ABSTRACT
The Protocol on Social Policy authorised the member states belonging to the European Union (EU) at the time to take decisions by a qualified majority in important areas of social policy in order to make further progress in implementing the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers. At the same time European employers’ and trade union organisations (hereinafter referred to as the ‘social partners’) were given a more important role: before proposals for legislation are submitted by the European Commission, they must be consulted, can negotiate on the proposal before them and conclude an agreement and thus virtually take the place of the European legislator.
