From October 30 to November 1, 2024, took place in Sofia / Bulgaria a seminar under the topic "Social partnership – key tool to build a bridge toward tangible changes in the Western Balkans". It was organized by the Confederation of Labour PODKREPA in cooperation with EZA and funded by the European Union. 36 representatives of workers’ organisations from Bulgaria, Spain, Austria, Serbia, Albania, France, Romania, and the Republic of North Macedonia participated in the seminar that was organized within the framework of the EZA Special project for workers' organisations in candidate countries.
Description of the seminar
The seminar has started with an opening session featuring welcome addresses and keynote speeches. These addressed the current economic and social realities in Europe, emphasising the positive impact of partnership and dialogue for the alignment of interests and for achievement of wide public consensus. Just after the opening intervention, the general objectives of the seminar were introduced:
To address the absence of culture for dialogue and to promote social partnership as a key precondition for the integration process of WBs to the EU,
Foster the mechanism for cooperation and dialogue between economic and social actors in the region.
To reinforce the strategic and creative thinking in trade unions for more inclusive approach and cooperation with other civil society’s players and with the governmental institutions at national and at regional level.
The opening session was followed by three expert’s presentations:
- Pathways for development of social partnership in Western Balkans - building on European experiences.
- No second-class Europeans: Western Balkans region needs stable political environment, sound reforms and increased regional cooperation.
- Social partnership in the Western Balkans: the exemple of Albania;
Subsequent sessions included two panels focusing on the dignity of labor and decent working conditions. These discussions highlighted the current state of social partnership in the participating countries.
Think-thank panel titled “Partnership in practice: solidarity, tolerance, respect at the workplace – the role of trade unions” presented some success factors for a good partnership, such as forward planning, trust, networking, alignment of interests, consensus for shared vision, commitment, governance structure and leadership.During the round table titled “The values which holds us together - more regional cooperation for European integration!” participants discussed the patterns to adapt social partnership to the local context, taking into account historical labour relations in the region, as well the EU engagement process.
After every panel, time was dedicated for questions and discussions.
The seminar concluded with a summary, closing remarques, conclusion and evaluation of the outcomes.
Key ideas
Differentiation has become the new normal in the EU as an established feature of European integration, enabling the EU to address current challenges more effectively. In addition, differentiation is also connected to the debate on the design and evolution of manifold models of cooperation between the EU and its candidate member-states. Hence, the time has come to adapt the conceptual tools to the new political, institutional and policy trends and move on from the ‘black-and-white’ debate to more flexible approach, such as exchange of positions, consultations, dialogue.
In that sense, the ultimate goal of social partnership is to achieve through dialogue a greater balance amongst the divergent interests - economic, social, environmental and to implement more effective policies. However, similar collaboration between local governments and civil society organizations across Western Balkans remains still underdeveloped. Legislative framework do guarantee freedom of association of workers and employers, as well their legal recognition. Trade unions are been better organised, but frequently employers have the power to influence the policy-making. Existing legal norms are only formally eliminating the obstacles to the conclusion of collective agreements and do provide formal right to strike.
The main problems, social partners in the region face, are linked to the non-friendly institutional landscape and the poor information flows, combined with low capacity to negotiate and to reach consensus. This situation restricts them to advocate for social change and limits their ability to influence policy-making.
In addition, models of cooperation in use are often insufficient and discriminatory, do not contribute to the proper positioning and for more stronger influence of social partners in communities. In practice, that situation is limitting the further development of participatory democracy. In that context, social partners in the region are weak and fragmented and the dialogue between them is mostly „illusory‟.
