FIRST VISIT, MADRID- DUBLIN The first visit of the Tresmed-2 Project took place in Madrid and Dublin, between the 14th and 18th of February 2005. The Economic and Social Council of Spain and the National and Economic Council of Ireland worked closely together in the elaboration of the programme and content of the visit. Morocco, Syria and Lebanon participated in this visit, with delegations composed by high representatives of employers and employees organisations as well as the Federation of Agriculture and members of Parliament. The Economic and Social Council of Portugal and the Council of Economic and Social Agreement of the Czech Republic also collaborated in the visit, participating in the programme with presentations of their different models of consultative organisations. The subjects which were dealt with in the visit were: • The consultative role of the economic and social partners in the democratic systems. • The practices of agreement and social dialogue in Spain. • The functioning and composition of the Economic and Social Council of Spain. • Ten years of the Barcelona Process: evaluation and prospects. • The functioning and composition of the Economic and Social Council of Portugal. • Negotiation and social dialogue in Portugal; the Portuguese system of collective bargaining. • The composition and functioning of the National Economic and Social Council of Ireland. • Negotiation, policy-making and organisational change: the Irish institutional system. • The organisations representing economic and social interests at the National Economic and Social Council of Ireland. • The working system and composition of the Council for Economic and Social Agreement of the Czech Republic. • The negotiation and social dialogue in Czech Republic; the Czech system of collective bargaining. .