Title: New Aspects of European Integration: Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Dialogue and the Workin
1New Aspects of European Integration Corporate
Social Responsibility, Social Dialogue and the
Working Environment in the Baltic States An
Interdisciplinary Approach
- Seminar 1 The European Social Model
2Structure of Seminar
- A few words about the Marie Curie chair
- The European Social Model - a common core of
values? - Achievements of ESM to date?
- Maastricht, 1992, Amsterdam Treaty 1997,Lisbon
Summit 2000 - Strengths and weakness of the model
- The Lisbon council
- ESM a realistic agenda for the enlarged Europe?
3- 1. Marie Curie chair
- Charles Woolfson
- E mail woolfson_at_eurofaculty.lv
- Web http//www.eurofaculty.lv/MarieCurie
- Link Student Resources
- Password Student
- Login Info
4Brief profile
- Reader, Faculty of Law, University of Glasgow
- Member of Glasgow Baltic Research Unit
- Former Marie Curie Experienced Researcher
Fellowship holder, Lithuania - Specialisms in labour relations, corporate
responsibility and regulatory issues of working
environment
5What is the Marie Curie chair?
- A new action under 6th Framework Programme -the
Marie Curie mobility actions - Forty awards in total to be made 2002-2006
- Covering social and natural sciences at a
European level (including accession states) - Total budget 20 M Euros. Total of 30-40 new
chairs with 80-120 PhD theses supervised
6Academic character of Marie Curie chair
- The chair holder shall be a world-class
researcher of any nationality, with outstanding
past achievements in international collaborative
research - The subject(s) to be taught should be of a
leading edge and/or multi-disciplinary nature. - and correspond to directions in research, which
are relevant for Europe.
7Duties of Marie Curie chair
- To give lectures and teach research courses to
students at graduate and/or postgraduate levels - To carry out research and supervise research and
doctoral thesis work - to demonstrate the attractiveness of research
careers - via providing mobility and personal
career advice to younger researchers.
82. What is the European Social Model?
- The term European Social Model (ESM) has been
used in policy circles in Europe but lacks a
precise definition. - Despite this, the idea of ESM informs much of
policy making in social matters at European
level. - Thus, the European Summit (Lisbon 2000) member
states adopted a formal position - the European Social Model with its developed
systems of social protection, must underpin the
transformation of the knowledge economy
9Examining the ESM in the specific area of working
environment
- social dialogue, labour relations, employee
rights to participation in CEE - health and safety of employees in the workplace
- corporate social responsibility, that is, the
behaviour of companies in the area of social
questions of employee welfare and wider societal
impacts of business
103. A common core of values?
- At the Nice summit (December 2000) of EC heads
of state the common core of values of the ESM
was identified- - the European Social model, (is) characterised
in particular by systems that offer a high level
of social protection, by the importance of social
dialogue and by services of general interest
covering activities vital for social cohesion, is
today based, beyond the diversity of the member
states social systems, on a common core of
values -
11- What are these common European values?
- Make a list..
12- Democracy (not totalitarianism)
- Individual rights (as against purely collective
rights) - Free collective bargaining (free trade unions
not dominated by the State or Party) - Equality of opportunity (Gender and race
discrimination avoided) - Social welfare and solidarity (social support
for the needy and poor, and inclusion) - In summary, a social dimension is necessary for
economic and social cohesion and therefore also
for political stability and economic performance.
134. Other elements of the ESM
- Key assumptions
- ESM is embedded in a market economy
- The notion of quality the assumption that
competitive advantage and performance can be
boosted by quality in working conditions and
social policy in general. - A role left to public authorities to manage and
moderate the impacts of the free market on the
weaker and more vulnerable sections of society - Specific concern to reduce social inequalities
14Strength of ESM
- Positive attempt through a common set of
standards and values to prevent social dumping
or free riding attempt to attract foreign
investment by offering lower levels of protection
to citizens and workers eg on safety and health
at work.
15- At Community level, use of Structural Funds to
reduce inequalities between regions - Social protection programmes European
Employment Strategy to promote labour market
developments eg training, human resource
development, long term unemployed - Promotion of workers and citizens rights
through various forms of social charters
(non-binding declarations) spreading theses
values throughout the Community
16Weakness of the ESM
- -ve complex and ill-understood policy model which
lacks transparency and relevance - -ve subsidiarity is often used by member states
to block new Community policies and instruments
and resist binding social regulations
175. Key Treaty Maastricht Treaty 1992 (Treaty of
the European Union)
- Maastricht Treaty 1992 (Treaty of the European
Union) (Signed by 11 member states with UK
opt-out) - Social Protocol a new legislative framework -
annexed to Maastricht Treaty progressed social
policy in three areas - i. extension of the competences of the Community
on social issues - ii. introduction of qualified majority voting
(QMV) in new areas (such as health and safety at
work, working conditions, information and
consultation, equal opportunities - iii. recognition and extension of the social
partners role and rights.
18Maastricht Treaty
- Overall effect allowed European institutions to
take the initiative on social issues that were
formerly the prerogative of individual states
resulting in significant advances in safety and
health at work legislation through a Framework
Directive and daughter directives and in social
dialogue discussions at Eruopean level.
196. Amsterdam Treaty
- Amsterdam Treaty 1997 (coming into force in 1999)
calls for a more Social Europe addressing
concerns about unemployment and social exclusion.
Incorporation of the Maastricht Social Protocol
into the Amsterdam Treaty(Art 138) - The Social Protocol is a political instrument
that contains moral obligations to guarantee the
respect of certain social rights -related to
labour market, vocational training, equal
opportunities and the working environment. On
social protection and worker participation
decisions still need to be unanimous.
207. The Lisbon Agenda
- The meeting of European heads of state at Lisbon
in 2000 produced a new agenda. - An attempt to reconcile the contradictory
objectives of promoting greater economic
competitiveness in Europe, with preservation of
previous forms of social protection. - To create the most competitive dynamic
knowledge-based economy in the world
21- Three elements stressed at Lisbon Council-
- the interaction between economic, social and
employment policies - the role of new instruments of European
policy-making (the Open Method of co-ordination) - European Social Agenda assessed annually by the
Commission
228. The ESM under attack the neo-liberal
offensive
- The ESM founded on social democratic values (a
social welfarist Europe a balance of market and
social priorities) - Attack from within
- - powerful individual member states such as UK,
Italy and Germany hostile to ESM, especially
during the 1980s and 1990s, but still today (the
Third Way of Tony Blair, Germany Hartz IV
reforms). - - UNICE the European Employers Federation
afraid of too much regulation as a burden on
business
23ESM under attack
- Major international financial institutions (IMF,
World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development) argue that European competitiveness
depends on being able to compete in the global
market place ie with cheaper sourced products
from SE Asia, China etc
24The nature of the attack on the ESM-
- - New forces of globalisation make the ESM an
outdated concept of the 1960s and the 1970s - - Social welfarist approaches stifle individual
initiative and free market enterprise (the nanny
state) - - Social protection measure introduce harmful
rigidities into the labour market which
undermine necessary flexibility and
competitiveness (eg minimum wages, too high
unemployment benefit levels, unwillingness to
accept lower pay and benefits eg reduced state
pension rights and increased working age).
259. Discussion on the ESM - A realistic agenda for
the enlarged Europe?
- Can the ESM be transposed into the CEE new member
states? - What might be the internal political, economic,
administrative, social barriers to transposing
the ESM? - What might be the external political, economic,
administrative, social barriers barriers to
transposing the ESM? - Do we need a European Social Model?