On October 27, 2022, a meeting of the project partners was held, summarizing the project entitled “Contemporary challenges of employee participation – opposing the negative results of COVID-19.”. The event was attended by representatives of trade unions and employers’ organizations from Lithuania, Romania, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Spain, while OPZZ was the project leader. Some of the partners joined the meeting online.

The meeting was a space for a lively discussion on the European Green Deal in the context of the current global energy crisis. The current economic crisis, resulting in particular from Russia’s armed attack on Ukraine, has a significant impact on the energy policy of the European Union, and thus on the climate policy. Workers and enterprises are currently suffering from the negative effects of the crisis, which was clearly reflected in the project partners’ debate. EU Member States and the European Union as an organization have already mobilized significant funds to protect economies and societies from the effects of drastic increases in energy prices and the cost of living. In addition, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causes the need to find funds dedicated to mitigating the social consequences of its occurrence, including in the area of health and education. The conference participants agreed that the current situation revealed the need for an in-depth analysis of the EU’s climate policy to date and its adaptation to economic and social realities. It is essential to take into account elements such as energy security, the competitiveness of the EU economy and the living conditions of its citizens.

The conference participants also discussed the role of employee participation in building the resilience of enterprises and employees to crises, including based on Norwegian good practices. The exchange of good practices during the project helped to understand the sources of the good condition of social dialogue in such project partners as Spain or the Czech Republic and the barriers to its functioning, for example, in Romania or Poland. Due to the ongoing activities in the field of the European Green Deal, which affect workers and enterprises, the international cooperation of social partners in building their capacity to strengthen the role of social dialogue in this process should be continued