Collection: Industrial Pact Working Papers
Social dialogue, as a continuation of so-called “social concertation”, is an instrument for participation, collaboration and dialogue between the most representative business organisations and trade union bodies, with or without the involvement of public administrations and – at first – exclusively within the scope of the State. It is a means of reaching agreements that concern (but are by no means limited to) the conditions that are to govern the economy (budgetary policy), fiscal policy (prices and revenue), labour relations (job-creation stimuli) and other matters, such as investment in infrastructure or the approach taken to the legal and technical framework for the environment, with a view to achieving, within a market economy, sustained socioeconomic business development that also aids job creation. However, in order for this to be possible, a series of de facto situations and legal conditions are required, such as genuine representation on the part of the social actors and the capacity for involvement on the part of the different public administrations with regard to budgetary policy.