Stephen Bach King’s College, London Stephen.bach@kcl.ac.uk

1. Utrecht June 6th 2014Research Partners Workshop Service User and Workforce Involvement: the European Dimension Stephen Bach King’s College, London Stephen.bach@kcl.ac.uk With financial support from the European Union

2. Presentation structure • Phase 1 aims: - perspectives social partners/NGOs on research themes • Definitions/ambiguities civil society • EU turn to civil society:- implications and outcomes • Sectoral social dialogue • Relationship: social dialogue and citizens’ dialogue

3. Research Phase 1 • Interviews with EU stakeholders:- social partners & civil society representatives • Challenges/opportunities inclusion of service users in institutions//practice SD • Examine activities EU sectoral social dialogue committees

4. Terminology • Customer • Consumer • Client • Service user • Citizen • Stakeholder ... Civil society • Term favoured in EU discourse e.g. European Citizens’ Initiative • Citizens’ Dialogue • Involvement civil society

5. Civil society - ambiguous • Opposition to the state? Tea Party movement • Complementing the state? The Big Society/3rd sector etc • Civil society organisations (working definition):- established voluntarily by citizens- organised around the promotion of an issue(s)- autonomous from the state/supra-state- organisations do not aim to maximise profits

6. EU: The Turn to Citizens Aims • Context since 1990s • Widen stakeholder input into policy:- EU democratic deficit & legitimacy deficit?- ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ policy making stakeholder inclusion • Achieve ‘better’ policy outputs and practice:- involvement of wider interests - effective service delivery

7. Implications • Transmission belt for citizen concerns? • Wider legitimacy & more inclusive than SPs? • Participative v. Representative democracy • Aspiration: bring EU closer to its citizens

8. White Paper on governance (2001) • Diagnosis:- Many people feel alienated from the Union’ s work (p.7)- the goal is to open up policy-making and make it more inclusive and accountable. A better use of powers should connect the EU more actively to its citizens and lead to more effective policies (p.8)- civil society plays an important role in giving voice to the concerns of citizens and delivering services that meet people’s needs(p14). • Prescription: It is a chance to get citizens more actively involved in achieving the Union’s objectives and to offer them a structured channel for feedback, criticism and protest • Concrete measures?

9. Treaty of Lisbon TFEU (2009) • Art. 11.2 The institutions shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society. • European Citizens’ Initiative [ECI] (2012) (Article 11.4):- invite Commission to issue legislative proposals - policy initiation remains with the Commission • Process- Citizens’ Committee (7 member states)- 1m signatures; minimum 7 member states; one year • Results: Water is a human right (1.9m signatures)- against liberalisation/privatisation

10. Responses and outcomes • Civil society activated by the EC – access, resources- variations between DGs in terms of engagement • Civil Society Contact Group represents:- ‘large rights and value based NGO sectors’- 8 umbrella groups e.g. European Public Health Alliance • Social platform (1995): 49 Social NGOs:- campaign on employment, social justice- include voices excluded by trade unions - alliances with ETUC – Spring Alliance- seek institutionalised civil dialogue

11. A contested contribution

12. European social dialogueTFEU – Lisbon 2009 • Union as a whole to promoterole of social partners at EU level - Tripartite Social Summit (Art 152 TFEU)- consultation of social partners by the Commission & support for their dialogue (Art 154 TFEU)- ‘contractual relations’ includingagreements, canbeconcluded by the social partners (Art155 TFEU) • Sectoral social dialogue: 41 committees- Hospitals and Healthcare (2007)- Education (2010)

13. Sectoral Social dialogue: Challenges • Variable involvement and results:- between countries - between social partners – employer engagement- achieving effective outcomes/national follow-up • Impact of the crisis:- resources and participation- sensitivity of austerity measures- EU budget saving measures

14. Activities sectoral SD Committees • Hospitals and Healthcare/Education:- relatively new especially Education (2009/10)- establishing the employers’ side e.g. EFEE- employers often government ministries - member state competence- SD one of several priorities (e.g. HOSPEEM) • Sectoral social dialogue and service user pressure:- does not register directly as a priority in SD- indirectly – role of parents/pupils improving school governance/leadership

15. Social partner perspectives • Employers:- service user pressure or involvement- degree of autonomy influences scope to involve users • Trade unions: - Ideology: Individualised conception of involvement: consumer rights perspective - collective orientation: services of general interest - Legitimacy: representative v. participatory democracy: independence - resources made available to civil society organisations - SPs are integral to civil society

16. Discussion • Increased role for civil society in EU policy making • Relationship social dialogue (SD) to civil dialogue(CD):- academically/policy terms separate spheres - CD: primary concern EU governance - SD: primary concern worker voice/social Europe • Response of social partners to CSO:- Substitute? - Complement? - alliances on specific issues? - Ignore? • Connection EU level to national/workplace level: - same debates and issues ?