Employment policy and social dialogue
in the enlargement process
Katja de Sadeleer
DG Enlargement
[email protected]
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/index.htm
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Candidate countries and potential
candidate countries
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Candidate countries
 In negotiation
 Croatia
opening of accession negotiations October 3, 2005
 Turkey
opening of accession negotiations October 3, 2005
 Candidate status
 The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia:
(European Council, December 2005)
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EU Accession process: Social dialogue,
Employment policy

Political criteria
1.1 Democracy and the rule of law
1.2 Human rights and the protection of minorities
Observance of international human rights law
Civil and political rights
Economic and social rights, incl. labour and trade union
rights
Minority rights, cultural rights and protection of minorities

Economic criteria, incl. trends on the labour market

Negotiating chapter ”Social policy and employment”
Social dialogue
Employment policy, incl. undeclared work
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Accession negotiations: Chapters
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
Free movement of goods
Freedom of movement for workers
Right of establishment and freedom
to provide services
Free movement of capital
Public procurement
Company law
Intellectual property law
Competition policy
Financial services
Information society and media
Agriculture
Food safety, veterinary and
phytosanitary policy
Fisheries
Transport policy
Energy
Taxation
Economic and monetary policy
Statistics
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
Social policy and employment
Enterprise and industrial policy
Trans-European Networks
Regional policy and coordination
of structural instruments
Judiciary and fundamental rights
Justice, freedom and security
Science and research
Education and culture
Environment
Consumers and health protection
Customs union
External relations
Foreign security and defense policy
Financial control
Financial and budgetary provisions
Institutions
Other issues
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Negotiating chapter ”Social policy and employment”
 Social dialogue
The Treaty requires that social dialogue be promoted and gives
additional powers to social partners. The candidate countries
are, therefore, invited to confirm that social dialogue is accorded
the importance required and that the social partners are
sufficiently developed in order to discharge their responsibilities
at EU and national level, and to indicate whether they are
consulted on legislative drafts relating to the taking over of the
employment and social policy acquis.
Social partners have a central role in drawing up and applying
Community social policy. Therefore, the development not only of
tripartite structures but also of autonomous, representative
bipartite social dialogue is an important aspect for the future
involvement of the candidates countries' social partners in the
social dialogue activities developed at European and national
level.
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 Administrative capacity
In the area of social dialogue, it is entirely for each
Member State to decide which structure it will use,
provided that the effect of implementing the
requirements of the acquis is achieved:
 representatives of the two sides of industry, including
social partner organisations, in view in particular of their
role in the elaboration and implementation of
Community legislation.
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Negotiating chapter ”Social policy and employment”

Employment policy

The objective of the Commission is to ensure that candidate
countries define employment policies that will prepare them for
membership of the Union and progressively adjust institutions
and policies to the European employment strategy.
To this end, the Commission has initiated a co-operation
process on employment with these countries.
The co-operation also aims at ensuring that both the EU
financial support for accession and the preparations for the
implementation of the European Social Fund (ESF) focus on
supporting the identified employment policy priorities.


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The candidate countries are invited to address the following
issues:




