Introduction

The topic of employment and social dialogue has been a familiar one for sector-based and interprofessional social partners in Europe since Val Duchesse, the Luxembourg process and the social chapter of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Today, this topic is inseparable from the debate opened by the Commission in its White Paper on European Governance. Following the European Convention's submission of a draft Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, and prior to the 2004 intergovernmental conference (IGC), this document calls for a thorough transformation of the functioning of European, national and regional institutions. This transformation aims at increasing the participation of stakeholders in order to bring Europe closer to its citizens, improve the conception and implementation of EU policies, contribute to global governance and refocus policies and institutions on their essential role.

This chapter will attempt to show that the link between the actors in employment and social dialogue and those involved in research corresponds to another, less visible, EU policy option. This option is nonetheless a strategic orientation for the mutual strengthening of the former's capacity to act and of the relevance of the research produced by the latter, without this relationship jeopardising the autonomy or accountability of the parties involved.

The reasoning presented here and illustrated in action undertaken in recent years is based on promoting ties that are as direct as possible between European social dialogue and social and civil dialogue at the territorial level, so as to stimulate employment in a sustainable development framework.