Research: The European Trade Union Confederation in the light of Delors’ social dialogue
Presentation
After graduating in Political Science at the University of Teramo, I decided to enrol at Sapienza University of Rome in the Master’s Degree programme in Political Science. I completed this programme with a thesis in Information Law entitled “The President of the Republic’s Power of Public Expression in the Italian Experience”. I then obtained, at the same university, a Second-Level Master’s Degree in Parliamentary Institutions, the “Mario Galizia” programme for Assembly Consultants. My supervisor was President Luciano Violante, who guided me in the preparation of my dissertation, which focused primarily on the theme of the strong state and on De Gasperi’s role in leading Italy between 1948 and 1953. A few months ago, I decided to publish my Bachelor’s thesis after revising and expanding it. This resulted in a monograph entitled “Workers and Trade Unions. The workers’ statute and its origins”.
Research
The European Trade Union Confederation in the light of Delors’ social dialogue
This research project aims to provide a comprehensive study of the “social dialogue” initiated by the Delors Commission. It will also be important to take into account the developments of the European Trade Union Confederation, against the broader backdrop of European integration. The project will focus in particular on the decade of the Delors Commission, examining the circumstances that led to the changes introduced by Delors into Community policy. His appointment was preceded by the Val Duchesse meetings, through which an attempt was made to overcome the political stalemate of the time by encouraging an exchange of views between employers’ and workers’ organisations. During these meetings, the main issues addressed concerned employment, within the context of industrial restructuring and new technologies.
During his ten-year mandate, major developments took place, most notably the signing of the Single European Act and the Maastricht Treaty. Delors promoted the construction of a Europe of rights alongside an economic and, potentially, political Europe, through the completion of the internal market and the so-called “social dialogue”. His approach was defined as the “strategy of ambivalence”: a single market accompanied by a social dimension; competitiveness of enterprises without neglecting employment; and the modernisation and restructuring of companies while informing and consulting the workforce. The expansion, at European level, of the dynamics resulting from globalisation made it necessary to broaden the protection and representation of the workforce accordingly. Therefore, dialogue was opened with the social partners in order to build a European social dimension alongside the construction of the common market.
As a first step, Delors organised further meetings along the lines of the Val Duchesse meetings, progressively establishing a dialogue between trade unions, employers and Community institutions. The White Paper on the completion of the internal market saw Unice supporting the process, while the Etuc expressed concern about the radical changes affecting companies and the growing dominance of multinational corporations over the economy. The trade unions nevertheless had to recognise that halting the process would be impossible, and therefore chose instead to influence it from within, according to a reformist approach. The next step was the Single European Act, followed by the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers. The turning point was the Social Policy Agreement, which established the rules for consultation between workers’ and employers’ organisations on the Commission’s social initiatives. Subsequently, three framework agreements were concluded on parental leave, part-time work and fixed-term employment, negotiated by the social partners and implemented through European directives: this is precisely the mechanism of negotiated legislation.
The studies conducted so far have analysed the origins of the Etuc, with particular attention to the issue of social dialogue and to the decade of the Delors Commission. The works examined have been of great assistance, as has the contribution of the historical archives consulted, particularly the official Etuc archives, as well as trade union journals and newspapers from the period.
There are several aspects that could still be explored in greater depth. It would be interesting to analyse more closely the relations between the Etuc and the Community authorities, particularly the Commission, the Council and the Parliament. It would be useful to examine how Delors’ policies became intertwined with the Confederation’s presence within the European institutional framework, focusing on its composite identity and on the concrete results achieved through the interaction between institutions and trade unions. This research project therefore aims to address these specific aspects which, without detracting from the excellent work carried out by scholars over the past decades, remain, at least in part, subjects that still warrant further investigation.