ANALYZING INTENSITY LEVELS OF CIVIL PARTICIPATION THE CASE OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILS IN EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

Transcription

1 ANALYZING INTENSITY LEVELS OF CIVIL PARTICIPATION THE CASE OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCILS IN EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES Silke A. Eisenbeiss & Jacinto de Vera United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Division of Public Administration and Development Management Socio-Economic Governance Management Branch 1

2 Table of contents 0 Executive Summary Introduction Theoretical analysis: The role of ESC as tool of civic participation within the EU Definition of civic participation and social dialogue Background information: Becoming a member of the EU Outline of the EU foundation process History of EU accession criteria EU requirements in regard to civic participation and social dialogue ESCs as institutional form of civic participation Historical development of ESCs Criteria for distinguishing between ESC types Research questions concerning the role of ESCs in Eastern European Countries Empirical analysis: Case studies of ESCs in Eastern European Countries Methods The European model of tripartite participation: the EESC Legislation Internal organization Composition and civil society involvement Scope of issues Engagement process in policy making Public dissemination Conclusions The ESC of the Czech Republic Socio-political and economic background Legislation Internal organization Composition and civil society involvement Scope of issues Engagement process in policy making Key contributions Public dissemination Conclusions The ESC of Hungary Socio-political and economic background Legislation Internal organization Composition and civil society involvement Scope of issues and engagement process in policy making Key contributions Public dissemination Conclusions The ESC of Bulgaria Socio-political and economic background

3 4.5.2 Legislation Internal organization Composition and civil society involvement Scope of issues and engagement process in policy-making Key contributions Public dissemination Conclusion The ESC of Romania Socio-political and economic background Legislation Internal organization Composition and civil society involvement Scope of issues Engagement process in policy making Key contributions Public dissemination Conclusion Synopsis and conclusions Summary of findings ESC matrix for intensity levels of civic participation ESC models and intensity levels of civic participation The historical background of ESC establishment and the ESC intensity level of civic participation Country s intensity level of civic participation and its HDI, its GINI index and its Control of Corruption index Outlook

4 0 Executive Summary As early as 1990s, various major United Nations summits, resolutions and international declarations have intensely reaffirmed the importance of participatory governance for achieving development targets such as the Millennium Development Goals. Economic and social councils are wellknown institutions facilitating the participation of civil society in governmental policy making. The present paper analyzes the intensity levels of civic participation in selected European Countries. In particular, it addresses the question if the historical origins of ESC establishment in the Eastern European region influenced the profile of ESC membership, processes, and scope of issues addressed. As ESCs tend to be established in the course of drastic political and economic change, there seem to be primarily two political and economic events that took place in Eastern European countries in the recent past and might have required to establish an ESC: firstly the transition from communism and centrally planned economy to democracy and market economy and secondly the EU accession process. In order to find preliminary answers to our research questions, we provide detailed case studies of ESCs in four selected Eastern European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania), by outlining the ESC legislation, internal organization, composition and civil society involvement, scope of issues, key contributions, and the public dissemination of the ESC opinions. In addition, we also describe the European Economic and Social Council (EESC) in detail because it represents the European prototype model of an ESC. Our results indicate that ESCs that seem to have been set up for facilitating their respective country s transition to market economy in the 1990s that is, the Czech ESC, the Hungarian OET and the Romanian ESC rather refer to a corporate model of tripartite participation. This corporate model of tripartite participation is mainly characterized by including government representatives as members, by taking into account only employer and employer organizations as civil society groups and by focusing on labor issues. In contrast, ESCs recently established against the background of EU integration such as the Hungarian ESC and the Bulgarian ESC have been conceived by following the EESC model of civic participation. Thus, both the Hungarian and the Bulgarian ESC include various groups of civil society, deal with a broad range of economic and social issues, have an extensive advisory function and ultimately fulfill all the EU requirements concerning civic participation and social dialogue. 4

5 1 Introduction The importance of multi-stakeholder participation in policy making is hardly a matter of debate these days, the World Sector Report 2007 (UN-DESA, 2008a, p. 62) stated. The 2005 World Summit Outcome has indicated that good governance practices such as participatory governance and civil participation 1 play an essential role for sustainable development and the eradication of poverty and hunger and thus supports the successful accomplishment of internationally agreed development targets like the Millennium Development Goals 2 (UN General Assembly, 2005). In its resolution E/2007/38, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (2007) pointed out that the implementation of the United Nations development agenda can be greatly facilitated by participatory governance mechanisms because these mechanisms help ensure efficiency and economic growth on the one hand and social justice on the other. UN-DPADM (2007) also highlighted the critical role of civic involvement in policy planning, budgeting, implementation and accountability of socioeconomic development policies and programs for achieving the goals of the Millennium Declaration. Thus, involving various civic society groups into governmental policy-making seems to be no longer only an ideological suggestion but to become a strategic necessity. Given the great importance of participatory governance, by what tools can governments promote the active engagement of civil society groups in policy decision making? Economic and social councils (ESCs) represent a well-known institutional form for providing civic participation and social dialogue as they legitimately allow for the active engagement of civil society groups in governmental policy making. For the purpose of this paper, we refer to ESCs as consultative bodies operating at the national level, authorized by governments and reporting to higher authorities such as the respective presidencies or the respective parliaments. The main goals of ESCs include 1 Apart from being participatory, good governance is proposed to be also consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and in accord with the rule of law (UN-ESCAP, 2008). 2 The Millennium Development Goals are eradicating poverty and hunger, ensuring universal primary education, promoting gender equality and empowering women, combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and achieving environmental stability. 5

6 encouraging social dialogue, balancing contradictory interests between different groups of social-society, advising the government on social and macro-economic policy formulation, following-up policy implementation, improving social justice and equity and promoting the principles of human development (UN-DESA, 2008a). ESCs may largely vary in regard to their legislative basis, their membership structure, the scope of issues they address and their process of engagement in policy making. Concerning their composition, existing ESCs range from bipartite to tripartite structures covering the government, employers and employees organizations and sometimes also include further parts of civil society such as social groups, NGOs, academia and learning institutions and professional associations. ESCs may primarily focus on labor issues or deal with a wide scope of economic and social issues such as national development (e.g., in the Netherlands) or environmental issues (e.g., in Denmark). Whereas some ESCs draw up opinions and analyses only at governmental request, others are also allowed to draft opinions on their own initiative and thus fully tap their potential as advisory bodies. In general, ESCs in Central and Northern European Countries such as Austria, Belgium or Denmark tend to play a major role for national policy (see Trebilcock et al. 1994). But what about civic participation and ESCs in Eastern Europe? Surprisingly, there has been hardly any effort to dealing with this issue although the Eastern European region is an especially interesting case for examining civic participation and the role ESCs may play in governmental policy making. This is mainly due to the following two facts: Firstly, since the downfall of communism, Eastern European countries have faced drastic political and economic challenges such as the transformation into democracy and the transition to market economy. In the course of this political and economic turmoil, several Eastern European countries have decided to set up ESCs in order to give voice to the needs and interests of civil society groups, to settle differences between the government and its social partners and/or to advise the government on socio-economic issues (Qerimi, 2002). Secondly, the acquis communautaire the EU legal framework sets out that EU member countries allow for 6

7 civic participation and social dialogue. Hence, the Eastern European countries applying for EU entry had to demonstrate that they fulfill the EU requirements regarding civic participation and had to set up respective tools and institutions (e.g., ESCs). The present paper sheds light on ESCs in selected Eastern European countries namely, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. Examining the historical background against which those countries decided to establish an ESC might be related to the composition of the respective ESC, its functioning and its ultimate impact on national policy. In particular, the following questions arise: Does the emergence of ESCs in Eastern Europe countries mainly base on their initiative to adapt the acquis communautaire or were those ESCs established in order to master the economic and political crisis in the course of the downfall of communism? Do the historical origins of ESC establishment have an influence on its composition, membership structure, the range of addressed issues, its rights, functions and the public dissemination of its opinions? 7