whether the functioning of the labour market is improving so as
to ensure that labour supply can be effectively matched with
demand for labour on the domestic market and what policy
measures are being developed to support this process;
whether policy reforms and labour market transformations are
progressing sufficiently rapidly and deeply to permit a full
participation in the Single Market;
that policies and measures are being pursued to prepare the
large share of the working age population which is unskilled or
inappropriately skilled for a market economy;
the degree of readiness of the employment policy structures
and the employment policy delivery systems to implement the
European employment strategy.
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 Joint Assessments of Employment Policy (JAPs)
in the Candidate Countries
- assessments of the labour markets in the candidate countries,
mutually prepared and agreed by these countries and the Commission
- to be signed by the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and
Equal Opportunities and the Ministers of Labour of the candidate
countries
- present analyses of the key challenges in labour market reform and
for employment policies
- focus on the need to promote and manage rapid structural change in
order to establish flexible and adaptable labour markets, which are
appropriate for a dynamic market economy as part of the Single Market
- the need for the right incentives for taking up and creating jobs, for
investing in human resources and for promoting activation and
prevention is also underlined
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 Joint Assessments of Employment Policy (JAPs)
in the Candidate Countries
Follow-up:
- both parties agree to jointly monitor the implementation of the JAP
commitments
- candidate countries will send progress reports
- progress reports are reviewed by the Commission and
representatives of the candidate countries in technical seminars
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 Undeclared work
- Council resolution on transforming undeclared work into
regular employment
(OJ C 260, 29.10.2003, p. 1-3)
- risks undermining the financing of social services, already
under pressure, decreases individuals’ social protection status
and labour market prospects and may affect competitive
conditions
- also runs counter to European ideals on solidarity and social
justice
- the notion of undeclared work is integrated in the European
Employment Strategy
- since 2001, the issue of undeclared work is taken up in the
Employment guidelines in which Member States have
committed themselves to combat undeclared work
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 Administrative capacity
In the area of employment policy, it is entirely for each Member State
to decide which structure it will use, provided that the effect of
implementing the requirements of the acquis is achieved:
 labour market institutions involved in implementing the European
employment strategy, notably – but not exclusively – through
implementation of the European Social Fund
This includes not only the relevant line Ministries and their agencies,
but also structures for co-operation with other key players such as
Finance Ministries and regional and local authorities.
Other important institutions include vocational training institutes and
public employment services.
In particular, within the public employment service the network of
local employment offices should be sufficiently equipped and
widespread in order to implement, in due course, the European
employment strategy.
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Accession negotiations:
The Process (1)
 Opinion (avis) of the Commission
 Member States’ decision to open accession negotiations
 Opening of chapters in the negotiations:
 Screening process, chapter by chapter, followed by a Commission
recommendation on the opening of chapters.
 If negative: benchmarks – conditions such as: strategy for alignment,
fulfilment of contractual obligations
 EU-27 unanimous decision (intergovernmental conference)
 For each chapter to be opened:
 Negotiating position by candidate country
 Draft Common Position by Commission to the Member States
 EU common position adopted by MS unanimously allowing opening
of the chapter at the next accession conference.
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Accession negotiations:
The Process (2)
 Chapter provisionally closed following unanimous decision
by the Member States.
 Chapters definitively closed only when all negotiations
with the candidate country are concluded.
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Monitoring of the accession process
 Annual Progress reports by the Commission
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/press_corner/key-documents
 Framework of the Association agreements
Stabilisation and Association Agreements (Western Balkans)
Association Agreement (Ankara Agreement TK)
Contain articles on social cooperation.
 Accession/European Partnerships:
priorities for reforms and basis
for programming pre-accession assistance
 Specific technical meetings
 Peer reviews/assessments
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IPA – Objectives and Amounts
 All candidate and potential candidate countries are eligible to the
financial instrument (IPA).
 IPA has 2 objectives:
 streamline all pre-accession assistance into a single framework
 unite under the same instrument both candidate and potential
candidate countries facilitating transfer from one status to another
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IPA – Components and eligibility

The IPA consists of 5 components:
I.
Transition Assistance and Institution Building (IB)
II.
Regional and Cross-Border Cooperation
III. Regional Development
IV. Human Resources Development
V.

Rural Development
Eligibility to IPA

Candidate countries:
access to all 5 components

Potential candidates:
•
•
•
support to SAA process.
eligibility to components I and II
IB projects for other components eligible under I
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Useful Internet Addresses
 Financial Pre-Accession Assistance:
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/how-does-it-work/financial-assistance/index_en.htm
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TAIEX Facility
(Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office)
For CCs and PCCs
Who?
European or national social partners, officials
What for?
Seminars, conferences, visits…
What kind of support?
Technical support
Rental of rooms, equipment, interpretation facilities
Travel arrangements
How to proceed?
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/taiex
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