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By the Agreement signed at Schengen on 14 June 1995, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands agreed that they would gradually remove their common frontier controls and introduce freedom of movement for all individuals who were nationals of the signatory Member States, other Member States or third countries.
The Schengen Convention was signed by the same five States on 19 June 1990. It lays down the arrangements and guarantees for implementing freedom of movement. It amends the relevant national laws and is subject to parliamentary ratification. Italy (1990), Spain and Portugal (1991) and then Greece (1992) have since signed the Convention, too. Austria has had observer status since June 1994.
The Schengen Agreement and Convention are not part of the Treaty.
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Services of general economic interest are commercial services with a general economic utility and are accordingly subjected by the public authorities to specific public-service obligations (Article 90 of the EC Treaty). Transport, energy and communications services are prime examples.
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The simplification of legislation means the weeding out of superfluous legislation by rigorous application of the principles of necessity and proportionality. It mainly involves the recasting and formal or informal consolidation of legislation.
This concept has grown in importance since the White Paper on the Completion of the Single Market and was explicitly put forward by the Edinburgh European Council. Over the past decade a concentrated effort has been made to establish a market guaranteeing the four freedoms, but this has meant a wealth of European legislation. Simplification of this legislation has now become a priority in order to ensure the necessary transparency and effectiveness of Community action. A pilot programme (Simpler legislation for the Internal market - SLIM) covering four specific areas was introduced in May 1996 and could be extended to other areas.
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The single institutional framework is the practical expression
of the principle that there is only one set of institutions. It
presupposes that those Member States wishing to integrate and
cooperate still further will agree to act through shared institutions.
It also requires the other, non-participating Member States to
accept that shared institutions can be used for operations to
knit the Union closer together without a particular Member State
or States being involved. The Social Policy Protocol and Agreement
are an example of this.
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The Social Charter was adopted in 1989 in the form of a declaration by all the Member States except the United Kingdom. It is seen as a political instrument containing "moral obligations" whose object is to guarantee that certain social rights are respected in the countries concerned. These primarily relate to the labour market, vocational training, equal opportunities and the working environment. It also contains an explicit request to the Commission to put forward proposals for translating the content of the Social Charter into legislative acts. The Social Charter has been followed up by social action programmes.
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Social dialogue is the term used to describe a joint consultation procedure involving the social partners at European level (UNICE, CEEP, ESC). It involves discussion, joint action and sometimes negotiations between the European social partners, and discussions between the social partners and the Union institutions.
The dialogue was started by the European Commission in 1985, and Article 118b of the Treaty (as amended by the Single European Act) formally requires the Commission to develop it. So far the outcome has been 15 joint opinions on economic growth, the introduction of new technology, education, vocational training and other subjects. Under the Social Policy Agreement to which 14 of the Member States are parties, social dialogue may also lead to contractual forms of relations, including agreements, the implementation of which is subject to a decision by the Council on a proposal from the Commission. The only agreement of this type between employers and labour to date is an agreement on parental leave.
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The Commission is required to consult various social partners when it wants to submit proposals in this field. This social dialogue occurs via the three main organizations representing the social partners at European level:
The Commission's job is therefore to take all necessary steps to encourage and facilitate consultation with the social partners on the future development of Community action and on the content of any proposals on the European Union's social policy, which is essentially concerned with the labour market.
A consultative assembly of economic and social partners in Europe was created as early as 1957 with the Treaty of Rome. Its role was to involve these various interest groups in building the common market. Its members are drawn from representatives of three categories: employers, workers and independent occupations. The Single European Act and the Treaty on European Union increased the number of areas in which this assembly, the Economic and Social Committee, must be consulted by the other institutions when they wish to introduce legislation in the social sphere.
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Social policy is an area in which powers are shared between the Community and the Member States; it is concerned with improving living and working conditions for the labour force "so as to make possible their harmonization while the improvement is being maintained" (Treaty establishing the European Community). The 14-Member State Social Policy Agreement (the UK having opted out) adds to these objectives the promotion of employment, proper social protection, dialogue between management and labour, the development of human resources and the combating of exclusion. The existence of these two texts (Treaty + Agreement) means that social policy rests on two distinct legal bases laying down different decisionmaking procedures:
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The Social Policy Agreement is annexed to the Social Policy Protocol, which is itself annexed to the Treaty on European Union. It was signed by 11 of the Member States (the United Kingdom opted out) and sets out the social policy objectives for which the 1989 Social Charter paved the way: the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions, the combating of exclusion, the development of human resources and so on. It also lays down the procedure for the adoption of social policy measures and clearly acknowledges the vital part played by management and labour in the dialogue on social policy.
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The Social Policy Protocol was adopted by the European Council in December 1991 at Maastricht. It is annexed to the Treaty on European Union and marks further progress on the European Social Charter. It was signed by twelve Member States and noted that eleven of them (since the United Kingdom did not share the social policy objectives of the other Member States) wished to make major advances on the basis of the Social Policy Agreement annexed to the Protocol. Following enlargement of the Union to include Austria, Finland and Sweden, the Protocol now reflects the views of fourteen Member States.
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The subsidiarity principle is intended to ensure that decisions are taken as closely as possible to the citizen and that constant checks are made as to whether action at Community level is justified in the light of the possibilities available at national, regional or local level. Specifically, it is the principle whereby the Union does not take action (except in the areas which fall within its exclusive competence) unless it is more effective than action taken at national, regional or local level. It is closely bound up with the principles of proportionality and necessity, which require that any action by the Union should not go beyond what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaty.
The Edinburgh European Council of December 1992 defined the basic principles of the concept of subsidiarity and laid down the guidelines for interpreting Article 3b, which entrenches subsidiarity in the Treaty on European Union. Its conclusions were set out in a declaration which still serves as the cornerstone of the subsidiarity principle. To make even more certain that the principle is applied in practice, some Member States would like the main provisions of the Edinburgh Declaration to be written into the Treaty.
At the same European Council, in parallel with the declaration by the Member States, the European Commission submitted a list of proposals pending and legislation in force which it felt could be reconsidered in the light of the subsidiarity principle. It reports to the European Council and the European Parliament each year on the application of the principle.
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This refers to the idea of incorporating into the Treaty a provision
allowing for the suspension of any Member State failing to respect
human rights. One option put forward is that a proposal for suspension
could be made by the Council and adopted by the European Council,
with the possibility of referral to the Court of Justice.
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The concept of sustainable development refers to a form of economic growth which satisfies society's needs in terms of wellbeing in the short, medium and - above all - long terms. It is founded on the assumption that development must meet today's needs without jeopardizing the prospects of future generations. In practical terms, it means creating the conditions for long-term economic development with due respect for the environment. The Copenhagen world summit for sustainable development (March 1995) stressed the need to combat social exclusion and protect public health.
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