8 2 Theoretical analysis: The role of ESC as tool of civic participation within the EU 2.1 Definition of civic participation and social dialogue Civic participation is one of the eight characteristics of good governance (UN- ESCAP, 2008) and, for the purpose of this paper, can be defined as the involvement of civil society in government activities such as policy formulation, implementation, monitoring and accountability (UN-ECOSOC, 2007). Participation of civil society can take various forms. It can be either direct or indirect through legitimate institutions or representatives 3 and requires both freedom of association and expression and an organized civil society (UN-ESCAP, 2008). Further, civic participation may be informal and ad hoc or formal and institutionalized. As this paper focuses on the issue of economic and social councils, we deal with the indirect, formal and institutionalized form of civic participation. Civil society can be defined as covering everything but the state (EESC, 2003, p. 7) and usually includes employer organizations, trade unions and other groups which represent various interests and are actively involved in areas of economic and social issues (Piehl, 2005). In its white paper on European Governance published in 2001, the EU describes the different groups that constitute civil society in detail: trade unions and employers organizations ( social partners ), nongovernmental organizations, professional associations, charities, grass-roots organizations, organizations that involve citizens in local and municipal life with a particular contribution from churches and religious communities. According to the definition of civil society provided by the UN Committee of Experts on Public Administration (2006), civil society comprises nongovernmental organizations, professional and private sector associations, trade unions, families, churches, neighborhood groups, social groups and work groups. Comparing those two definitions with each other, they mainly overlap. Because the latter definition 3 Please note that representative democracy does not necessarily imply that the concerns of minorities or vulnerable parts of society would be considered in political decision making. 8

9 particularly specifies the different civil society groups, the present paper bases on this definition. Closely related to civic participation are the concepts of social dialogue and civil dialogue. The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines social dialogue as comprising all forms of negotiations, consultations or information exchange processes between, or among, governments, employers and employees representatives on economic and social issues of common interest. Thus, social dialogue only takes into account the government and its social partners (ILO, 2007). By contrast, civil dialogue seems to be a broader concept which is more vaguely defined. It represents the broad range of society, also including NGOs, social groups, professional associations, charities, families, churches, neighborhood groups, and very specific associations such as consumer protections. Civil dialogue rather takes place in non-hierarchical platforms (EESC, 2003). Ultimately, social dialogue and civil dialogue act as main means by which the civil society plays a vital role in the government. Civic participation and social and civil dialogue are of value for both intrinsic and instrumental reasons. Giving voice to citizens in political decision making is a fundamental human right and an objective of value itself. Additionally, participation is of instrumental value because the engagement of citizens may lead to public policies better matching reality, more responsive services, and higher transparency and accountability in the distribution and spending of public resources (Osmani, 2007). 9

10 2.2 Background information: Becoming a member of the EU Outline of the EU foundation process Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands founded the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1957 by signing the Treaty of Rome 4. The EU enlargement process took place in several steps: Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom joined in 1973, Greece in 1981, Spain and Portugal in 1986, and Austria, Finland and Sweden in In 2004 the EU integrated new members from South-East Europe namely Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. In 2007, this eastward enlargement was supplemented by Romania s and Bulgaria s accession to the EU. As set out by the Luxembourg European Council in 1997, EU wannabe member countries come under detailed scrutiny and have to run through first the pre-accession process and afterwards the accession negotiations. Even if the EU pre-accession strategy may vary depending on the status assessment of the candidate country, it typically embraces privileged trade access, association agreements, accession partnership and the national program for the adoption of the acquis communautaire. The acquis is the entire body of European laws and comprises all rights and obligations of the EU system and its institutions 5. Within the accession partnership, the EU points out the short- and mediumterm priorities which are to be implemented by the respective country. As a response to that, the candidate countries have to draft their national programs in which they specify appropriate institutional and legal measures and also have to engage in adopting the acquis communautaire. After having met all the criteria outlined in the pre-accession strategy, the EU opens accession negotiations with the respective country. Accession 4 The Treaty on European Union, which was signed in Maastricht in 1992, changed the name of the European Economic Community to the European Community. By adding new forms of inter-governmental co-operation between the member state governments, the Maastricht Treaty created of new structure of the European system which is both political and economic the European Union. 5 The acquis communautaire is the body of EU law. It is constantly evolving and includes all the EU's treaties and laws, declarations and resolutions, international agreements and the judgments given by the Court of Justice. In addition, it also comprises action that EU governments take together in the area of Justice and Home Affairs and on the Common Foreign and Security Policy. 10

11 negotiations are held by opening and closing the different chapters of the acquis communautaire. If negotiations are successfully finished, an accession treaty will be drafted and submitted to the Council and the European Parliament. The approved accession treaty has to be ratified by EU member states and candidate countries in order to close up the EU membership application. After ratification, the respective country gets entry as a full EU member (Liargovas, 1999; Grabbe, 2003) History of EU accession criteria At the Copenhagen European Council in 1993, the EU first set out accession criteria, specifically addressing post-communist countries. Those criteria for EU entry included firstly stability of institutions that guarantees democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities, and secondly the existence of a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Thirdly, the candidates were supposed to be able to take on the obligations of membership including commitment and adherence the political and economic aims of the EU (European Commission, 2008a). This latter condition particularly relates to the country s implementation of the acquis communautaire by making it part of the national legislation. After 1993, the accession criteria described above got consistently revised. Given that the EU widened its own political agenda and developed new responsibilities (e.g., the Schengen area of passport-free traveling), the criteria for membership got more comprehensive and demanding and new ones were added. In 1995, the Madrid European Council further highlighted the importance of candidate countries appropriate administrative and judicial structures which help effectively transpose the acquis coomunautaire into national legislation. The EU also set requirements for individual countries such as the closing down of nuclear power plants in Bulgaria. However, the EU did not specify a checklist of clear targets for accession neither pointed out means to achieve those targets. Thus, it seems to be difficult to determine 11

12 when those conditions have been completely met by an applying country. Leaving the conditions and requirements sort of vague and unspecific allows the EU room for interpretation and discretion in evaluating applicants accession progress (Grabbe, 2003). Regarding the timing of EU accession, the Copenhagen European Council (1993) pointed out that accession takes place as soon as an associated country is able to assume the obligations of membership by satisfying the economic and political conditions required. Ultimately, a country is allowed to join the EU when member-states reach consensus that the candidate will behave as a good-citizen within the EU. The applicant is supposed to prove the establishment of structures and institutions for policy-making, public administration and jurisdiction that look familiar to EU member-states in order to get accepted as full EU member (Grabbe, 2003). 2.3 EU requirements in regard to civic participation and social dialogue Allowing for civic participation and social dialogue is part and parcel of the acquis communautaire. Civic participation has played an important role within the European treaties from the early beginning of EU foundation as the European social dialogue is a unique element of the European social model. European social dialogue can be bipartite between the European employers and trade union organizations or tripartite involving interaction between the social partners and the public authorities. It complements the national social dialogue arrangements which are supposed to exist in member states (EU, 2008a). European social dialogue has been first codified in the EC Treaty in 1985 (articles 138 and 139) and since then has received increasing recognition in the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaty and in the conclusions to a number of key European Council meetings, notably those in Laeken and Barcelona (EESC, 2003). Further, in 2001, the European Commission launched its White Paper on European Governance. This paper stresses the necessity for the EU to reform itself and to increasingly rely on participatory government procedures in order to reinforce democracy in Europe and bring the Union 12

13 closer to European citizens (European Commission, 2001). In addition, the recently signed Treaty of Lisbon which will enter into force in 2009 highlights the importance of civil participation for coping with the challenges of the 21 st century such as climate change, globalization, demographic shift, security and sustainable development (EU, 2008b). Whereas civic participation and social dialogue are firmly anchored within the European body of legislation, clear and binding EU statements on civil dialogue have been missing so far. As outlined above, the acquis communautaire does not include precise directives concerning the institutions and procedures to be used by candidate countries for achieving the specified targets of civil participation and social dialogue. Hence, in principal, the applying countries seem to have free choice of means. Still, they probably seek inspiration by looking at the practices which have been established in EU member states and the European level because this might be a promising strategy for getting a favorable evaluation from the EU Commission. Against this background, establishing an ESC might be considered by candidate countries as a clever move because ESCs provide an institutional form of tripartite civic participation and social dialogue and exist both in most of the early EU member states (see Table 1) and at the European level itself in the form the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). 13