The greatest challenge faced by trade unions in the region is the decline in membership and the direct representation of workers, while employer associations are not consolidated, preferring the lobbying activities, instead of sitting at the negotiation table. In this context, usually national governments are setting up tripartite bodies to be involved:
- in the transposition of regulations concerning employment rights during the EU accession process;
- in economic decision making in crisis times, in setting minimum wages, working conditions, minimum level of social protection;
- in finding a common solution to a given issue;
In general, addressing employment-related problems with legislative solutions diminishes the power of trade unions and employer organisations to influence those issues. Practically, the space for consultations is very limited and efficient social dialogue is not established. Thus, the influence of those tripartite bodies remains sparse, characterized by lack of trusted policy-making tools and visible results. The situation not only enables governments across the region to undermine workers individual and collective rights, but also contribute to further decline of the reputation of social partners
Conclusions and recommendations
The EU accession is a dominant paradigm for policy-making in Western Balkans countries. But, at the same time, the process of implementation of the due reforms and the efforts to meet the enlargement criteria are posing great challenges to the region, especially in today’s increasingly diverse, dynamic and insecure world. Evidently, the political class alone would not succeed to overcome those challenges, thus the support of civil society is crucial. That makes social partnership a necessity. Because only by common efforts and on the basis of shared values WB societies will be able to move forward. It is important to underline that effective partnership is not possible without strong and clear commitment to the universal values of democracy and solidarity, as well to the full respect of human rights and the rule of law. The decline of solidarity at work, understood as the willingness and capability to organize for collective protection of rights, is central to describe the multiple challenges being faced by Western Balkans societies on their road to EU membership.
In addition, rebuilding the trust in democratic institutions and in dialogue is crucial for the region to navigate the challenges it faces and to ensure a prosperous and united future for its citizens. Trust is the glue that binds citizens together, it is the force of the social contract and the bedrock of democracy. Trust fosters co-operation, strengthens social cohesion, facilitates policy implementation and encourages public engagement and participation. Without trust, societies risk fragmentation, which favors populism and undermines social stability in times of confrontation.
Trade unions are profoundly aware of the importance of upholding highest standards of ethical conduct and transparency of social partnership, as not only a moral imperative, but as an essential tool to safeguard integrity of WB societies. This is not only because of the trade unions’ history, but because of what trade unions stand for today - solidarity, equality, improving lives, social justice and opportunity for all working people.
It is clear that, workers organization across the region do need to have better capacity and to establish stronger foundation of social partnership. To effectively bridge existing gaps, a new organizational culture, training and long-term commitment for dialogue must be implemented. In that sense, only by analyzing existing practices, identifying areas for improvement, designing tailored training programs and instilling behavioral changes, trade unions could improve their ability to communicate effectively and collaborate with other social actors, institutional bodies and the employers.
From a trade unions’ perspective, the key priority areas for improvement of social partnership in WBs are:
outcomes and the transparency: partnership institutions must improve their communication with citizens, actively listening to their concerns, developing place-based policies, and ensuring clear and consistent messaging on key policies and decisions.
regain public confidence and deliver on promises: implemented policies must not only improve the lives of citizens, but address regional inequalities and shared challenges
combat disinformation and manipulation: the fight against the manipulation of information is crucial. This requires collaboration among governments, mass medias and civil-society organizations to tackle the spread of misinformation and promote responsible social behavior.
prioritizing social cohesion and bridge the gaps between local communities. This includes supporting joint action of working people, exchange on employment-related issues, promotion of civic engagement to foster a sense of shared European identity.
Countries from WBs must put a greater focus on their regional cooperation and on the strengthening of democracy and rule of law. At the same time, more creativity, vigilance, pressure are needed to tackle issues such as poverty among workers, crime, corruption, and immigration. This is the main precondition to transform social partnership’ practices in the region to tangible advantages for workers and to structural societal changes.
The slow pace of European Union enlargement to the Western Balkans can be attributed to the fact that the region has failed to make visible progress in meeting the criteria for EU accession in the key areas of democratic institutions, the rule of law, anti-corruption and protecting minorities. In the economic sphere, speeding up income per capita convergence with the EU requires further domestic economic reforms and accelerated intra-regional integration. In addition, Western Balkan countries continue to suffer from several socio-economic vulnerabilities, including high emigration and unemployment rates, especially of young people, low rates of participation of women in the workforce. In such context, characterized by political polarization and weak culture of consensus, the establishment of effective social partnership in WBs is a complex challenge with no easy solutions. Only by collective efforts from national governments and civil society, working together to bridge divisions, countries from the region could advance on the European integration.