The involvement of social partners in the EU Recovery Plan: an appraisal

The contribution focuses on the involvement of social partners in the design and implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plans (NRRPs), in the scenario of the historic stimulus package NextGenerationEU (NGEU). Article 18 of the EU Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) stipulates that the NRRPs must include a summary of the consultation process, for the preparation and, where available, for the implementation of the RRP, conducted in accordance with the national legal framework, of local and regional authorities, social partners, civil society organisations, youth organisations and other relevant stakeholders, and how the input of the stakeholders is reflected in the RRP. This goes beyond what is requested under the European Semester’s rules with regard to the involvement of social partners. Therefore, article 18 can be considered a step in the right direction, when it comes to strengthening the EU social dialogue. However, available research indicates that, in most national cases, the involvement of social partners at the national level has been inadequate in practice and there is no strong evidence that the Commission is trying to reverse this trend.