From 18 to 21 September 2024 took place in Cluj-Napoca / Romania a seminar about “Safeguarding the rule of law in the European Union as the basis for successful implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights”, organised by IFES (Institutul de Formare Economică şi Socială) in cooperation with EZA and funded by the European Union.
The seminar was attended by 45 representatives of workers’ organisations from Bulgaria, Spain, France, Italy, Ukraine, Republic of Moldavia and Romania.
Europe is the region of the world where workers rights are more considered and are best protected. Of course, more can be done to bring about improvements in areas such as employment, equal opportunities, working conditions and healthcare. That is why the EU created the concept of the European Pillar of Social Rights. This social regulation is meant to ensure that every citizen of the member countries in the European Union has the same chances in life - from fair wages and benefits to childcare, pensions and much more. In short, we want to make Europe fairer and more inclusive for everyone.
But everything can only be done if the rule of law is preserved as one of the fundamental values of the European Union. Enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, this is one of the basic pillars on which the European project is built. Democratic values and fundamental rights are essential for the future of the European Union.
From the perspective of workers' organizations, there is a direct link between workplace democracy and democracy as a political process in society. However, both have been under pressure in recent years. The concept of workplace democracy is not only beneficial for employees and employers, but also for the economy and society in general.
The seminar was a special one both because of the two topics discussed and because of the participation of numerous delegations representing trade unions and organizations representing the rights of employees from the newest candidate countries for membership of the European Union: Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. Representatives of the same categories of organizations from member countries of the European Union also participated. From Eastern and Western Europe. From countries with different experiences in implementing and maintaining the rule of law and regulations regarding social rights.
The participants at the seminar clearly expressed the idea that there is no country in which all aspects of these two fundamental concepts for the European Union (the rule of law and the protection of social rights) reach perfection. Everywhere everyday life shows that there are problems. It was emphasized that the most important aspect is that of the existence of mechanisms through which the problems that are signaled regarding any of the two topics are discussed and solved.
An important chapter of the seminar was dedicated to the help that the countries already members of the European Union, the trade union organizations and those that defend the rights of employees, can give to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova on their way to the status of members of the European Union.
The topics considered during the seminar were:
Values of the European Union: the social matter
-The European pillar of social rights. A concept for citizens (Joseph THOUVENEL from French important trade union CFTC)
-The role of women in social dialogue in rural areas. The Spanish experience (Carmen QUINTANILLA BARBA president of AFAMMER)
-The legal and practical limits of social dialogue. How to proceed in crisis situations (Bogdan SCHIOP- president of the Romanian National Federation of Administration Unions)
-Free movement of persons, the right to work and the portability of pension rights (Daniel BACIU - President of the Romanian National Authority of Public Pensions)
The seminar day was ended with a round table under the topic: How to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights. What is the situation of social rights in the Member States? And in the candidate countries?
The moderator (Silviu ISPAS – director IFES) gave the floor to representatives of the organizations participating in the project.
Values of the European Union: the rule of law
-The rule of law as a fundamental value in the construction of the European Union (Maria Jose RODRIGUEZ RAMOS - Professor in the Department of Labour Law at the University of Seville)
-Why are trade unions important in the functioning of a rule of law? (Cosmin DOROBANTU - President of the Romania Federation of Trade Unions of the National Penitentiary Administration)
Special debate: Values of the European Union: the rule of law. The situation in the new candidate countries
-The situation in the Moldovan Republic (Sergiu COCOS and Mihai GRECU from PPA) -The situation in Ukraine (Yuriy KURYLO and Oksana SAKOVETS from VOST “VOLYA)
The seminar day was ended by a round table: Current threats to democracy and the rule of law. Under the moderation of Veselin MITOV [Head of the Department of International Relations of the CL PODKREPA – BG] it was again the time for interventions of the representatives of the organizations participating at the seminar.
The last seminar day was dedicated to: Accession of candidate countries to the European Union. How could this approach be supported? The role of trade union organisations. The general discussion was introduced and moderate by Marcel SPATARI - [Expert SYNDEX Romania – MD/RO]
In the conclusive discussion of the seminar, under the moderation of Bogdan Iuliu HOSSU (Vice-president EZA and President of CNS Cartel Alfa – RO). Some interesting conclusions emerged:
trade union organizations must be better prepared to supervise and intervene whenever slippages in the functioning of the rule of law are reported.
training and informing activities are needed for trade union members regarding the essential elements of the rule of law and how the trade union organizations they belong to can get involved.
it is necessary to monitor the implementation of the components of the European Pillar of Social Rights in each member state and at the level of the European Union through the coordinated action of trade union organizations.
cooperation with partner organizations from the new candidate states must be intensified. The exchanges, joint projects will make them better prepared during the accession negotiations, but also after, in the integration process.
in this context, the special projects dedicated by EZA to the candidate countries are of great help and must be continued. The participants claimed for a close cooperation and for sharing of good or bad examples from different countries.