Social dialogue in defining the European Union economic and social strategy

Abstract

Following very significant initiatives, such as the European Pillar of Social Rights and its Action Plan, the Commission presented in 2023 its Communication on Strengthening social dialogue in the European Union: harnessing its full potential for managing fair transitions, together with a Proposal for a Recommendation to the Council on strengthening social dialogue. The present analysis will discuss the progress and limitations of these initiatives, such as the lack of binding nature of the legal instruments used or their effect on policymaking. In this regard, particular attention will be paid to the insertion of social dialogue into European economic and social governance mechanisms. To this end, the study deals with the influence of the economic governance framework on the role and development of social dialogue in the most recent transformations that have taken place since the 2008 crisis to the present. Likewise, the role given to social dialogue will be analysed in the new fiscal rules and economic governance framework recently approved.