14 Table 1: ESCs or similar institutions in EU member countries (Trebilcock et al., 1994; UN- PAN, 2008) Date of EU Date of ESC Country accession establishment Name of ESC 1957 Belgium 1948 Central Economic Council Germany 1969 Governing Council and Executive Committee of the Federal Labour Authority France 1925 Economic and Social Council Italy 1957 National Economic and Labour Council Luxembourg 1966 Economic and Social Council The Netherlands 1950 Economic and Social Council 1973 Denmark 1962 Economic Council 2007 Environmental Economic Council Ireland 1973 National Economic and Social Council United Kingdom 1974 Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service 1981 Greece 1994 Economic and Social Council 1986 Spain 1978 Economic and Social Council Portugal 1991 Economic and Social Council 1995 Austria 1963 Advisory Council of Economic and Social Affairs Finland 1966 Economic Council 2004 Czech Republic 1990 Council for Economic and Social Agreement Estonia 1999 Economic and Social Council Lithuania 1995 Tripartite Council Hungary 2004 Economic and Social Council Malta 2001 Malta Council for Economic and Social Development Poland 1994 Tripartite Commission for Social and Economic Affairs Slovakia 2006 Advisory Economic and Social Council Slovenia 1994 Economic and Social Council 2007 Bulgaria 2001 Economic and Social Council Romania 1997 Economic and Social Council 2.4 ESCs as institutional form of civic participation Historical development of ESCs The history of tripartite cooperation in the form of ESCs traces back to as early as 1848 when France established an bipartite labour advisory body in order to resolve disputes between workers and the government. Inflationary pressures after the First World War and the economic depression of the 1930s led several European and Latin American countries to establish bipartite and tripartite cooperation. The aftermath of the Second World War triggered both drastic political change such as a far-reaching reallocation of power and a wave of decolonization and an intense economic crisis. Many countries in Europe and elsewhere (e.g. India) used the establishment of ESCs as a 14

15 tool for coping with those postwar challenges. As both the employers and the employees were organized parts of civil society and had vested interest in rebuilding the respective national economy, they seemed to be appropriate partners for the government to restructure and rejuvenate the tattered economies (Bond et al., 2007). Subsequent developments such as the oil-shock in 1973, increasing reliance on neo-liberal views and the increase of long-term unemployment additionally reinforced national governments in several countries to restructure their economies. As a result, some developing and developed countries decided to set up ESCs in order to involve civil society in finding new economic orientations. Apart from that, ESCs have also been established to facilitate the democratization process of political institutions and to support the transition from centrally planned to more market-oriented economies. In the recent past, bodies of tripartite cooperation were increasingly emerging in some countries which formerly belonged to the Soviet Union (e.g., Moldova and Russia) as well as in Eastern European countries (Trebilcock et al., 1994) in particular, in those that were applying for EU accession. The historical outline given above may indicate that there are different factors which lead to the emergence of ESCs. First, economic crises such as ongoing inflation appear to promote the establishment of ESCs. Second, ESCs seem to be a promising instrument to cope with large political change. Third, for the case of Eastern Europe, it would also be possible that those countries might have decided to set up ESCs primarily in order to demonstrate compliance with EU accession requirements and thus to increase their chances to get the EU membership. Table 2 illustrates the historical development of ESCs for the four Eastern European countries which will be analyzed in this paper and also provides further historical background data about the countries EU accession and other important political and economic events. 15

16 Table 2: Historical development of ESCs in selected Eastern European Countries (see European Commission, 2008b, World Bank, 2008) Country ESC Amendment EU EU Other historical established of accession accession economic and political Czech Republic legislation Hungary OÉT ESC Bulgaria and 2003 Romania and 2003 partnership events : Velvet Revolution and fall of communism 1997: Political and financial crises : Fall of communism : Drastic reforms to shift to market economy : Fall of communism 1996/97: Economic collapse/ inflation crisis : Fall of communism Criteria for distinguishing between ESC types The following seven criteria help to distinguish between the various expressions of ESCs and will thus provide the background for the country-specific analyses of ESCs in Eastern Europe: the legislation of the ESC, its composition and the involvement of civil society (UN-EScWA, 2007), its scope of addressed issues, its functions (Trebilcock et al., 1994), its key contributions and the public dissemination of its issued opinions. The first criterion, the legislation of the ESC, relates to the form of legislation which underlies the ESC, the year of ESC establishment and the reasons for establishment which may be drawn from analyzing the historical events at that time. The internal organization of the ESC is the second distinguishing criterion and provides information about the different bodies of the ESC, their working procedures, their areas of expertise, their meeting frequency and the existence of administrative structures such as a secretariat-general. 6 Amendment of legislation indicates the dates when there were changes made to the original legislation. 16

17 The third criterion, ESC s composition and civil society involvement, covers the membership structure and the size of the respective ESC and examines the underlying definition of civil society. ESC composition may indicate if the respective ESC allows not only for social dialogue but also for civil dialogue by involving diverse parts of civil society. The scope of issues represents the fourth criterion and relates to the range of substantive policy areas the respective ESC primarily deals with. The scope of issues can range from a focus on labour topics to a broad portfolio of economic and social policy matters such as national development plans, environmental topics, demographic shift, poverty reduction etc. The engagement process of the ESC in policy making serves as the fifth distinguishing criterion and relates to the variety of rights and functions the ESC have. ESC s functions may include consultations on policy formulation, decision-making on policy, the administration of established policy, the supervision of its implementation and/or the negotiation of accords or agreements. ESCs may be conceded to exert only one of those functions up to all of them. Further, ESCs may draw up opinions and analyses at the request of the government or the parliament or also on its own initiative. The sixth criterion is about the key contributions provided by the ESC in the recent past. This criterion specifically relates to ESC s accomplishments and if there is information available the implementation rate of its drafted opinions and thus aims at illustrating the impact and effectiveness of the respective ESC. The public dissemination of the opinions and analyses drafted and adopted by the ESC represents the seventh distinguishing criterion and describes how well the civil society is informed about the work of the ESC. ESC standpoints may get published, for instance, in monthly newsletters, annual reports or press conferences held after the plenary session meetings. 17

18 3 Research questions concerning the role of ESCs in Eastern European Countries Basing on our theoretical analysis, one may distinguish two main historical events which the selected Eastern European countries have faced in the recent past and that might have required establishing an ESC: the downfall of communism and the EU accession. While the first case implies the respective country s need to cope with political and economic turmoil, to promote the transition to democracy and market economy and to settle differences between the government and its social partners, the second one rather refers to the country s initiative to extend civic participation and social dialogue in the course of EU accession and integration. Whereas, in the first case, an ESC appears to emerge because of the country s perceived internal necessity to engage in social dialogue, in the second case the establishment of an ESC seems to be rather externally driven by the EU accession criteria. Thus, one might argue that, in the first case, the ESC is supposed to have a more critical and grave stake in the country s future developments. Accordingly, one might expect that ESCs that have been established for mastering the country s transformation into democracy and market economy may allow for higher intensity levels of civic participation than ESCs rather set up for showing fulfillment of EU accession criteria. In sum, the following research questions arise: Was the emergence of ESCs in Eastern Europe countries mainly based on their initiative to adapt the acquis communautaire or were those ESCs established in order to address the economic and political crisis associated with/ resulting from the downfall of communism? Did the historical origins of the ESC establishment influence the profile of ESC membership, processes, and scope of issues addressed? In order to derive preliminary answers to those questions, we profoundly analyze the ESCs of four Eastern European countries that obtained full EU membership recently: That is, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. As comparison baseline we additionally provide a detailed description of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) which may be regarded as the prototype of civic participation in 18

19 Europe. All these case studies will be structured following the distinguishing criteria for ESCs outlined above in order to facilitate a systematic comparison of the different ESCs. 4 Empirical analysis: Case studies of ESCs in Eastern European Countries 4.1 Methods For gathering the data for the case studies of the ESCs in the selected Eastern European countries, we first of all relied on the UN-DESA Database on Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (2008b) which has been created in the context of the UN-DPADM Programme on Social and Economic Councils. For gathering additional information, we used the following five procedures: Firstly, we used the country s response to the UN-DESA survey on Economic and Social Councils which was conducted in Secondly, in case there was one, we drew our information from the website of the ESC. Thirdly, we analyzed the respective legislation or constitution underlying the ESC, particularly, in order to get information about its internal structure, the membership composition, the scope of issues and the engagement process of the ESC in policy making. Fourthly, particularly for giving an introduction into the political and socioeconomic background of the respective country, we did an internet research, using the country-specific information provided by the European Commission (2008b) and the World Bank (2008). Fifthly, when there was still information missing in regard to our seven distinguishing criteria or if there have been additional questions coming up in the course of our data analysis, we got in touch with the respective ESCs itself via and asked them for providing us with the specific information we were interested in. 4.2 The European model of tripartite participation: the EESC Legislation The EESC was established by the 1957 Rome Treaties in order to involve organized civil society in European policy decision making and to provide an institutional 19

