European Social Dialogue: A Stalled Engine

Social dialogue dates back to the birth of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in 1951. It has gradually been incorporated into the treaties in a number of stages, most notably the Social Protocol of the Maastricht Treaty. Social dialogue has been beset by two major problems.The first is the diversity of national trade union systems (trade union confederations in some countries are not authorised to negotiate on behalf of their members, for example). The second problem relates to the attitude of employer associations, which are reluctant to negotiate at European level. Employers initially agreed to take part in social dialogue in order to hamper, rather than further, Community legislation.