EU-level social dialogue Andrea Broughton Institute for Employment Studies European Parliament workshop on policy areas and current challenges in the field of employment and social affairs at EU level, 23 September 2014

Background  Mid-1980s: introduction of EU-level social dialogue  1991: Agreement on Social Policy  Treaty base for social dialogue and two- stage consultation  Possibility of negotiating agreements  Two implementation possibilities  Own-initiative agreements

Intersectoral social dialogue  Employee and employer representatives at European level  An active dialogue  Legal underpinning of agreements  Implementation in accordance with national practices  Three framework actions  Range of other joint reports and texts

Sectoral social dialogue  Sectoral social dialogue committees  Representativeness criteria  Range of joint texts, from joint opinions to formal agreements  Legal underpinning: Some sectoral accords on working time Health and safety agreement in hospitals and healthcare Multi-sector accord on crystalline silica

Successes of the social dialogue  Wide range of joint texts  New Directives in important social policy areas  Consultation on new social policy areas  Vibrancy of sectoral social dialogue  Adapting EU legislation to sectoral needs  Involvement in EU governance processes

Shortcomings of the social dialogue  Failure of negotiations on the working time Directive  Decrease in binding agreements at sectoral level  Implementation issues in Member States  Implementation of the agreement in hairdressing: threat to social dialogue?  Involvement in the EU governance process: room for improvement?

The future  Issues around the hairdressing sector agreement  Implementation of agreements  Involvement of the social partners in the EU governance process  Suggestions to improve the functioning of the social dialogue  New structures in the Commission