20 body for briefing and consulting the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament on economic and social issues of European interest. Subsequent treaties such as the Single European Act (1986), the Maastricht Treaty (1992), the Amsterdam Treaty (1997) and the Treaty of Nice (2000) even reinforced the position of the EESC Internal organization The EESC comprises the following bodies: firstly a bureau including a president and two vice-presidents, secondly six different sections, thirdly study groups, fourthly sub-committees, fifthly the plenary session, and sixthly a secretariat-general. The bureau consists of 37 members, the president and the vice presidents who all are elected by the EESC every two years. It is in charge of organizing and coordinating the different bodies of the EESC and of drafting the key policy guidelines for their respective work. The main task of the president includes leading and managing the Committee s business as well as representing the EESC to the public. The following 7 sections form the EESC: agriculture, rural development and the environment; economic and monetary union and economic and social cohesion; employment, social affairs and citizenship; external relations; the single market, production and consumption; transport, energy, infrastructure and the information society and industrial change. Study groups are responsible for drafting the section opinions. They normally consist of 12 members and may be supported by experts. In addition, the EESC can decide to establish short-term subcommittees to tackle specific issues. Plenary sessions of the full Committee take place nine times a year and provide the platform where sections opinions are presented and adopted by a simple majority. Afterwards, the adopted opinions are submitted to the respective institutions and get published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The Committee is serviced by a secretariat-general which comprises 135 employees and is led by a secretary-general. 20

21 4.2.3 Composition and civil society involvement The plenary session of the EESC comprises in total 344 members and represents a tripartite model of civic participation covering the following three groups: employers, employees and one group representing various interests of organized civic society. EESC members are nominated by the respective national governments and appointed by the Council of the European Union for a renewable 4-year term of office. The employer group consists of 112 members who represent the 27 EU member states and come from private and public sectors of industry, small businesses, chambers of commerce, wholesale and real trade, banking and insurance, transport and agriculture. The employee group includes 120 members who are drawn from the EU member states and embody nearly 90 national trade unions. The 109 members of the third group represent diverse organizations and associations from the environmental field, the crafts sector, the professions, farmer organizations, consumer organizations, cooperatives, small and medium-sized businesses, associations representing the family and persons with disabilities, the scientific and academic community, and non-governmental organizations Scope of issues The EESC addresses a broad range of issues that primarily form part of the following fields of policy: agriculture, rural development and environmental issues; economic and monetary union and economic and social cohesion; employment, social affairs and citizenship; external relations; the single market, production and consumption; transport, energy, infrastructure and the information society; and industrial change. The EESC set up special committees to deal with those policy areas Engagement process in policy making The EESC acts as a bridge between the EU and its citizens, promoting a more participatory and therefore more democratic society in Europe. The role of the EESC is twofold as it is both an advisory body for of the EU Commission, the Council and the 21

22 Parliament and an information and integration medium for EU matters. First and foremost, the EESC is a platform for organized civil society to exchange their view points, to draw up opinions on matters of EU interest and thus to participate in EU policy making. In certain cases, the Commission, the Council and the Parliament are obliged to consult the EESC (e.g., when it comes to regional and environment policy), whereas in other cases the consultation of the EESC is optional. However, the EESC may not only issue opinions at request but also on its own initiative. On average, the EESC drafts 170 consultative papers and opinions per year. Additionally, in the recent past, the EESC has exceeded its role as consultative body for EU institutions by acting as a forum for the single market and arranging several initiatives for sharpening the EU profile and bringing it closer to the EU citizens. Further, it boosts the role of participatory government in non-eu countries and assists them with the establishment of advisory structures Public dissemination The EESC regularly publishes a leaflet about its opinions, a monthly newsletter and a monthly Bulletin summarizing all opinions adopted by the Committee and an annual activity report Conclusions The role of the EESC in the European decision making process is firmly anchored within the European legislation. The EESC bases on a broad and comprehensive definition of civil society as it includes not only employers and employees but also various other parts of civil society and give them voice in the policy decision making processes of the EU. Thus, the EESC takes into account social, occupational, economic and cultural organizations and exceeds the traditional form of social dialogue which usually relates to discussions between employers, employees and the government. The government, however, does not form part of the EESC. Further, the EESC addresses a broad range of political issues. In regard to its functions, the EESC seems to be involved 22

23 rather in policy formulation and decision-making than in policy implementation. The consulting process is relatively independent from the government as the EESC draws opinions not only at request but also on its own initiative. In addition, European citizens get well and regularly informed about the work of the EESC. Given the EESC s comprehensive definition of civil society, the extensive range of issues addressed and its engagement process in policy making, it may be regarded as prototype institution of participatory governance and civil participation. 4.3 The ESC of the Czech Republic Socio-political and economic background In November 1989, a spate of public demonstrations forced the Czech communist regime to concede a peaceful and gradual democratization of the political system and ultimately led to its decline. This process is known as the Velvet Revolution. As a result, the Czech Republic transformed into a parliamentary republic, established by the constitution. In 1990, the first general election was held. In the 1990s, several reform programs were launched to support transition from a centrally planned to a market economy. This transformation process included price liberalization, the restitution of most properties to their pre-1948 owners and a wave of privatization of most companies. After the Velvet divorce with Slovakia in 1993, the so called Czech Miracle took place which relates to a rapid privatization process, low unemployment and no hyperinflation. Between 1997 and 1999, the county experienced an intense economic recession which based on a balance of payment crisis and made the government engaging in a variety of corrective measures. Governmental activities included privatization of the bank sector and tightening the legal framework particularly in regard to economic crime and establishing more efficient insolvency procedures. Still, privatization of the steel, petrochemical, energy and telecoms sectors has not been completed yet. 23

24 In December 1996, the Czech government formally applied for EU accession leading to Accession Partnership and the beginning of negotiations in The EU closely monitored the progress the Czech Republic made towards EU membership and published respective reports each year from 1999 until Those reports specified the remaining shortcomings and tasks to be carried out prior to accession in order to completely fulfill the political, economic and legal Copenhagen criteria for accession. In 2003, the EU accepted the Czech Republic as EU member state and thus an Accession Treaty was drafted, signed and ratified. First of May 2004, the Czech Republic joined the EU Legislation The Council of Economic and Social Agreement of the Czech Republic (RHSD CR) was first established and put into operation in 1990 by an agreement signed by the prime minister, the union of employers and the trade unions. In the beginning, the council was named Council for Social Dialogue, reflecting its focus on social matters, and renamed later as economic issues were added to its agenda on the initiative of trade unions and employers in In September 2004, the current statutes of the RHSD CR were adopted which particularly concern changes in the representativeness criteria for employer organizations (Hála & Kroupa, 2005). Up to now, the RHSD CR still bases on the voluntary agreement between the government and the social partners and is not bolstered by legislation or law Internal organization The RHSD CR consists of the following bodies: firstly the plenary session, secondly the presidium, thirdly various working teams and fourthly a secretariat. At the plenary session, opinions and selected draft laws are discussed and economic trends of development are disputed. The main goal of the plenary session is thus allowing for social dialogue and dissolving problems which jeopardize social peace. Usually, the plenary session meets once in two months. While the plenary session thereby represents the negotiating body of the RHSD CR, the presidium is its executive body. The main 24

25 work tasks of the presidium include the discussion of strategic documents and of principal differences between members of the council. Moreover, the presidium appraises the progress of social partnership development, aims at solving situations threatening social peace and informs the respective institutions on results of its negotiations 7. The presidium meets usually once in a moth. The working teams of the RHSD CR act as its permanent expert bodies for dealing with matters of its statutes and with economic and social issues. More precisely, working teams pre-discuss specific topics within their area of expertise, draw up opinions and jointly draft legal regulations. Leaders of the working teams are appointed by the plenary session. The working teams and groups meet and discuss issues as needed. Further, the RHSD CR has its own secretariat for providing support in technical, organizational and administrative matters which is headed by the general secretary. The secretariat prepares the plenary sessions and the draft agenda for the RHSD CR. Additionally, it is responsible for public relation issues such as organizing press conferences and keeping the government and the mass media informed about the activities of the RHSD CR Composition and civil society involvement The plenary session of the RHSD CR comprises in total 22 members and represents a tripartite composition structure, including 8 representatives of the government, 7 representatives of employer organizations and 7 representatives of trade unions. The employer group covers representatives of large, medium and small businesses in industry, building industry, transport, agriculture, trade and services. Prerequisites for employer organizations to be included in the RHSD CR are as follows: The respective organizations must have been established and filed according to Act 83/1990 Coll. on Association of Citizens and must not be engaged in political activities. Further, the respective organizations must have a nation-wide scope of activities and at least organized members. 7 Normally, the presidium informs the plenary session but in urgent cases also informs the respective state, trade unions and employers organizations. 25

