
committees should strive to be inclusive, maintain and increase representativeness. They should 
also  increase  the  relevance  of  sectoral  social  dialogue,  including  by  getting  national  social 
partner organisations involved and co-operating with sectors/segments not yet represented or 
covered in European sectoral social dialogue.19 

The Commission, together with sectoral social partners, will engage in the modernisation 
of the framework for EU sectoral social dialogue to enhance its relevance and effectiveness 
and examine whether a revision of the Commission Decision 98/500/EC on the establishment 
of Sectoral Dialogue Committees promoting dialogue between the social partners at European 
level20 is necessary.  

Environmental commitments affect the organisation of meetings.  In line with  the recent 
Commission Communication on “Greening the Commission”21, the Commission has already 
started  to  organise  a  number  of  meetings  in  online  or  hybrid  format.  The  Commission  will 
continue to support the organisation of sectoral social dialogue meetings. It doing so, it will, in 
cooperation with the social partners, develop a new and greener approach to organising them.  

The Commission will, in close cooperation with social partners: 

18   Outcomes available online.  
19   See Eurofound (2019), available online 
20   Commission Decision 98/500/EC, available online. 
21   See C(2022)2230 final 

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  modernise the legal framework for Sectoral Social Dialogue Committees through a 

possible revision of the relevant Commission Decision; 

  within  the  current  structure  of  the  Sectoral  Social  Dialogue  Committees,  facilitate 
synergies between existing committees, promote  the inclusion of new segments of 
economic sectors in them subject to the fulfilment of the relevant criteria, and adjust 
the  approach  for  conducting  representativeness  studies  in  cooperation  with 
Eurofound; 
launch a process  to  review how Sectoral  Social Dialogue  Committee meetings are 
organised; 

 

  continue to explore the modalities for the setting up of a new sectoral social dialogue 

for social services at EU level.  

The Commission calls on social partners to: 

  continue  efforts  and  assess  the  need  for  further  actions  in  their  respective  social 
dialogues to make contact with affiliates in Member States not  yet covered in the 
respective  Sectoral  Social  Dialogue  Committees,  to  improve  the  membership  and 
representativeness of both trade unions and employers’ organisations; 

  Promote  the  inclusion  of  all  relevant  representative  European  social  partner 

organisations in the existing and new committees. 

3.2. Supporting social partner agreements 

Social partner agreements are one of the most important outcomes of EU social dialogue. 
To date, social partners have concluded six autonomous cross-industry agreements. Aside the 
autonomous agreements, between 1995 and 2010, four cross-industry social partner agreements 
were implemented through EU law22. However, in the last decade the European cross-industry 
social partners have not negotiated any new agreements to be implemented through EU law. 
The  Commission  welcomes  the  new  2022-2024  work  programme  of  the  European  cross-
industry social partners and the on-going negotiation of a new agreement on telework and the 
right to disconnect intended to be implemented through EU law. At sectoral level, eight social 
partner agreements were turned into EU law between 1999 and 201823 and five autonomous 
agreements were developed by national social partners between 1999 and 2021. 

The recent judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ)24 clarify the framework 
for implementing social partner agreement through EU law. The judgements entail that, 

22    Directives 96/34/EC, 97/81/EC, 1999/70/EC and 2010/18/EU. 
23    Directives 1999/63/EC, 2000/79/EC, 2005/47/EC, 2009/13/EC, 2010/32/EU, 2014/112/EU, 2017/159/EU  
       and 2018/131/EU.   
24   Judgment of the Court of 14 October 2019, C-928/19, and Judgement of the General Court of 21 September 

2021, C‑928/19 P. 

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following a joint request of social partners for their agreement to be implemented at EU level, 
the  Commission  determines  on  a  case-by-case  basis  whether  it  is  appropriate  to  submit  a 
proposal  to  the  Council,  implementing  that  agreement  at  EU  level  as  a  Directive.  While  an 
agreement is being negotiated, social partners may act freely and the Commission must refrain 
from  any  conduct  aimed  at  influencing  the  course  of  the  negotiations  or  the  content  of  the 
envisaged agreement.  

The Commission will, as a priority, continue to promote social partner agreements.  To 
this end, the Commission services will support the negotiation of social partner agreements by 
providing,  at  social  partners’  request,  administrative  support  and  legal  advice,  notably  on 
matters that could have a negative impact on the implementation of an agreement by means of 
EU law (for example any possible misalignment with the scope of the Treaty or overlaps with 
existing legislation). This legal advice, provided on a best-effort basis, will not prejudge the 
final Commission position on whether to submit the agreement to Council.  

As  confirmed  by  the  judgement  of  the  Court  of  21  September  2021  (Case  C-928/19  P),  on 
receiving a request from social partners to implement a social partner agreement through EU 
law,  the  Commission  will  assess  the  agreement’s  legality  and  the  signatory  parties’ 
representativeness, as well as the appropriateness of implementing the agreement through EU 
law, by looking at economic, social and political aspects among other considerations. An impact 
assessment  may  be  conducted  in  this  context.  The  Commission  recognises  social  partners’ 
knowledge on the possible impacts their agreement could have on businesses and workers. 

