Can social dialogue identify answers to the challenges of our time?

Pekka Ristelä, Rapporteur for the EESC opinion on Strengthening social dialogue and Member, argues that social dialogue is vital to identifying answers to the challenges of our time

Europe faces profound challenges. The climate emergency is a global matter of survival. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has brought large-scale war to the borders of the EU and forced Member States to reassess their security policies and spending. The ageing population challenges our welfare systems, while digitalisation changes how we work and the skills we need. What can social dialogue do for us?

Many of these challenges are often portrayed as something that can be dealt with via technocratic problem-solving. Ultimately, however, they are deeply political. How can the legitimacy and acceptance of the necessary transformative policies be ensured when the trust that glues our societies and political systems together is getting weaker? What will be the response when people inevitably ask about fair distribution and burden sharing?

European Commission’s initiative on strengthening social dialogue

The European Union needs answers to these questions, so the European Commission’s initiative on strengthening social dialogue could not come at a better time.

Social dialogue – defined as negotiation or consultation between representatives of workers and employers or between these and government representatives – is the cornerstone of the European social model. That has been the case at least since the days when Jacques Delors made it one of his priorities as Commission President.

Since then, social dialogue has seen ups and downs but has been regaining ground under Mr Juncker and Ms von der Leyen. The recent Commission initiative follows a raft of legislative reforms that strengthen social dialogue, including the necessary Directive on adequate minimum wages currently being implemented in the Member States.

At the national level, however, the picture is less rosy – and in the Member States, people experience European policies and their social consequences. From economic and social policies to climate policies, what matters most to people’s lives – their employment and income, economic security, health, and well-being at work – are primarily matters for national decision-making.

What is the value of social dialogue?

This is where social dialogue can, if successful, be of immense value. From sustainable pension reforms to adequate wage developments, social dialogue has proven to be a fair and effective method of solving tricky societal questions.

However, there are prerequisites for successful social dialogue. There can be no real social dialogue without a solid basis of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining and action. Suitable institutional frameworks are also important, although these can and do vary between the Member States.

Effective social dialogue also requires representative and autonomous trade unions and employer organisations able to engage in bipartite and tripartite dialogue, a culture of dialogue and compromise, and finally, a degree of underlying respect and trust that survives the inevitable and, at times, tumultuous conflicts of interest between the two sides of the labour market.

The Commission initiative, particularly the proposal for a Council Recommendation that it includes, seeks to foster precisely these basic conditions – as far as they can be influenced through political decisions.

Strengthening and enhancing these dialogues

The Council still needs to adopt the Recommendation, and there is no way to know what compromises may water it down. Safe to say, though, that one non-binding Recommendation won’t enhance social dialogue as much as we could hope. Other instruments, like the Directive on adequate minimum wages, can be even more important: that Directive constitutes binding EU law. Moreover, it promotes one of the core aspects of social dialogue, namely collective bargaining.

In any case, with its recent initiative, the Commission is making an effort worthy of support – an effort that we welcome in our EESC opinion, with strong backing from both sides of social dialogue. The Commission is ready to strengthen social dialogue, and the social partners share that ambition. Now it is up to the Member States to commit to it.