26 Similar criteria apply for trade unions representativeness in the RHSD CR: First, the respective organizations must be engaged in trade union activities consisting in promoting economic and social interests of their members. They must have been established and filed according to Act 83/1990 Coll. on Association of Citizens and must not be engaged in political activities. In addition, organizations must operate independently of government and employers; have a confederate structure, a nation-wide scope of activities and more than organized members. UN-DESA survey response (UN-DESA, 2008c) points out that, from RHSD members perspective, the composition of the RHSD CR adequately allows for civil society participation. As RHSD members highlight, representatives from trade unions, employer unions and professional and private sector business associations are also members of churches, social groups, NGOs and various associations and thus sufficiently reflect the diversity of civil society. There exists neither a non-formal nor an ad hoc way for civil society to be engaged or participate in the discussion and proceedings of the RHSD CR Scope of issues The RHSD CR deals with issues of economic and social affairs. More precisely, the RHSD CR focuses on the following areas: economic policy; labor law relations; collective bargaining and employment; social issues; wages and salaries; public services and public administration; labor safety; human resources development; EU integration of the CR. Further, the scope of issues of the RHSD CR is mirrored by the matters and areas of expertise its working groups cover. In particular, the working groups of the RHSD CR deal with the following fields of interest: tripartite and organizing matters; public services and public administration, education and human resources; social issues; work safety; European Union; economic policy; wages, remunerations and related matters; employees 26

27 rights, collective bargaining and employment; taxation and insurance; concept of pension reform; cultural matters; cooperation with ELO; regional development; health care; domestic market protection; issues of the regional industrial restructuring; amendment of the RHSD CR statute and rules of procedure; transport Engagement process in policy making The RHSD CR serves as a platform for social dialogue and aims at maintaining social peace by reaching consensus between the government and its social partners on economic and social issues of common interest. The RHSD CR discusses issues and drafting opinions only at the request of the government but not on its own initiative. The viewpoints and opinions adopted and published by the RHSD CR are not legally binding Key contributions Since its creation in 1990, the RHSD CR has provided the institutionalized platform for social partnership and social peace. As such, it has supported the political transformation process of the Czech Republic and its shift from centrally planned to market economy. From 1991 to 1994, the RHSD CR released several general agreements which were supposed to facilitate the transition to market economy. Further, the RHSD strongly aimed at supporting the EU integration process of the Czech Republic (Hála, & Kroupa, 2005) Public dissemination Results of both the plenary session and the presidium meetings are published by authorized representatives of all three delegations, usually at a press conference immediately after the respective meeting. Even deviant perspectives and opinions stated by any member during the council s meetings get published in the media. 27

28 4.3.9 Conclusions The RHSD CR was established by a voluntary agreement between the government and the social partners briefly after the Velvet Revolution and the fall of communism and has not been regulated by law or legislation yet. It seems that the Czech economic and social council has originally been set up in the course of drastic political and economic change in order to support the transition to parliamentary democracy and market economy. By including only employer organizations and trade unions and neglecting other parts of organized civil society, the composition of the RHSD appears to reflect a quite narrow definition of civil society. In addition, the RHSD CR does not provide any informal ways through which other parts of civil society may get involved or may participate in the council s activities. Thus, one may conclude that the RHSD CR allows for social dialogue rather than for civil dialogue. Further, though the Czech Council started out as advisory body on primarily social issues, it seems to focus on economic and particularly labor-related issues nowadays. Development issues and social themes seem to be of minor importance. However, the RHSD CR also plays a role for supporting the EU integration process. EU integration issues form part of the RHSD s agenda and changes in the statutes of the RHSD CR were adopted in 2004, the year in which the Czech Republic entered the EU. In general, the influence the RHSD CR has on governmental policy making seems to be limited because all the opinions and viewpoints adopted by the council are not legally binding and the RHSD CR is not allowed to draft opinions on its own initiative. The Czech population is kept well posted on the activities and work outcomes of the RHSD CR through regular press conferences. Even deviant viewpoints of RHSD CR members expressed during the plenary sessions are published in the media. In sum, the RHSD CR falls behind the European model of Economic and Social Council as represented by the EESC because it only involves employers and trade unions as parts of civil society, concentrates on dealing with economic and labor issues and has a rather weak justification. 28

29 4.4 The ESC of Hungary Hungary distinguishes itself from other Eastern European Countries as it has two advisory bodies that allow for civic participation in the governmental policy-making process: the first one is the National Council for the Reconciliation of Interests (OÉT), the second one is the Economic and Social Council (ESC). Whereas the OÉT focuses on labor issues such as wage rises and taxes, the ESC was set up in order to deal with the long-term strategic issues of economic and social policy the so-called national strategies of the Hungarian government Socio-political and economic background As in the Czech Republic, massive demonstration of the government opposition took place in 1989 and initiated the downfall of the communist regime in Hungary. Step by step, Hungary transformed itself into a democracy with free and multi-party parliamentary elections which were held for the first time in In the course of turning away from communism and establishing a democratic political system, Hungary also initiated drastic reforms between 1990 and 1994 in order to facilitate the shift to market economy. The process of privatization was largely completed in Since then, Hungary has shown high economic growth rates and low levels of unemployment in comparison to other EU candidate countries. An association agreement between Hungary and the EU was concluded in In particular, this agreement related to trade issues, political dialogue, and improvement of the legal system and aimed at establishing a trade association between Hungary and the EU. Hungary s official application for EU accession followed in and association negotiations were launched in In regular reports, the EU assessed Hungary s progress towards meeting the accession criteria, outlined the remaining failings and deduced respective duties. In 2003, the EU decided that Hungary has reached 8 Hungary was the first country of the Eastern European region that applied for EU membership. 29

30 a satisfactory level of compliance with EU requirements. Thus, an Accession Treaty was drafted and signed in 2003 and Hungary became a full EU member in Legislation Tripartite cooperation at the national level has been existent for the last 20 years in Hungary since the first National Council for the Reconciliation of Interests was established by a voluntary agreement between the government and its social partners in While the main competencies and rights of the OÉT are set out in its statutes, some aspects of its work have been regulated by laws later on, including the Labor Code (Act XXII of 1992), the Act on Promoting Employment (IV of 1991), the Act on Vocational Training (LXXVI of 1993) and the Act on Labor Protection (XCIII of 1993). Over the years, range and scope of the OÉT have been fundamentally varying. The OÉT in its current form was established in July In addition, Hungary recently established another institution for civic participation in the form of an Economic and Social Council. It was the OÉT that initiated the ESC establishment in its July 2002 meeting in the presence of the newly elected social democratic prime minister 9. Subsequently, the ESC was set up in 2004 by a letter of the prime minister inviting the respective parts of organized social society and put into operation in Internal organization The following bodies form part of the OÉT: firstly the plenary session, secondly the specialized forums, thirdly the specialized committees and fourthly the secretariat. The plenary session is the most important body of the OÉT and consists of government representatives, employers and trade unions negotiating economic and social issues. In addition, the OÉT includes permanent specialized forums which are supposed to give their opinions and viewpoints on matters of their expertise area and thus support the work of the plenary sessions. There are two specialized forums: the National ILO Council and 9 Please note that the previous conservative prime minister neglected the OÉT. 30

31 the Sectoral Council. The specialized committees prepare and facilitate the work of the plenary session, in particular by identifying the OÉT members various interests and perspectives which are of relevance for the upcoming working agenda. Apart from that, the OÉT may also build up ad hoc working groups to address issues of immediate importance. The bodies of the ESC are the plenary session, the permanent and ad-hoc committees and the secretariat. The plenary session comprises employer representatives, employee representatives, various interest groups of civil society as well as political scientists. Within the plenary session, drafted analyses, proposals and opinions are discussed and adopted by a simple majority within each of the four groups constituting the plenary session. The main task of the permanent committee is to prepare the work of the plenary sessions by conducting preliminary analyses and preparing stands and reports on the issues of the ESC agenda. If necessary, the plenary session sets up additional adhoc committees. There is also an autonomous secretariat that supports and coordinates the work of the ESC and particularly is responsible for developing and maintaining public and international relations Composition and civil society involvement The OÉT comprises government representatives, 9 representatives from national employer organizations and 6 trade unions representatives. The employer negotiating group includes agriculture, entrepreneur, consumer, public utility and industrial associations, whereas the worker negotiating group is composed of representatives from different independent trade unions and professional confederations. The group of government representatives includes the respective ministries and national authorities that deal with the issues addressed in the OÉT. The ESC is composed of 44 members representing the following parts of civil society: The first group represents the economic sphere and consists of 18 members who come from employer organizations, national economic chambers and economic interest representations. The second group comprises 6 members from different trade unions. The 31

