Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2013)740 - Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2013)740 - Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2013)740  |
| date | 31-10-2013 |
BACKGROUND
The Tripartite Social Summit for Growth and Employment (TSS) was set up by Council Decision of 6 March 2003 (2003/174/EC), which formalised the practice of holding high-level, informal meetings since 1997 in the framework of the European Employment Strategy, and subsequently the Lisbon Strategy. The Commission proposed the 2003 Decision in order to institutionalise the practice of high-level consultation between the EU institutions and the EU social partners. The proposal meant abolishing the former Standing Committee on Employment, which was set up in 1970 and reformed in 1999, but which proved too heavy to be an appropriate forum for EU consultation with social partners — in particular in view of enlargement and at that time the prospect of an EU 27 format. It was also too narrow in scope to enable the social partners to be involved in the EU employment strategy and the EU integrated economic and social strategy resulting from the Amsterdam Treaty and the 2000 Lisbon European Council.
Since 2003, the TSS has been a separate event from the European Council meetings and has broadly fulfilled its aim of facilitating the exchange of views at the highest level between the Commission, the EU Presidency and the EU social partners on employment and social aspects of the Lisbon Strategy (since 2010, and then of the Europe 2020 Strategy). Until the Lisbon Treaty entered into force, the meetings were co-chaired by the Council Presidency and the President of the Commission. The 2003 Decision also gave a role to the two subsequent Presidencies.
In its Communication (COM(2013)690) of 2 October 2013 on the social dimension of the EMU, the Commission announced that it will present a proposal to revise the 2003 Council Decision.
WHY DOES THE DECISION NEED TO BE REVISED?
The Lisbon Treaty brought in significant institutional changes, which justify revising the 2003 Council Decision:
– It institutionalised the European Council and created the role of President of the European Council (Article 15 TEU);
– It recognised the role of the TSS as part of the EU social dialogue (Article 152 TFEU);
– It repealed Article 202 ECT, which was the legal basis used to adopt the 2003 Decision (the functions of the Council are now laid out in Article 16 TEU and the principles for comitology are in Articles 290 and 291 TFEU).
Following the institutional change brought in by the Lisbon Treaty to create the function of President of the European Council, the 2003 Council Decision establishing the Tripartite Social Summit needs to be revised. To maintain the logic of the Treaty and of the TSS institutional setting, the role and responsibilities that the 2003 Council Decision attributed to the rotating Presidency of the Council should be transferred to the newly created function of President of the European Council.
In addition, the overall policy framework needs to be revised, replacing the Lisbon Strategy with the Europe 2020 Strategy and specifying how the TSS for Growth and Employment contributes to the overall governance.
Contents
A formal consultation of the social partners is not required, given the legal basis chosen (see below), but the EU cross-industry social partners were informally consulted on the main thrust of this revision. There was broad support for the idea of a limited/technical revision to make the technical changes needed as a result of the institutional changes brought in by the Treaty of Lisbon.
LEGAL BASIS
The legal basis for adoption of the Council Decision should be Article 352 TFEU.
INTER-INSTITUTIONAL ASPECTS OF THE REVISION
A specific aspect of the revision concerns the representation of the Council. Under the current format of TSS meetings, the Council Presidency and the two subsequent presidencies participate.
Specifically, the current practice in force since 2010 involves the following arrangements:
– the official invitations are signed by the President of the European Council, the President of the Commission and the Head of State or Government of the Member State holding the Presidency of the EU;
– the meeting is co-chaired by the President of the Commission and the President of the European Council, who open it and present the conclusions respectively. The Head of State or Government of the Member State holding the Presidency takes the floor once during the meeting;
– the Council Presidency and the two subsequent presidencies participate at the level of Heads of State or Government and of ministers for employment.
One could argue, in the light of a legally strict interpretation of Article 15 TEU, that continuity of the Council participation could be provided by the participation of the President of the European Council only. Hence there is no longer a need for the three successive presidencies to participate.
But given the positive experience with this format followed since 2010, and the consensus developed around it, the Commission favours a pragmatic solution, building on existing practice. This means that the participation of the three successive presidencies, at the level of Heads of State or Government and at the level of ministers for employment, is still justified on the grounds of continuity of the Council’s tasks under the responsibility of the rotating presidencies.
FREQUENCY
The current Council Decision provides that the TSS should meet at least once a year before the spring European Council. In practice, the TSS has met twice a year, with the interactive involvement of the rotating presidencies since 2003, before the spring and the autumn meetings of the European Council.
The Commission considers that, once again, experience with current practice has been positive and that the need for an efficient and visible high-level concertation between the EU institutions and the EU social partners justifies holding two meetings of the TSS every year. The revision confirms the practice of TSS meetings ahead of the spring and autumn meetings of the European Council.
N/A
5. OPTIONAL ELEMENTS
ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF A LIMITED/LIGHT REVISION
The Commission does not intend at this stage to use the opportunity of this revision to carry out a profound review of the functioning of the Tripartite Social Summit. The Summit has always been considered by the social partners as a privileged forum to discuss social and employment issues at the highest level, ahead of the Spring and Autumn European Council, in the presence of Heads of State or Government and ministers of employment and social affairs of the rotating presidencies. It also provides an opportunity for the representatives of EU institutions attending the TSS to hear the views and proposals from both sides of the social dialogue spectrum, enabling them to pass on these views subsequently to European Council members.
The Commission favours a proposal that adapts the current Decision to the institutional changes brought in by the Treaty of Lisbon, while reflecting the positive results of recent practical experience with the TSS. A few editing adjustments are also introduced to improve the technical quality of the text. This will ensure a swift revision process.