52001XG1213(01)

Conclusions of the Council concerning an EU-level mechanism to help resolve disputes in employer/employee relations that transcend the national level

(2001/C 354/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

HAVING REGARD TO

1. the objective of the Community and the Member States under Article 136 of the Treaty of promoting dialogue between management and labour;

2. the importance of encouraging a positive approach to change, an attitude that lies at the heart of the strategy endorsed by the Lisbon European Council;

3. the task entrusted to the Commission of promoting the consultation of management and labour at Community level and of facilitating and supporting dialogue between the parties;

4. the rich and extensive social dialogue that has developed at European level both horizontally and by sector;

5. recent trends in the way that management and labour conduct relations within the European Union;

6. the importance of supporting the development of tools that can contribute to the better management of change and to the prevention and resolution of conflicts that may arise;

7. the increased interest in voluntary, non-judicial methods of dispute resolution such as conciliation and mediation which can be seen as quicker and less costly ways of settling disputes;

RECOGNISES

1. that, in the Member States, the key role of the social partners as the primary actors in resolving disputes concerning employer/employee relations is acknowledged and has been well established over time;

2. that, in addition, there exist in most Member States publicly provided non-judicial dispute resolution mechanisms to help resolve disputes with the collaboration of the social partners;

3. that such mechanisms contribute to resolving disputes at national level and thus play an important role in the existing systems of employer/employee relations;

BELIEVES, in the light of the success of these mechanisms at the level of the Member States, that it would be appropriate to investigate fully whether an EU-level dispute resolution mechanism might help to resolve employer/employee disputes that transcend the national territories;

WELCOMES THE COMMISSION'S INTENTION

- to deepen understanding of how dispute resolution mechanisms in the area of employer/employee relations in the Member States are organised and function, by undertaking a detailed study of the issue and widely disseminating its results;

- to continue its reflections in close collaboration with the European social partners and the Member States on whether a dispute resolution mechanism at European level might have added value and, if so, on how such a mechanism might function.

INVITES THE COMMISSION

- to report on the outcome of the consultation of the social partners on the need to establish, at European level, voluntary mechanisms for dispute resolution.