32 third group comprises in total 10 members which represent the civil sphere. They come from association protecting human rights and citizenship rights, the environment and animal rights, representing consumers, minorities, children and youth, standing up for gender equality, promoting education, training, culture, European integration, or developing international relations. In addition, another 11 persons are member of the ESC, representing academia and learning institutions specialized in the field of economic and social policy. All the OÉT members who represent employer and employee organizations also are members of the ESC. However, in contrast to the OÉT, the government is not a member of the ESC. Still, the government is a regular participant of the ESC sessions and its work but without any right to vote. The groups chosen to be represented in the ESC are appointed by the Hungarian government. Further, there are also informal ways for civil society to participate in the discussion and proceedings of the ESC as the working parties are allowed to invite external experts from other civil organizations to give their opinion Scope of issues and engagement process in policy making The OÉT provides the institutional framework for discussing economic and laborrelated issues and aims at reaching consensus between the government and its social partners. By having set up specialized committees, the OÉT particularly focuses on the following topics: wage and collective agreements, economic affairs, equal opportunities, labor market, labor law, labor safety, national development plan, vocational training and social charter. The social partners of the OÉT have three different forms of rights: the right to be informed, the right of opinion, and the right of consent. The right to be informed implies that social partners are consistently being kept informed about all the economic, social and labor related issues that affect their interests. By the right of opinion, social partners are entitled to give their opinion on laws, regulations and administrative actions before the government takes its decision. In some policy areas the social partners have the right of consent and can actively influence governmental decisions by approving or rejecting them. For instance, those areas include the national, statutory minimum wage, the maximum daily working hours and the number of public 32

33 days off, the specific rules and measures on collective redundancies due to economic reasons, the job classification system, the detailed rules of the compulsory reporting on collective agreements, and their registration, the justified derogations from the statutory minimum wage, the specific provisions on employment of people with disabilities, the register of occupations entitling to pre-retirement, any other specific derogations from the general statutory rules on employment. The ESC is supposed to act as an independent forum for consultations regarding the national economic and social policy strategies and for discussions and opinion issuing on governmental strategies. Particularly, the ESC focuses on issues concerning the longterm development of the economy and society and aims at reaching the broadest possible national consensus concerning this matter. The major tasks of the ESC are drafting a regular report on the macro-economic and social problems of common interest as well as discussing and adopting strategies for national economic and social problems, particularly in the fields of economic and social policy, development policy, policy of labor and employment, social insurance and healthcare, strategic issues of European integration and other issues of social policy. The ESC discusses issues put on the agenda by the government, the parliament, or by its own initiative. Usually the ESC meets 4 to 5 times per year Key contributions Unfortunately, there has been no information available about the key contributions of the OÉT. On average, the ESC issues three opinions per year. In the recent past, the ESC was involved in the following policy-making processes: the national long-term development concept, the national strategic reference framework (required by the EU for development support) and its operational programs, the national reform program (about the delivery of the Lisbon Strategy in Hungary), and the national strategy of sustainable development. On its own-initiative, the ESC drafted and adopted an opinion on the 33

34 reform of the health-care system in Hungary and the national strategy combating climate change Public dissemination The plenary of the OÉT as well as the sessions of its specialized committees usually are public. However, if the issue on the agenda is delicate, the OÉT may settle for a closed session. The plenary sessions of the OÉT are recorded and archived by the secretariat. Results of the plenary sessions are published in the official gazette of the government. The plenary sessions of the ESC also are recorded. The secretariat of the ESC is responsible for ensuring continuous flow of information as well as cultivating relationships with the media Conclusions In Hungary, there are two institutions for civic participation in policy decisionmaking processes: the OÉT and the Hungarian ESC. The OÉT has been originally established in 1988 and its underlying legislation has been amended several times in the following years. As the communistic regime fell down in 1989 and resulted in drastic political and economic reforms, the OÉT may have been established for backing up and supporting those reform programs by actively involving parts of the civil society. However, regarding representatives of the civil society, the OÉT only takes employer organizations and trade unions into account and thus draws upon a narrow definition of social society. Further, the OÉT focuses on labor-related issues such as wages, labor law, labor market, and labor safety. Results of the plenary sessions of the OÉT are published in an official government brochure. In sum, the OÉT seems to provide a mechanism for social dialogue but not for civil dialogue and might be regarded as a primarily labororiented and not social council. 34

35 In contrast, the Hungarian ESC has been set up only recently, in 2004, in order to complement the OÉT by providing consultations on long-term strategic issues. In 2004, Hungary also became a member of the EU. However, the Hungarian ESC states that the ESC establishment coincidently happened to take place after Hungary s accession to the EU. Still, Hungary s EU entry facilitated the establishment of the ESC because it helped the social democrats to convince its coalition partner (i.e., the Liberal Party) of the importance and necessity to establish such an institution. When the Hungarian ESC was conceived, the designers followed the EESC model. Thus, unlike the OÉT, the ESC comprises various groups of civil society by including not only employers and employees but also non-governmental organizations, professional and private sector business associations and academia institutions. Additionally, it offers non-formal and ad-hoc ways of civic participation. However, even if the government is not an official member of the ESC, it still attends its meetings and thus may have some influence on ESC activities. In sum, the ESC allows a broader range of civil society to participate in various policy decision-making processes and seems to be an institution for facilitating both social and civil dialogue. The ESC handles a wide scope of issues, ranging from national economics to social problems and also includes development topics and matters of the EU integration in its agenda. The secretariat of the ESC takes charge of Public Relations issues. Unfortunately, there is no precise information available how well and regularly the public is informed about the work outcomes of the ESC. 4.5 The ESC of Bulgaria Socio-political and economic background As in Hungary and in the Czech Republic, mass demonstrations of the public also took place in Bulgaria in 1989 and initiated the Bulgarian transition to democracy. Hence, the following years were marked by political and economic turmoil. The new constitution, which provided for a multi-party parliamentary system and separated the legislative, the executive and the judicial power, was adopted in 1991, leading to free and democratic elections in

36 In 1993, the government began to launch the transformation process into market economy by releasing a huge privatization program. In the winter of 1996/97, however, the country experienced a severe inflation crises and an economic fall down which led to mass protests, government change and further economic reforms. Due to macroeconomic stabilization and successful reform programs in regard to advancing privatization and reducing corruption, Bulgaria has been officially regarded as a functioning market economy since In 1995, the Bulgarian government and Bulgarian parliament jointly made the decision to apply for EU membership. In response, in 1999, the European Council decided to start negotiations with Bulgaria. Thus, accession negotiation on the 31 chapters of the acquis were opened in 2000 and finally closed in 2004, leading the EU to draft and approve an Accession Treaty for Bulgaria. In 2005, this Accession Treaty was signed by both the EU and Bulgaria and subsequently ratified by Bulgaria itself. As a result, Bulgaria received full EU membership status in January Legislation The Bulgarian ESC was established by law in 2001 and set into operation in The original legislation underlying the ESC was amended in December 2002 and March Those latter amendments addressed in particular the ESC membership structure, its activities and their organization as well as the financing of the ESC Internal organization The ESC comprises the following bodies: the plenary session, the board of chairman, standing and temporary commissions, and a chief-secretary. The plenary session which usually meets once per month includes the chairman and members representing employer organizations, trade unions and other civil society organizations. The main work task of the plenary session is adopting opinions on bills, national plans and programs of the council of ministers, on acts of the parliament, on strategic issues of the economic and social policy, as well as adopting annual reports on the economic and 36

