The European rail social partners, the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF) and the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) intend to support the social dialogue in the member states and candidate countries in the Western Balkan region. They therefore initiated the project Social dialogue in the rail sector in Western Balkan Countries, with financial support from the European Union. ETF and CER have commissioned EVA Academy to implement the project on their behalf. This project reinforced the impact and visibility of European social dialogue outcomes in the railway sector in the Western Balkan countries. The measures aim to strengthen the capacity of social partners of the target countries to establish or foster a national social dialogue and to benefit from the European social dialogue.
The involved countries are the acceding country Croatia and the candidate countries Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia (formerly Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia). The methodological approach is was to exchange information and experience in the project activities. Country visits and a seminar on experience and information exchange on the national and European social dialogue in the railway sector served as main tool for this project.
A report was issued on the situation of social dialogue in the four Western Balkan countries and the European social dialogue in the railway sector. Other results are an improved capacity of the social partners of the candidate countries to contribute to the national and in the future to the European social dialogue, a better mutual knowledge of the social partners in the region, ideas for the participation in the European social dialogue and a list of needs of the social partners for their EU membership.
The project run from December 2013 to December 2014.
