Social partners prepare for first ‘macro-economic’ talks

Date: 04/11/1999

By Simon Coss

EU EMPLOYERS and trade unions are guardedly optimistic about the prospects for next week's talks with Union finance and labour ministers and experts from the European Central Bank.

The aim of the meeting - the first to be held under the 'macro-economic dialogue' system agreed to by EU leaders at their June summit in Cologne - is to give the social partners an opportunity to express to bankers and politicians their views on the Union's economic and employment policies.

The talks will take place in Brussels directly after next Monday's (8 November) regular monthly meeting of EU finance ministers. They will be attended by representatives of the trade unions and employers, two EU labour ministers, two finance ministers and two officials from the Frankfurt-based bank.

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) will argue that the Union has tended to regard job creation in a somewhat 'isolated' fashion, instead of seeing employment-generating measures as an integral part of its overall economic policy.

"We will be using the meeting to put forward our belief that you can only discuss creating employment in the EU if you look at the issue from a macro-economic perspective," said spokesman Wim Bergans.

European employers' federation UNICE has also welcomed the decision to create a new forum. "These talks will provide a useful opportunity to air our views in front of both ministers and representatives from the bank," said deputy secretary-general Daniela Israelachwile.

But while supporters of the forum are hailing it as a critical step towards a truly integrated EU-wide employment strategy, critics say it will just be another toothless Euro-talking shop.

Under the terms of the deal struck at Cologne, the talks will carry no real political weight. Meetings will be held on an informal basis, no official minutes will be published and the forum will not have the right to issue policy recommendations to EU governments. As a result, many observers feel its influence will be extremely limited.

"The Council has already agreed on its broad economic guidelines for the coming year and it is not about to change them," said one national diplomat bluntly.

But the Finnish presidency, which will chair next week's meeting, insists the talks will be worthwhile. "By having frank and open discussions between the participants we hope to get a clear picture of current issues," explained an official.

But it remains to be seen if the social partners' initial zeal for the system can be sustained if the forum's ambitions remain so limited. "The decision to create the macroeconomic dialogue went in the right direction. But now we have to see how it actually works. A concept is one thing, political will quite another," warned Bergans.

EU employers and trade unions are guardedly optimistic about the prospects for forthcoming talks with Union finance and labour ministers and experts from the European Central Bank.