37 social development of Bulgeria. Further, the plenary session is in charge of adopting analyses on issues of crucial interest for the civil society. The respective opinions and analyses are adopted by an open vote and by a three quarter majority of present members. The ESC chairman both manages the activity of the council and represents it outwards. In addition, he is allowed to convene plenary on his own initiative or by an initiative of one third of ESC members and chairs the meetings of the plenary session and of the board of chairmen. Further, he is responsible for keeping the public informed about the activities of the ESC. The national assembly elects the chairman, following an arrangement with the civil society groups represented in the council. The board of chairmen advices and assists the chairman with his work tasks. It is responsible for drafting the annual working plan, the regulations of ESC activities, the annual report on ESC activities, the annual budget and the report on its fulfillment as well as presenting those drafts to the plenary session. The standing and temporary commissions are primarily responsible for collecting and editing information on their topics of expertise, drafting documents and opinions and thus preparing the work of the plenary sessions. Thus, these commissions are working groups with specialized knowledge in different policy areas. The duties of the chief secretary mainly relate to administrative and organizational matters Composition and civil society involvement The plenary session of the Bulgarian ESC includes 36 members that are split on three civil society groups in equal shares: 12 representatives of employer organizations, 12 representatives of workers organizations and 12 representatives of various groups of organized civil society. Members of this third group come from agricultural producers organizations, organizations of industrial co-operation, the association of craftsmen, the professional branch organization, consumers organizations, ecological organizations, and from organizations of the women, disabled, retired and socially weak. Further, two independent scientists who are experts on issues of economic and social policy are part of the third group. Hence, the Bulgarian ESC aims at including a wide range of different members of the civic society such as non-governmental organizations, professional and 37

38 private sector business associations, trade unions, employers unions, community organizations as well as social groups, including indigenous groups. The groups represented in the ESC are chosen by law. Additionally, the ESC also provides informal and ad-hoc ways for participation of civil society in the policy formulation and decision making process. For that reason, it usually sets up consultations with members of the civil society that are interested in the topics discussed and/ or affected by them. Parts of civil society either are invited to share their point of view at the meeting of the standing commissions or at the plenary sessions in order to gather more public attention to the strategic economic and social problems discussed and to enrich the discussion and resulting opinion of the ESC. In fact, some of the ESC s opinions have been initiated or modified by the suggestions of civil society organizations Scope of issues and engagement process in policy-making Bulgaria is the first of the Eastern European countries having entered the EU since 2004 that followed the EESC model when designing its ESC. According to legislation, the main goals of the ESC are, among others, involving various parts of civil society in economic and social life and policy making, strengthening the principles of the constitutional democratic and social state, providing an institutionalized platform for social dialogue and consultations between government and the structures of the civil society and responding to legal aspirations of social and economic groups. The Bulgarian ESC works out and adopts statements on draft laws, national programs and plans regarding the country s economic and social development, statements on acts of the National Assembly regarding the economic and social development, statements on strategic problems in the field of economic and social policy, annual memorandums on the economic and social development of the country; analyses of problematic issues of the economic and social policy. 38

39 In particular, the ESC is supposed to deal with the following five policy areas as it has built up specialized standing commissions with expert knowledge in those areas: that is, international affairs and European integration; budget, finance, insurance and social security; social policy; economic policy; labor, incomes, living standard and industrial relations. The ESC is allowed to draw up and adopt opinions either on the request of the Bulgarian president, the speaker of the national assembly and the council of ministers, or on its own initiative, in case it is approached, at least by one third part of its members, by members of the standing commissions at the council, by the chairman or by the board of chairmen. Whereas the functions of the ESC as regulated by law primarily relate to facilitating civic participation and allowing for civil and social dialogue, in its actual work, the ESC has been focusing on issues of European integration so far. Up to now, the ESC still does not have any statutory duties within this field. Since 1 January 2007, the ESC particularly laid stress on the challenges in respect to the implementation of the conditions and requirements for Bulgaria being a full EU member. Although the law underlying the ESC only relates to consultations between the ESC and government institutions, the ESC is also developing consultations with other civil organizations that are not represented in the ESC. In this way, the ESC seeks to add issues that are of vital importance for certain parts of organized society to its agenda Key contributions The ESC has repeatedly expressed its position and has made more than 200 proposals regarding major strategic issues of the country. In the recent past, the Bulgarian ESC has drafted opinions and gave consultations that had a great impact on the Bulgarian economy and society as a whole. For instance, the council adopted an opinion on the Conditions and perspectives of the public-private partnership which is based on an 39

40 elaborative consultation with all the institutions and civil society organizations involved in this issue. The opinion adopted by the ESC also included concrete proposals and means for the government to use in order to further promote and implement publicprivate partnerships. Moreover, the ESC drafted an analysis of the Bulgarian citizens income taxation that provides in-depths comparison of the various systems existent in the EU member countries. Basing on this analysis, the ESC is planning to organize a conference about the new government taxation policy and to evaluate its effectiveness. Further, the ESC organized a public consultation about the status quo and future trends of the Bulgarian pension reform. This consultation was attended by the minister of social policy and all the former social policy ministers of the past 15 years, the minister of finances, government employees that have worked on this issue, members of the ESC and researchers with expert knowledge of this field. The diversity of participants allowed for stimulating an intense debate about the future of the Bulgarian pension system a topic that has been neglected for the past couple of years and is of great importance for Bulgarian citizens Public dissemination There is high public announcement and broad media coverage of the opinions and documents released by the ESC. In 2006 alone, the standpoints and opinions of the ESC were covered in over 350 publications in the printed media and in over 100 news cast and shows on the electronic media Conclusion The Bulgarian ESC has been established by law only recently in As the accession negotiation between Bulgaria and the EU were opened in 2004, it might be the case that the ESC has been set up in order to fulfill the EU accession criteria concerning civic participation and social dialogue. Within its legislation, the ESC clearly followed the model of the EESC in regard to its internal organization, its membership structure, its 40

41 engagement process in policy making and the scope of issues addressed (Republic of Bulgaria, 2008). Consequently, the Bulgarian ESC bases on a broad definition of civil society by including not only employers and workers but also NGOs, academics and organizations representing civic minorities. Moreover, the ESC also provides non-formal and ad-hoc ways for civic participation in order to give full voice to civil society s needs. Thus, one may conclude that the Bulgarian ESC represents a useful instrument not only for social but also for civil dialogue. Further, the council discusses and addresses a wide scope of issues at the plenary sessions because it not only deals with labor themes but also with social and development issues as well as matters of European integration. Apart from that, the ESC may draw up opinions and analyses not only at request of government institutions but also on its own initiative. However, in spite of this broad range of issues tackled, the ESC is still mainly working on EU integration topics. This focus might be regarded as another indicator for the assumption that the Bulgarian ESC has been established in order to comply with EU requirements. The public is highly aware of the activities and work results of the ESC. In sum, given its rights and duties outlined in the legislation and the activities that it is supposed to carry out, the Bulgarian ESC well matches and, on some points, even exceeds the EESC model for civic participation and civic society engagement. However, as the ESC has been concentrating on EU accession and integration topics so far, it has not been tapping its full potential in regard to civic participation in economic, social and development policy at the national level yet. 4.6 The ESC of Romania Socio-political and economic background As in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Bulgaria, massive public protests and demonstrations took place in Romania in 1989 and ultimately led to the end of the Communist regime and initiated the shift to democracy. Accordingly, presidential and parliamentary elections were held in Although former communist party members 41

42 continued to dominate the government until 1996, several reforms towards free market economy were launched in the early 1990s. Since 2006, Romania has been considered a functioning market economy in regard to macroeconomic stability and policy mix. Romania was the first of the Eastern European Countries that established ties with the European Community as early as in In 1991, a trade and co-operation agreement between Romania and the EU was signed, leading to Romania s official application for the EU membership in Accession negotiations started in Three years later, the EU aligned its accession strategy by prioritizing the full establishment of the rule of law in Romania. In order to confirm its commitment to become an EU-member and to accelerate the reform process, the Romanian government drafted a concrete list of actions to be implemented by Thus, the accession negotiations were formally closed in 2004 and the Accession Treaty was signed and ratified in In January 2007, Romania entered the EU as a full member Legislation The Romanian ESC was established as a consultative body of the government and the parliament by organic law in Amendments of the law took place in 2001 and For instance, one major law amendment relates to ESC s membership structure. It is now determined that, within the ESC, the governmental representatives shall be replaced by of other groups of civil society in order to involve a broader range of civil society in policymaking procedures. Specific selection criteria for civil society representatives are about to be set Internal organization Four bodies form part of the Romanian ESC: firstly the plenary session, secondly the bureau including the president and the vice-presidents, thirdly the permanent or temporary sections and fourthly the secretariat. The plenary session has a threefold composition structure which is split up into representatives of the government, employer organizations and trade unions. At the plenary session meeting, opinions and analyses on 42

