8.2: Social Europe: history

(I) The 1950s and 1960s

Under Article 117 of the Treaty of Rome (1957) the member states agreed on the need to promote improved living and working conditions. Article 118 gave the Commission the task of promoting close cooperation between member states in the social field on the following issues:

Rights of migrant workers.
Mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
Improvement of working conditions and safety.
Workers' rights in companies.

The European Social Fund (ESF) was set up, under the Treaty of Rome, "to improve employment opportunities for workers in the EEC and to contribute, thereby, to raising the standard of living". It is one of the Structural Funds, discussed in the Fact Sheet on Regional Policy (8.4).

(II) The 1970s

In the 1970s, social policy began to develop "teeth":

The Social Action Programme (SAP) was set up in 1974 and had the following major objectives:

Attainment of full and better employment.
Improvement and upward harmonisation of living and working conditions.
Increased involvement of management and labour in the EC and of workers in the life of their firms.
Implementation of a common vocational training policy.

Several key Directives including (1) the Equal Pay Directive and (2) the Transfers of Undertakings Directive (to protect the continuity of the worker's employment and conditions of employment) (TUPE) were passed.
The original draft European Company Statute, which included references to worker's rights in companies, was published in 1975.
The 5^th Directive on the structure of limited companies (1972) also included references to worker's rights in companies.

(III) The 1980s

The 1980s saw further significant developments:

In 1985 Commission President Jacques Delors held the first meeting at Val Duchesse (Belgium) concerning the promotion of "social dialogue" between workers and employers. The main participants ("social partners") were the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the Union of Industries of the European Communities (UNICE, the European Employers' Federation) and the European Centre for Public Enterprises.
The Single European Act (SEA) extended QMV, thus making it easier to pass legislation, including social legislation. The SEA permitted qualified majority voting for health and safety directives (Article 118a). The SEA also extended the Community's competence in the area of economic and social cohesion.
In 1989, at the Madrid summit, the (European) Social Charter was adopted by 11 of the EU12 (excluding the UK). It covered the following 12 policy areas:

Freedom of movement.
Fair wages.
Improvement of living and working conditions (including working hours).
Social protection.
Freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Vocational training.
Equal opportunities.
Worker consultation (information, consultation and participation by workers).
Health, protection and safety in the workplace.
Protection of children.
Elderly persons.
Disabled persons.

Following on from this there was a 5-year Social [Charter] Action Programme (SAP) to implement the Charter throughout the EU for the period 1990-95.

Concerning workers' rights in companies there were the following developments:

European Company Statute (ECS): the original draft was in 1975 and the revised ECS was in 1989. The EU social affairs ministers formally adopted it in 2001.
The Vredeling Directive on information and consultation: the proposals were approved by the Commission in 1980, but were subsequently overtaken by the development of the Compulsory Information and Consultation at Work Directive.

(IV) The 1990s

The main social developments in the 1990s were:

The Protocol on Social Policy and Agreement on Social Policy, the "Social Chapter", was appended to the Maastricht Treaty. The UK was not a signatory to the Protocol (this was the "UK opt-out").
At the Amsterdam summit (June 1997) the UK signed the Social Chapter, which allowed the Social Protocol to be incorporated, under the Treaty of Amsterdam, into the Treaty of Rome. There was, therefore, then a "single framework for social policy" for all the EU Member States following the Amsterdam Treaty. There was also an extension to social policy, an extension of anti-discrimination rights, and a new chapter on employment.
The Directives put under the Social Chapter were:

Parental Leave.
Burden of Proof in Sex Discrimination Cases.
Part-time workers.
Fixed-term workers.
European Works Council.
Compulsory Information and Consultation Procedures (National Works Councils).

Following the UK's signing of the Social Chapter the activities of the social agenda accelerated, leading to more social Directives and, indeed, amendments to extant Directives.

Alongside the EU's increasing tide of employment regulations, there was the growing concern about the persistently high unemployment in the EU. The irony of this situation appeared to completely escape the EU's senior personnel, including Commission President Delors.

The main developments in employment policy were:

Delors' White Book on "Growth, Competitiveness and Employment" (1993). It was the basis for further policy developments in this area.
The European Council in Essen (1994) agreed a five-point plan for fighting unemployment - the "Essen Strategy". An Employment and Labour Market Committee was created in 1996.
The Amsterdam Treaty (1997), followed by the Luxembourg Jobs Summit (1997), emphasised the commitment to a high level of employment and further developed the EU's employment policy. The Luxembourg Jobs Strategy launched the European Employment Strategy (EES) in its current form.
Later European Councils discussed employment policy - most importantly Cardiff (1998), Cologne (1999), Lisbon (2000), Stockholm (2000) and Barcelona (2002).

(V) The 2000s

The (European) Social Policy Agenda (SPA), as agreed at Nice, ran from 2000-05. The SPA set out to modernise the European Social Model, promote "more and better" jobs and convert commitments made at the Lisbon and Feira European Councils on the social dimension into concrete action. The Social (Policy) Agenda for 2005-10 covers policies to provide jobs, fight poverty and promote equal opportunities for all. 2007 is the "Year of Equal Opportunities for All".

Under the European Employment Strategy (EES) common priorities and individual objectives for member states' employment policies are now set out in multi-annual Employment Guidelines as agreed jointly by all member states. (The current guidelines cover the period 2005-08.) They are the employment component of the Lisbon Programme's "Integrated Guidelines for Growth and Jobs" for 2005-08, which also include economic management.

Other developments during the 2000s have included:

The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which has wide implications for social and employment policy. It was agreed at Nice and is included in the Constitutional Treaty. It is discussed in Fact Sheet 2.9 on the structure of the Constitutional Treaty.
The stalling of the Temporary Agency Work (TAW) Directive.
The move by the European Parliament to scrap the UK voluntary opt-out from the 48-hour week of the Working Time Directive by 2012 (2005). It was stalled by the EU employment ministers in June 2005.

RL, February 2007