Industrial relations and social dialogue
Involvement of national social partners in policymaking – 2019
Published:
09 June 2020
Research report
Abstract
This report investigates the quality of the national social partners’ involvement in designing and implementing reforms and policies in the context of the European Semester 2018–2019 and in the elaboration of the National Reform Programmes. As previously reported by Eurofound, there is a positive correlation between the strength of the national social dialogue and the involvement of the social partners in policymaking. A positive correlation is also visible between a well-functioning national social dialogue and the involvement of the social partners in the European Semester. In some cases, both processes are almost fully aligned as part of a continuum in social policy practice. Based on examples of reforms and policy initiatives discussed and implemented since 2018, the picture that emerges is one of stable and relatively effective performance in most countries. Nevertheless, social partners in several countries remain dissatisfied that their views are not truly influential in policymaking, although this perception – of being heard, but not listened to – varies across countries and stakeholders.
Key findings
National social dialogue frameworks can be categorised into three groups in their practices involving social partners in policymaking: countries with well-established social dialogue structures working efficiently; countries where social dialogue institutions exist and work but social partners are not fully satisfied with their involvement in policymaking; and countries where social partners do not feel like they are meaningfully involved in policymaking.
In 2019, social partners in most countries were consulted in policymaking to some extent. Consultations included reforms and policy initiatives within both the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) and the national agenda.
Most social partners were also involved in the elaboration of the National Reform Programmes (NRPs) in 2019. However, social partners, notably in Greece, Italy and Hungary, stressed that they were not involved at all or were critical of the quality of involvement.
Social partner involvement usually comprised formal consultation on an institutional basis or via bilateral contacts.
Most social partners considered the setting used for their involvement appropriate; however, one of the outstanding issues for some social partners is the lack of time allowed for consultation and exchange in the elaboration of the NRP.
Tables
- Table 1: Evolution of social partner involvement in social and labour policymaking, 2018–2019
- Table 2: Reforms and policies with social partner involvement, by country, 2018 and 2019
- Table 3: Reforms and policies with social partner involvement: Correspondence to CSRs
- Table 4: Evolution of the quality of social partner involvement in reforms and policies adopted, 2018–2019
- Table 5: Relevant reforms and policies related to the CSRs but not yet implemented, 2017, 2018 and 2019
- Table 6: Overall assessment of the quality of the involvement in elaboration of the NRPs for 2019, setting and time allotted
- Table 7: Degree of influence of the social partners’ views in the NRPs for 2019
- Table 8: Assessment of extent to which social partners’ views are reflected in NRPs for 2019
- Table 9: Social partners’ level of agreement with content of country reports for 2019
- Table 10: Social partners’ level of agreement with content of CSRs for 2019
- Number of pages
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64
- Reference nº
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EF19017
- ISBN
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978-92-897-2067-0
- Catalogue nº
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TJ-AY-20-001-EN-N
- DOI
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10.2806/296829
- Permalink
Cite this publication
Eurofound (2020), Involvement of national social partners in policymaking – 2019, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
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