The Commission services will inform the respective social partners within 3 months of their 
preliminary  considerations,  possibly  including  whether  or  not  there  will  be  an  impact 
assessment.  The  Commission  will  take  a  final  decision  depending  on  the  complexity  of  the 
assessment  of  the  proposed  agreement  taking  into  account  the  requirements  of  the  recent 
jurisprudence of the Court of Justice.  

The Commission will also continue to promote other joint social partner outcomes such as 
framework  of  actions,  mutual  learning  or  guidance  documents  and  to  encourage  European 
social partners to continuously develop  and follow up on new ones in response to emerging 
challenges.  

The Commission will: 

  provide  European  social  partners,  at  their  request  and  during  their  negotiations  on 
social partner agreements whose implementation through EU law is envisaged, with 
administrative support and legal advice; 

  strengthen the emphasis for projects that support the implementation of autonomous 
social partner agreements in future social dialogue calls for project proposals.   

The Commission calls on European social partners to: 

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  negotiate and conclude more social partner agreements; 
  ensure that they have a mandate from their national affiliates allowing them to enter 

into negotiations on social partner agreements; 

  continue to involve their respective members in joint and separate capacity building 
actions  and  projects  aimed  at  ensuring  the  implementation  of  their  autonomous 
framework agreements in all Member States.  

3.3.  Strengthening social partners’ involvement in EU policy-making  

The  Commission  consults  all  87  recognised  European  social  partners  on  possible  EU 
legislative  action  in  the  social  policy  area  covered  by  Article  153  TFEU  (for  example 
working conditions, occupational safety and health, information and consultation of workers, 
workers’ social security and social protection, gender equality in employment). These two-stage 
consultations have kept a steady pace over the past 10 years and have all been conducted in 
writing.  In  some  areas,  such  as  the  setting  of  occupational  limit  values  for  carcinogens, 
mutagens and reprotoxins25, social partners are extensively consulted using specific structures 
such as the Tripartite Advisory Committee on Safety and Health at Work. In such cases, and in 
agreement  with  European  social  partners,  the  two-stage  consultation  could  be  done  through 
meetings with all social partners concerned, in fulfilment of all Treaty obligations.  

Since  the  New  Start  for  Social  Dialogue,  the  Commission  has  introduced  dedicated 
hearings as a new way of consulting European social partners on initiatives for which the 
Treaty does not require a two-stage consultation. The dedicated hearings  have demonstrated 
their  usefulness  and  are  important  forums  for  both  the  Commission  and  social  partners  to 
exchange  views  on  upcoming  policy  initiatives.  The  number  of  dedicated  hearings  has 
increased over time with their coverage extending to policy areas other than employment and 
social  matters  under  Article  153  TFEU  (for  example  sustainable  corporate  governance,  pay 
transparency,  the  European  care  strategy,  the  sustainable  and  smart  mobility  strategy  and 
prohibiting products made by forced labour on the EU market). Moreover, the Sectoral Social 
Dialogue Committees are consulted on EU developments that have social implications for their 
respective sectors.  

Ensuring the proper format and timing of such consultations is important to avoid lost 
opportunities in getting quality input into consultations for the Commission. This is why 
there is a need for a better understanding of social dialogue across the Commission and a more 
coherent  approach  to  involving  and  consulting  social  partners.  A  better  overview  of  the 
planning of upcoming proposals in the Commission work programme would help the social 
partners to prepare their input and activities.  

25    Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to the exposure to carcinogens,  
       mutagens  or reprotoxic substances at work, available online 

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Moreover, the Commission cooperates with social partners on specific topics on a regular 
basis. Through the European Partnership for Integration26, for example, the Commission and 
European  social  and  economic  partners  aim  to  promote  a  multi-stakeholder  approach  to  the 
labour  market  integration  of  refugees  and  other  migrants.  Social  partners  also  contribute  to 
deliberations on legal migration in the new Labour Migration Platform. 

The Commission will: 

  assign the role of Social Dialogue Coordinator in each Commission service;  
 

through the responsible Members of the College, gather the views of the European 
cross-industry  social  partners  on  policy  priorities  ahead  of  the  Commission  Work 
Programme, as part of the regular dialogue. 

The Commission calls on social partners to: 

  provide more joint outcome positions ahead of the relevant Commission proposals. 

3.4. Making financial and technical support more effective 

The  special  role  of  social  partners  and  the  Treaty-based  character  of  European  social 
dialogue is recognised in the EU’s budget. Through this budget, the Commission supports 
European and national social partners’ projects, as well as research on industrial relations. The 
Commission also finances and organises the meetings of the Social Dialogue Committee, the 
43 Sectoral Social Dialogue Committees and well as the consultation hearings.  

