European Social Dialogue e-newsletter AprilDecember 2021 2019 IssueIssue N° No 912. Editorial DearEditorial social partners, readers and friends, I amDear very social happy partners to present and youreaders, this newsletter; indeed I intend to renew the previous practice of issuing two social dialogue newsletters per year. The publication of this newsletter comes after Maritime social partners continued their efforts Socialmore dialogue than one continues year of unprecedentedto feature high COVID-19on the European to policyachieve effective crew changes and bring crisis during which social dialogue at all levels, home seafarers after months in the sea. Social agenda. President Ursula von der Leyen stressed in her political on a tripartite as well as on a bipartite basis, has partners askedJörg Tagger to prioritise industrial cleaning, guidelines: “I am a firm believer in the value of social dialogue contributed to pragmatic and balanced solutions seafarers Headand aircrewsof Unit for vaccination. between employers and unions, the people who know their sector to mitigate the impact of the crisis and sustain European social dialogue andthe their recovery. region best.” This is also reflected in the mission lettersIn addition to to the joint actions related to the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, COVID-19and to situation, the European social partners ExecutiveSocial Vicepartners-President continue for An Economy to address that Worksthe for adoptedPeople, 25 new joint statements since October ValdisCOVID-19 Dombrovskis. pandemic focusing on the recovery of 2020. the European economy, with 12 new statements Thisadopted newsletter since on the social publication dialogue ofis theyour last tool social for better Thesharing activities regarding EU level social dialogue information,dialogue newslettermaking the resultsin October of social 2020. dialogue Cross- better knownhave and also been very intense, in particular in thereforeindustry reinforce social partnersits impact urgedon social Member and employment States policiesthe context at of the preparation of the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan (EPSR). The allto levels. endorse the agreement found on the Recovery Fund and the Multiannual Financial Framework. broad consultation on the action plan ended in I countHospitality on your social contributions partners tojoined make their the forcesnewsletter for as attractiveNovember 2020. After a series of consultation and“Working useful as together possible. for Do a notquick, hesitate safe to& sustainablesend us your suggestionswith social partners, Ms Andrea Nahles published recovery of Europe’s hospitality sector”. Social her report on strengthening the European for further improvement. social dialogue on 3rd February 2021. With the partners from different sectors tried to form new alliances to reach out to sectors, such as adoption of the EPSR Action Plan on 4 March, I wish you a good reading. tourism, that are not part of EU sectoral social the Commission announced that it will present dialogue but severely impacted. The European an initiative to support social dialogue at EU and services industry joined forces to strengthen national level in 2022. Newssocial from dialogue the in Commission building a resilient Europe. HORECA and Aviation continuously called Tripartitefor support Social Summitfor the relaunch of their sectors. The autumn Tripartite Social Summit of 16 October 2019 was dedicated to the general theme "Progressing on the social and economic dimensions for a competitive, fair and sustainable Europe: The role of social partners and social dialogue". It was the last Summit under the President Junkers Commission. The discussions focused on three areas: a just transition to a climate neutral economy, investing in skills and improving access to adult training and designing an industrial policy fit for the future. The Tripartite Social Summit is a forum for social dialogue at highest political level, taking place ahead of the spring and autumn European Council. Read here more information. Social dialogue highlights Report on strengthening EU social dialogue by Ms Andrea Nahles, Special Advisor on Social Dialogue to Commissioner Nicolas Schmit (03/02/2021). Thanks to her experience of social dialogue processes and labour mar- ket policies, as well as to numerous meetings and contributions by the social partners in the last six months, Ms Nahles‘ report proposes a set of concrete initiatives on social dialogue to implement the principle 8 on social dialogue of the European Pillar of Social Rights. Ms Nahles presented her report to the social partners at the Liaison Forum on 9 March. (More) The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan presented to EU social partners (09/03/2021). The Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Mr Joost Korte, had an exchange with the sectoral social partners on the Pillar Action Plan at a meeting of the Liasion Forum on 9th March. He informed that following consultation with social partners in 2021, the Commission will present an initiative to support social dialogue at EU and national level in 2022. The initiative will include the following four actions: • the launch of a new award for innovative social dialogue practices; • an information and visiting programme for young future social partner leaders; • the review of sectoral social dialogue at EU level; • a new supporting frame for social partner agreements at EU level. These initiatives will be prepared and implemented in close cooperation with social partners. (More) Tripartite social summit (24/03/2021) EU leaders and social partners met on 24 March 2021, at the Tripartite Social Summit to discuss the question “how to achieve a fair and sus- tainable recovery?”. They intervened on following main topics: • handling the health, economic and social crisis while maintaining emergency measures • the contribution of social partners at EU and member state level for an economic and social recovery • the road to Porto Social Summit (More) News from the Commission relevant for social dialogue Advancing the EU social market economy: adequate minimum wages for workers across Member States. The Commission pro- posed an EU Directive to ensure that the workers in the EU are protect- ed by adequate minimum wages allowing for a decent living wherever they work. Negotiations with the Council and the European Parliament (28/10/2020). (More) The Pact for Skills: mobilising all partners to invest in skills. Commissioners Schmit and Breton have officially launched the Pact for Skills, a central element of the European Skills Agenda. They have also announced the first European skills partnerships in key industrial ecosystems – automotive, microelectronics, and aerospace and defence industries (11/11/2020). (More) The European Pillar of Social Rights: turning principles into ac- tions. The Commission sets out its ambition for a strong Social Eu- rope that focuses on jobs and skills for the future and paves the way for a fair, inclusive and resilient socio-economic recovery (4/03/2021). (More) The Commission Recommendation on ‘Active and effective support for employment’ (EASE) was adopted together with the Action plan on the European Pillar (04/03/2021). (More) The European Commission has presented a proposal on pay trans- parency to ensure that women and men in the EU get equal pay for equal work (04/03/2021). (More) Union of Equality: European Commission presented Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. This is an ambitious Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to ensure their full participation in society, on an equal basis with others in the EU and beyond (03/03/2021). (More) © Getty Images Consultation of the social partners under Article 154 TFEU Social partners were consulted on the initiatives in the social field: First phase consultations of the European social partners on the protection of workers from risks related to exposure to chemical agents at work and to asbestos at work to improve the pre- vention of work-related diseases by tackling existing, new, and emerging risks (17/12/2020). (More) (More) First-stage consultation of European social partners on how to improve the working conditions for people working through digital labour platforms and ask the views of European social partners on the need and direction of possible EU action to improve the working conditions in platform work (24/02/2021). (More) © Shutterstock / Gorodenkoff Consultation of social partners outside Art 154 TFEU Dedicated hearings were organised to consult social partners on the planned initiatives • On 4 November 2020, a dedicated hearing with social partners on the European Disability Strategy offered an opportunity for social partners to engage with the European Commission on the European Disability Strategy 2021-2030. The meeting was chaired by Neil Kerr, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Dalli. (More) • A dedicated hearing on sustainable corporate governance took place on 22 February 2021. • New Pact on Migration and Asylum: The EU social partners and Commissioner Johansson exchanged opinions over how to best co- operate on the legal migration initiatives announced in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, with a particular focus on Talent Partnerships. Participants discussed topics such as legal mobil- ity schemes, economic growth and education pre-departure pro- grammes (26/02/2021). (More) (More) • On 16 March 2021, an exchange of views with social partners took place