European social dialogue: establishment of a tripartite social summit for growth and employment

PURPOSE : to present a proposal for a Council Decision establishing a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment. CONTENT : the European Commission adopted its communication on the European social dialogue, a force for innovation and change. In this communication the Commission supports the reinforcement of the concertation between social partners and European institutions on economic and social policies, and proposes to set up a new "tripartite social summit" as a focal point for the social partners' contributions within the Lisbon Strategy. It aims to promote the role of social dialogue in European governance, strengthen the link between the national and European levels and make the results of European social dialogue better known, particularly with a view to enlargement. In order to ensure that there is a continuous concertation between the Council, the Commission and the social partners in order to enable the social partners to contribute, on the basis of their social dialogue, to the various components of the integrated economic and social strategy launched at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000 and supplemented by the Gothenburg European Council in June 2001. Therefore, the Commission proposes to establish a Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment. The Summit shall meet at least once a year. A meeting shall be held just before the spring European Council. The Summit shall be chaired jointly by the President-in-Office of the Council and the President of the Commission. The matters to be discussed shall be determined jointly by the Council Presidency, the Commission and the workers' and employers' cross-industry organisations taking part in the Summit's work. Decision 99/207/EEC shall be repealed as soon as the present Decision enters into force.