The  EU is  supporting important research on social dialogue and collective bargaining. 
Industrial relations and social dialogue are among the strategic priorities of Eurofound 2021-
2024 multiannual work programme. Eurofound provides comparative information on national 
social dialogue and collective bargaining processes and outcomes; reports on the functioning 
of tripartite social dialogue and social partners’ involvement in national policymaking; provides 
data on working time and wage setting and analyses the role of social dialogue in the context 
of  restructuring,  the  impacts  of  the  transition  to  climate  neutrality  and  digitalisation.  The 
Commission is also running a joint project with the OECD to support the development of the 
OECD/AIAS database on the Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State 
Intervention and Social Pacts. The project provides comprehensive, comparable information on 
the  evolving  nature  and  scope  of  collective  bargaining  in  OECD  and  EU  countries. 
Furthermore,  the  Commission  is  co-financing  every  year  a  number  of  European  research 
projects on collective bargaining under its call for proposals to improve the expertise in the field 
of industrial relations.  

26    Information available online.  

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There  is  a  need  for  better  information  sharing  and  nurturing  of  the  social  dialogue 
culture.  The  Commission  maintains  a  publicly  available  database  on  the  outcomes  jointly 
agreed by  the European  social partners  and  provides  online  information  on the 40-50 social 
dialogue projects funded every year. Despite this, there is limited information about the impact 
of European social dialogue at national level and about the follow-up by national social partners 
to  outcomes  agreed  at  European  level.  Most  EU  social  dialogue  outcomes  do  not  contain 
implementation provisions. Their implementation is not monitored, followed up or analysed. 
Furthermore, in some Member States, the social dialogue culture is comparatively weak due to 
national and local traditions that have affected how social dialogue has developed. Awareness 
of EU policies and labour market institutions among national social partners also varies across 
Member States and social partner organisations, and could be strengthened through targeted 
information actions with a capacity-building purpose. This could include a pilot information 
and visiting programme targeted to young social partners leaders. 

The Commission will: 

  set  up,  in  cooperation  with  social  partners,  a  research  network  for  analysing  and 

promoting EU social dialogue and to following its implementation; 

  support  European  social  partners  to  improve  awareness  of  EU  policies  and  labour 

market institutions among their member organisations.  

The Commission calls on social partners: 

 

to give greater visibility to the outcomes of European social dialogue and the results 
of EU projects and ensure that the results are widely disseminated to their members 
and beyond.   

4.  PROMOTING SOCIAL DIALOGUE INTERNATIONALLY  

The EU is leading by example promoting social dialogue internationally. It does so through 
regular collaboration meetings with the International Labour Organization, the OECD or other 
international organisations or bodies both at political and at technical levels. The EU and its 
Member  States  actively  support  global  partnerships  that  promote  social  dialogue,  including 
through the Global Deal initiative. In the context of the EU enlargement policy, the Commission 
also supports projects aimed at improving social dialogue in candidate countries or potential 
candidates and participates in exchanges of best practice at various levels. In the context of the 
European Neighbourhood policy, the Commission is funding regional programmes aimed at 
enhancing social dialogue and is organising the Union for the Mediterranean Social Dialogue 
Forum  with  social  partners  from  both  sides  of  the  Mediterranean.  Through  international 
partnerships and with the EU’s value-based offer for partner countries, the Global Gateway, the 

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
EU upholds high standards of human, social, and workers’ rights, and the promotion of social 
dialogue supports ensuring that this cooperation benefits the whole of society. 

In  February  2022,  the  Commission  adopted  its  Communication  on  Decent  Work 
Worldwide27 reaffirming the EU’s commitment to striving to ensure decent work in the EU 
and around the world. The EU supports the universal concept of decent work as developed by 
the  ILO  and  as  reflected  in  the  UN  Sustainable  Development  Goals.  Social  dialogue  and 
tripartism are one of the four elements of the universal concept of decent work. Freedom of 
association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining are among the core 
labour standards set out in the 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at 
Work,  and  are  part  of  the  commitments  in  EU  Free  Trade  Agreements  and  in  the  EU 
Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus.  

All Member States have ratified the core international standards of the ILO relevant to 
social  dialogue.  The  Council,  supported  by  the  Commission,  encourages  Member  States  to 
continue to ratify and effectively implement ILO Conventions28. It also calls on the Member 
States and the Commission to improve social dialogue at all levels and in all its forms, including 
through  cross-border  cooperation  and  by  promoting  international  framework  agreements  to 
ensure the active participation of social partners in shaping the future of work and helping to 
bring  about  social  progress,  particularly  through  the  effective  recognition  of  the  right  to 
collective bargaining.  

The Commission will: 

  continue  to  call  on  Member  States  to  ratify  and  effectively  implement  ILO 

 

Conventions, and promoting them internationally; 
in cooperation with the ILO launch a project to support social partners in EU Sectoral 
Social Dialogue Committees, at their request, in conducting activities on responsible 
supply chains, including respect for labour rights. 

The Commission calls on social partners: 

 

to continue to promote social dialogue internationally at all levels.   

27   COM(2022) 66 final, available online. 
28   Council Conclusions of 24 October 2019, on “The future of work: the EU promoting the ILO Centenary 

Declaration” 

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