Social dialogue summits

Social dialogue summits are high-level meetings of European social partner organisations and their national members (trade union and employer organisations). These meetings take place at irregular intervals and are chaired by the President of the European Commission. The aim of the summits is to provide a political impetus to European social dialogue on particular issues. In 2005 a special summit was held to celebrate 20 years of EU social dialogue.

The social dialogue summit is also the vehicle used by the social partners to draw up their joint work programme, the most recent covering the years 2006–2008. The idea of drawing up a joint programme of autonomous work was first made public by the social partners in a joint statement issued to the Laeken European Council in 2001. In its work programme for 2003–05, the social partners achievements’ included the adoption of the framework agreements on telework (2002) and on work-related stress (2004). In its 2006–08 work programme, the social partners drew up a framework agreement on harassment and violence in the workplace (2007).

See also: Agreement on social policy; Tripartite concertation; Open method of coordination; Collective industrial relations