The Positions of the Baltic States on EU Matters Role and Opportunities of Organized Business Societ

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The Positions of the Baltic States on EU
Matters Role and Opportunities of
OrganizedBusiness Society

• Elina Egle
• General Director
• Employers Confederation of Latvia

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An Approach
Opportunities
Results
Goals
Practice
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Shaping Social Partnership in EU

• Freedom of association (Convention 87)
• Right and promotion of colective bargaining
  (Conventions 98, 154)
• Recommendation No. 113 on consultations at the
  national and industrial level and 163 on
  trainning, access to information
• Tripartate consultations (Convention 144)
• Labour Administration (Convention 150)
• Comission is obliged to consult with social
  partners (Treaty 138.article)
• Rights of social partners to conclude agreements
  (Treaty 139.article)
• Agreements implemented as directives
• Agreements implemented by social partners.

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Stakeholder Chart
OPINION FORMERS Employers Trade
unions NGOs Industry and trade assoc. Mass
media
DECISION MAKERS European Parliament Commitees,
Political groups, plenary Council of Ministers
working groups COREPER, ministers European
Comission DGs, Cabinets Advisory
Committees Permanent representatives
CONSULTATIONS
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Opportunities Used by Social Partners

• Active participation preparing national
  positions
• Shaping positions in EU level (UNICE, ECOSOC)
• Creating alliances with organizations from other
  EU countries
• Work with national members of EU Parliament.

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Social Partners in Postion Formulation
EU consultative bodies
ETUC
EU institutions
UNICE
National trade union
National state institutions
National employers organization
Employers organization
Employers organization
Industry trade unions
Trade unions of firms
Firms
Firms
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Strong Social Partnership May Avoid

• Defence of unjustifiable individual or narrow
  interests
• Looking for easy E.U. money
• By-passing internal procedures or EU legislation
• Forcing issues by simplistic or ideological
  arguments or by political overshooting
• Threatening EU civil servants
• Wining dining with E.U civil servants,
  corruption, etc.

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Goals of Organized Business in the EU

• Impacting on political decision making process
• Impacting on implementation of decisions
• Inserting specific point of view or overlooked
  issues in ultimate political decisions, e.g.
• Amending or complementing European guidelines
• Defence of regional, sectoral, .. interests
• Applicability of European rules to specific case
• Lobbying is decent and necessary when for a
  justified cause.

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On the Way to Succeed on EU Level

• STRATEGIC ISSUES
• Lisabona strategy and National rogrammes
• 2007-2013 financial perspective National
  development plans
• 4 freedoms 4 single market
• EURO
• Energy policy
• Better regulation and administrative burden
• WTO etc.
• BUILDING CAPACITIES
• Qualified experts (permanent information flow
  between organization and its clients)
• Active participation in work of EU organizations
• Membership
• Participation in work of policy committees.
• Representative office in Bussels (contact point
  for all clients of organization) etc.

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Future Challenges

• If Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia accede to EU in
  2007 means 3 additional Commissioners
• Opportunity to bridge experience gaps and
  establish professional trust
• If, and when, the EU Constitutional Treaty is
  ratified by all 25 Member States by end 2006 (?)
  then there will be one additional Commission
  Vice-President - Mr Javier Solana as EU Foreign
  Affairs Minister.
• The number of Commissioners will be reduced to
  2/3rds of the number of EU Member States by 2014,
  and a system of rotation introduced.
• The new Parliament
• Many new and inexperienced MEPs more difficult
  to reach
• New Rapporteurs nominated? Committee composition?
• Small Member States gaining too much power in
  the Council easy deadlock
• Practical problems difficult to lobby
  effectively
• Translation delays
• Language problems

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Thank you for the kind attention!
Wish us good luck in managing interest
representation in EU! www.lddk.lv