Work Programme 2015-17 | EN |
Work programme 2012-2014 | EN |
The European social partners (BusinessEurope, CEEP, SMEunited (formerly UEAPME) and ETUC) have agreed on their new European inter-professional joint multi-annual work programme for the period 2012-2014. This work programme covers a period of three years and it includes the following issues and activities:
1 Youth employment
“With more than 22% of young people unemployed, there is an urgent need to remedy this unacceptable situation. The situation of young people will be assessed as a priority. We will focus on the link between education, young people’s expectations and labour market needs, taking into account young people’s transition into the labour market, in an effort to increase employment rates in general. We will make, in the context of a framework of actions, concrete recommendations also to Member States and the EU institutions. This work will feed into the employment analysis (Point 2 infra). We will also contribute to the G20 agenda on youth employment.”
State-of-play: completed.
Please, check the Framework of Actions on Youth Employment and other related documents in our Database.
2 In-depth employment analysis
“We will conduct an analysis of the functioning of European labour markets, notably building upon our joint analysis of 2007 and agreed facts/figures. This analysis will address both short-term challenges deriving from the crisis and structural issues. We want to understand the reasons why some national policies have so far been able to overcome the crisis in a much more effective way than others, notably in terms of employment and skills. On this basis, we will draw conclusions and make concrete recommendations to Member States and EU institutions which will be promoted and taken forward by European and national social partners”.
State-of-play: completed. In-Depth Employment Analysis
3 Gender equality
“Social partners agree that further action is needed to address remaining inequalities between women and men including the gender pay gap. To meet this end, social partners will continue to act on the four priorities agreed in the 2005 framework of actions on gender equality which remain valid and essential. They will build on successful experiences identified at enterprise level in the implementation of the framework of actions such as a toolkit to help the setting up of measures”.
State-of-play: completed.
Please, check the Framework of Actions on Gender Equality and other related documents in our Database. Also, see our Toolkit on Gender Equality.
4 Education and lifelong learning
“The continuous development of competencies and the acquisition of qualifications are a shared interest and responsibility for employers, employees and public authorities. For enterprises, access to and development of a skilled workforce is one of the conditions for innovation and competitiveness. For workers, acquiring, updating and developing relevant knowledge, skills and competences throughout working lives is most effective to find and remain in employment.
In 2002, European social partners adopted a framework of actions on the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications. This framework of actions remains valid in the present situation as to its four priorities. Nevertheless, the two following issues have emerged since 2002: 1) Skills needs in greening economies; 2) update and upgrade of the skills of older workers in the context of longer working lives. We will take action on these two issues using as a basis the existing matrix of four priorities”.
State-of-play: completed.
Please, check the Framework of Actions on the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications and other related documents in our Database. Also, see our Lifelong Learning page.
5 Mobility and economic migration
“As previously agreed in the 2009-2010 work programme, we will jointly address mobility and economic migration issues and promote the integration of migrant workers in the labour market and at the workplace in order to identify possible joint actions”.
State-of-play: See the work programme 2015-2017.
6 Better implementation and impact of social dialogue instruments
“The joint evaluation of the “social dialogue results and challenges” conducted in 2011 reveals that most national social partners have positive opinions on past achievements with regard to the implementation of autonomous framework agreements. On the other hand, European social partners have acknowledged that the impact and/or implementation of different social dialogue instruments need to be improved, in particular in some countries. As agreed in the framework of the 2006/2008 and 2009/2010 work programmes, and building on the lessons learned from previous implementation processes and on the findings of the 2012 seminars on this issue, we will jointly ensure better impact and/or implementation of EU social dialogue instruments throughout Europe”.
State-of-play: completed.
Please, check the page 2013-14 Tools to support EU Social Dialogue Development.
7 Capacity of social partner organisations
“Social dialogue needs strong social partner organizations to deliver positive results. We have in the past conducted a successful project to assist Central and Eastern European social partners. In some Member States, more efforts are needed. We will assess and make recommendations to optimise the way in which the European Social Fund could contribute to this. Moreover, we will consider joint action to support the capacity-building of social partners in the Southern shore of the Mediterranean, in particular those which have recently experienced regime change during the “Arab Spring””.
State-of-play: completed.
Please, check the page 2013-14 Tools to support EU Social Dialogue Development.
8 Economic and social governance of the EU
“The EU economic governance touches the competences of social partners, namely in issues like wages, pensions and labour costs which are at the heart of industrial relations systems in the Member States. Therefore, we will launch a reflection in the social dialogue committee with the aim of defining a shared vision on the consequences that the current debate on European economic governance will have on social dialogue at EU and national levels, and with a view to develop possible recommendations at relevant levels”.
State-of-play: completed.
Please, check the Declaration on social partners’ involvement in European economic governance and other related documents in our Database