On November 18th and 19th, 2022, a two-day seminar was held in Skopje / North Macedonia about "Active involvement in the EU integration process for workers organisations from the Western Balkans", organised by EUROFEDOP and funded by the European Union. The seminar was realized within the framework of the EZA special project “Strengthening social dialogue – shaping European integration” for workers’ organisations in the Western Balkans. It was dedicated to the current context of the Balkans - the accession negotiations for membership in the European Union, led by four countries: Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania. In addition to the countries leading the accession negotiations, this project also included partners from Kosovo (as guests), Slovenia, Romania, Austria and France, as EU member states. Based on the findings of several years of research within the framework of the project, the seminar discussed several aspects of the accession process through the prism of trade union participation. Taking into account that Serbia and Montenegro are the countries that lead the accession negotiations with the EU, and this year North Macedonia and Albania started the accession negotiations with the Union, it is of crucial importance to find mechanisms to strengthen the role of labour organizations in this process as part of civil society, in order to exert pressure on national governments and contribute to the advancement of labour rights.
The seminar started with introductory speeches by Violeta Dimitrieva from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, who gave a brief overview of the topic from the perspective of the ministry and its competences. She outlined the Ministrys’s role in the process, while mentioning the potential opportunities of trade unions in this stage of negotiations. Boro Veligdenov, president of the Union of Postal and Telecommunication Operators of Macedonia pointed out the necessity of including trade unions in the European integration process. The president of the Union of Trade Unions of Macedonia, Darko Dimovski, also addressed on the opening panel. He spoke about their participation in social dialogue, pointing out the low level of social dialogue in the country.
In the first session, the panellists deepened the discussion in terms of EU membership negotiations and potential areas for trade unions to act. The Secretary General of EUROFEDOP, Bert Van Caelenberg, presented the EU accession process from the trade union point of view. He emphasized the importance of social dialogue in European integration, as well as the various opportunities for projects and collaborations between various countries and organizations in order to gather experience and knowledge. Bert Van Caelenberg also emphasized the need for trade union organizations to start creating strategies of trade union organization and participation, primarily for the integration of the European market. There is a need to take action and show more commitment regarding these issues. Local and global difficulties are not so different, to overcome them, innovative ideas and movements are needed that will come out of the framework of traditional trade union organisation. According to him, either the role of trade unions in cooperation with civil society will be strengthened and will contribute to the acceleration of European reforms in the acceding countries, or the emigration of young people to the EU will accelerate, in search of a European life outside the borders. Unions should broaden their horizons, to work on increasing membership, but pay special attention to young workers because young people are the driving force of society, they are attracted by the idea of the European Union and that is why a large number of them leave their home countries. In order for the unions to create a European atmosphere, it is necessary to transform them from within.
Steffen Hudolin from the EU Delegation spoke about civil society, trade unions and the pre-accession process. There is a necessity for joint engagement in the negotiations of the Western Balkan countries. In addition to the legal amendments, it is necessary to make a change in the practice and active application of the laws in order to protect the citizens and the workers. Civil society organizations that will also be affected by the changes should be included in the social dialogue. But, as he concluded, the room for action on the actual implementation of reforms for accession to the EU is precisely during the negotiations, because later it would be too late, the work would be finished.
Prof. Dr. Lazar Jovevski presented the EU accession negotiations and the trade unions in Albania and North Macedonia. He spoke about the latest reports on the progress of the European Commission for North Macedonia and Albania, pointing out the areas in which both countries are progressing or falling behind. Neither Macedonia nor Albania have problems with the legislation, but with the practical implementation of their laws. It requires maturing of all those who participate in the social dialogue, not only active listening but also active involvement because the changes should be made now before the entry into the EU and not afterwards. Unions must be ready for those changes, otherwise they will find themselves in a situation where they will not know what role they should play.
Antonino Scribellito, Head of projects at PostEurope, highlighted the role of the postal industry and the role they play in the ESR (European Social Responsibility). Ivana Mihajlovic, Deputy Secretary General, Union of Free Trade Unions of Montenegro spoke about trade unions and civil society in the EU accession process on the topic "The role of trade unions in the process of accession of Montenegro to the EU" and Koli Signari from Business Albania on the topic "Social dialogue and European integration from the perspective of employers".
As an exercise to wrap up what was said, the participants in the two working groups worked on "Strategies for better communication with EU institutions and policy makers" and the other "Speaking of the EU inside workers' organizations - How to share and discuss the topics related to EU enlargement within one organization". The conclusions of these working groups were presented during the next day, by the moderators of the groups, Lazar Jovevski and Sladjanka Milosevic from the Federation of Jurisprudence Employees in Serbia. Within the group that discussed strategies for better communication with EU institutions and policy makers, led by Lazar Jovevski, the countries of France, Kosovo, Romania and Albania participated. They pointed out that internal communication in trade unions can represent a serious challenge in terms of further communication with EU institutions. Only united unions will have enough bargaining power to effect change. Within the other group led by Sladjanka in which the representatives from Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia participated, it was discussed how to communicate and discuss issues related to the EU within the union itself. The need for better education of the membership on topics related to the EU was highlighted here. In these countries trade unionism is reduced to a struggle for survival which leaves very little room for further development.
After the presentation of the conclusions, another panel discussion followed, where the attendees opened a large number of questions, so they discussed unemployment, which continues to be a big problem in the south-eastern Balkans, but also relatively lower wages and cheap labour. This part of the Balkans often faces repression in relation to trade union movements, and even attacks on trade union representatives due to their trade union activities. In that regard, the need to find appropriate mechanisms that will prevent trade union discrimination also emerges. After the end of the panel discussion, there were closing words from Bert Van Caelenberg and Boro Veligdenov who thanked all the participants for their contribution to this project as the end of the seminar.