Historical Development of Social Dialogue in the European Union

The processes within which the social dialogue is institutionalized in the European Union has been examined in this study. Development of social dialogue in the European Union can be analyzed within the framework of four main periods. The first one is the preparation period which had no institutional structuring (1952-1985). It is the second period that started with the Single European Act which allowed the social partners to be recognized as an inevitable actor in the implementation of the social policy of the Union (1985-1991). The third one is the period that started with the social policy protocol which was signed by social partners on the 31st October 1991 and later attached to The Maastricht Treaty, again in 1991. (1991-2001). And the fourth period began in December 2001, when European social partners presented a joint contribution to the Laeken European Council. Within this framework, various developments had taken place in terms of EU Social Dialogue from 2001 Laeken Summit to 2018. The most important point attracting attention during this process is that social partners are gradually becoming a part of the legislation-making and decision-making processes, and the institutional mechanisms needed for this process are being established