43 draft government decisions, strategies reform programs and laws are put up for discussion and adopted ideally by consensus or at least by a three quarter majority of members. The plenary session usually meets once per month and in extraordinary sessions whenever needed. Both the issued opinions and any divergent viewpoints are forwarded to the institution which has requested the opinion. The bureau includes the president, two vice-presidents and six other members, two from each social partner. The main tasks of the bureau are managing and organizing the activity of the ESC between the plenary sessions, providing leadership to and coordinating the work of the sections and the secretariat. Usually, the bureau meets weekly. The president is in charge of preparing and chairing the plenary sessions and bureau meetings and of deciding upon the respective working agendas. Further, he takes care of representing the ESC to the outside. The president is appointed by the Romanian parliament. The permanent or temporary sections of the ESC act as expert bodies and are in charge of preparing opinions on draft acts and draft strategies proposed by the government and of providing in-depths analyses and recommendations on issues the ESC itself is interested in. The ESC also has a secretariat which takes care of all the technical and administrative matters that come up and is headed by a secretary general Composition and civil society involvement The plenary session of the ESC includes in total 27 members representing in equal shares the government, employer organizations and trade unions. The civil society groups represented in the ESC are appointed by law or by application. The government may decide on the replacement of a government member by a member representing professional associations, NGOs or other organizations of the civil society. As recent law amendments demand, the process of replacing government representatives is just taking place. There also are non-formal ways for civil society to be engaged in the discussion and proceedings of the ESC by being temporarily employed as experts in the ESC sections and working groups. 43

44 The Romanian ESC seems to be in change currently as it is shifting to a higher level of civic participation, by including various groups of civil society in the policymaking processes Scope of issues The ESC regularly analyses the Romanian economic and social situation and advices the government and the Parliament on the following issues of social and economic interest: restructuring and development of the national economy; privatization, functioning and increase of the competitiveness of the economic operators; labor relations and wage policy; social and health protection; education, research and culture; and monetary, financial, fiscal and income policies. Accordingly, the ESC has set up six permanent sections which focus in their work on those fields of policy Engagement process in policy making The Romanian ESC aims at facilitating social dialogue and reaching consensus between employers, trade unions and the government regarding economic and social policies and at building a climate of stability and social peace. Mainly, the ESC acts as an advisory body for the government and the parliament in regard to economic and social issues. In particular, it draws up and issues opinions on draft government decisions, ordinances and bills, policy programs and strategies and also works on and assists with the implementation of adopted strategies and programs. The ESC drafts opinions and analyses either at the request of the government, of the parliament or on its own initiative. Further, the ESC is in charge of informing the government and the parliament about economic and social incidents that call for new regulations. Apart from its advisory role, the ESC is also supposed to play a mediating role by settling potential differences between and among the government and its social partners. 44

45 4.6.7 Key contributions In the recent past, the Romanian ESC particularly contributed to issuing laws on the public budget and on social insurance as well as development plans, national reforms and strategies Public dissemination The Public Relations and Information office of the ESC regularly organizes the press conferences, draws up and disseminates the ESC Bulletin, brochures on the ESC activities, and the press bulletin Conclusion In 1997, the Romanian ESC was set up by organic law. Amendments of law took place in the beginning of the 2000s and my trace back to government efforts to fulfill EU requirements. In its present tripartite form, the ESC covers only representatives of employer organizations, trade unions and the government. However, the membership structure is about to change by replacing government representatives with other parts of civil society. Hence, the Romanian ESC seems to have acknowledged the need to broaden its definition of civil society and to include further parts of civil society, recently. Besides, it offers non-formal ways for the civil society to get involved in policy making. One may conclude that the ESC is shifting from an institution allowing for social dialogue to one promoting civil dialogue and a high level of civic participation. In regard to the scope of issues addressed and to the engagement process in policy making, the ESC shows a focus on labor and wage issues but still includes cultural and social topics to its agenda. It drafts its opinions and analyses not only at request but also on its own initiative. Though press conferences and regularly published brochures, the Romanian population is well informed about the work of the ESC. In comparison to the EESC, the Romanian ESC seems to fall short regarding its composition and range of issues tackled. However, as the regulations concerning 45

46 membership structure are just changing, the ESC is expected to allow for higher intensity of civic participation in the future. 5 Synopsis and conclusions 5.1 Summary of findings Table 3 summarizes the key features of the EESC and of the selected Eastern European ESCs by indicating the year of ESC establishment, the historical background of ESC establishment, the ESC membership structure, the existence of informal ways of civic participation, the issue focus of the respective ESC, its functions and the public dissemination of its opinions. Table 3: Outline of the EESC and the ESCs of selected Eastern European countries Year of establishment Historical background of establishment Type of legislation underlying the ESC Membership structure (Percentage) Non-formal/ ad-hoc-ways for civic participation 11 EESC ESC Czech Hungary ESC Bulgaria ESC Romania Republic OÉT ESC EU foundation Treaties/ legislation 1. Employers (32.6%) 2. Trade unions (34.9%) 3. Social groups 4. NGOs 5. Academia (3., 4., 5. together 29.5%) No information available Political and economic change in the course of the downfall of communism Agreement between prime minister, employers and employees 1. Government (36.4%) 2. Employers (31.8%) 3. Trade unions (31.8%) No Political change in the course of the downfall of communism Law 1. Government 2. Employers 3. Trade unions 10 No information available EU accession and integration Invitation of prime minister to organized civil society 1. Employers (40.9%) 2. Trade unions (13.6%) 3. Social groups 4. NGOs 5. Academia (3., 4., 5., together 33.3%) EU accession and integration Law 1. Employers (33.3%) 2. Trade unions (33.3%) 3. Social groups 4. NGOs 5. Academia (3., 4., 5., together 41.5) Yes Yes Yes Political and economic change in the course of the downfall of communism Organic law 1. Government (33.3%) 2. Employers (33.3%) 3. Trade unions (33.3%) 10 No information available about the proportion of member groups. 11 Non-formal and ad-hoc ways of civic participation refer to the inclusion of civil society members into ESC s activities that are not official members of the ESC but still get the opportunity to participate (e.g., by giving an expert talk in ESC s working group meetings). 46

47 Focus of addressed issues Main functions and engagement process Drafting opinions on own initiative allowed Public dissemination EESC Economic and social issues Advisory role; Information and integration role for EU matters ESC Czech Hungary Republic OÉT ESC Labor issues Labor issues Economic and social issues including development and climate change; EU integration Mediating role for ensuring social peace Yes No No information available ESC Bulgaria EU integration; Economic and social issues Mediating role Advisory role Advisory role; Consultations with civil society organizations High High Moderate No precise information available Yes Yes Yes High ESC Romania Labor issues Advisory role; Mediating role High 5.2 ESC matrix for intensity levels of civic participation As the membership structure and the scope of issues addresses seem to mirror best the intensity levels of civic participation and civil society engagement, for which an ESC allows, we used these two ESC characteristics as dichotomous dimensions for drafting a classification matrix for the Eastern European countries (see Figure 1). The membership structure dimension is split up into the two categories narrow range vs. broad range of civil society. The scope of issue dimension mirrors the diversity of civil society themes addressed by the respective ESC and is divided into the two categories focus on labor and wage issues vs. economic, social and EU integration themes. 47

48 Scope of issues addressed Hungary ESC High intensity level of civic participation Economic and social themes & EU integration Bulgaria Low intensity level of civic participation Primary focus on labor and wage issues Hungary OÉT Czech Republic Romania Narrow range of civil society groups Broad range of civil society groups Membership structure Figure 1: ESCs intensity levels of civic participation As a result, the upper right quadrant indicates a high intensity level of civic participation and includes ESCs which are characterized by a broad membership range and handle a wide scope of economic and social issues. Both the Hungarian ESC and the Bulgarian ESC come under this quadrant. In contrast, the lower left quadrant comprises ESCs which have a narrow membership structure, focus on labor and wage issues and thus have a rather low intensity level of civil participation. The Hungarian OÉT and the Czech RHSD come under the lower left quadrant. As the Romanian is about to change its membership structure, it is located at the right edge of the lower left quadrant. 5.3 ESC models and intensity levels of civic participation Further, one might infer two general types of ESCs which relate to the different intensity levels of civic participation: on the one hand a corporate tripartite model having a rather low level of civic participation, on the other hand the EESC model which allows for a high level of civic participation. The corporate model of tripartite participation is characterized by including government representatives as members, by taking into 48