Tripartiete sociale top: oproep aan nationale sociale partners om meer werk te maken van banengroei (en)

The EU's strategy for more Growth and Jobs needs greater involvement from national social partners (trade unions and employer representatives) the Tripartite Social Summit in Brussels heard today.

The Summit, which took place just hours before the European Council meeting of EU leaders, also discussed the social partners new work programme for the next three years in the presence of European Commission President José Barroso, Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, European Council President Schüssel, representatives from the two incoming EU Presidencies, as well as high-level EU and national social partners.

Some national social partners highlighted at today's Summit that they had not played a full role in drafting the National Reform Programmes (NRPs), which each Member State submitted in autumn 2005. These plans outlined each country's specific plan to reach the EU's Growth and Jobs strategy's goals. While the lack of full inclusion may have been due to teething problems with these first NRPs, national social partners, many of whom were at today's conference, said they would like greater involvement in the future - a position supported by the Commission.

President Barroso urged EU Member States to ensure that the national social partners play a full role in attaining higher growth and more and better jobs: 'It is clear that the social partners support the Growth and Jobs strategy. But we have to better involve them at national level, improving their sense of ownership of the strategy. I am confident this will be possible,' he said.

The social partners' new 2006-8 work programme, presented to EU leaders today, will see trade unions and employers' representatives jointly analysing major issues facing the EU, such as demography, lifelong learning, youth integration and 'flexicurity' - looking in particular at what these mean for the labour market.

Vladimír Spidla, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, highlighted that the social partners need to enact their new proposals. 'I welcome the new work programme drawn up by the social partners, which is fully in line with our priorities. What we need now is to see these proposals turn into action.' The Commission has proposed an extraordinary Tripartite Social Summit to discuss demography and flexicurity with the social partners.

In the work programme's three year period, social partners intend to employ a variety of tools, including the negotiation of a new framework agreement on either lifelong learning or integration of disadvantaged groups into the labour market. They will also strengthen efforts to build social partner capacity in the New EU Member States and candidate countries.

This is the second work programme for EU social dialogue following the 2003-5 one, under which social partners successfully negotiated two framework agreements on telework and work-related stress and a framework of actions on gender equality.