European Social Partner framework agreement on digitalisation: What’s happening already at national level and how to support social partners to implement? 27 April 2021

Background 

The European Social Partners on 22 June signed their Autonomous Framework Agreement on Digitalisation. The aim of the agreement aims is to support the successful digital transformation of Europe’s economy and to manage its large implications for labour markets and the world of work.  

The agreement enables employers and unions to manage digital transformations in partnership in a human-oriented approach at national, sectoral, and company and workplace levels. It outlines a jointly managed, dynamic process, as a possible way of implementing the agreement. 

 It also highlights concrete approaches, actions and measures, which employers, workers and their representatives can use, according to their specific needs and circumstances, to tackle topics such as digital skills and securing employment, modalities of connecting and disconnecting, artificial intelligence, and the respect of human dignity and surveillance., work organisation and working conditions. 

See the agreement here. 

The implementation of the agreement will take place over the next 4 years, with regular reporting to the Social Dialogue Committee. Now, at the beginning of the implementation period, the European social partners would like to invite you to a seminar to exchange on the different possibilities for implementation, the opportunities and challenges experienced by social partners at different levels to take action in this field, and what support is needed, including from the European level. 

  

Objectives of the seminar 

  • Raise awareness and improve understanding of employers, workers and their representatives of the opportunities and challenges in the world of work resulting from the digital transformation; 
  • Highlight and exchange on existing examples of implementation of the agreement to provide inspiration; 
  • Give space to social partners to exchange on opportunities and challenges in implementing the agreement, including taking into account existing initiatives, practices and collective agreements; 
  • Discuss social partners’ support needs, including capacity building, and possible actions by European social partners and support from EU institutions to address these. 

 

Documents