António Paula Varela

The Economic and Social Council is a constitutional body for consultation and social concertation. Its main goals are to promote the participation of economic and social agents in the decision-making process of the organs of sovereignty, mainly within the scope of social and economic issues. It is the prime space for dialogue between the Government, the Social Partners, and the remaining representatives of an organised civil society.

Roles:

The Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (Article 92) grants the Economic and Social Council two types of roles: that of consultation and that of social concertation.

The Council’s consultation role is taken forward via the collaboration with organisations that represent Portuguese society and economic agents and is carried out by writing opinion reports, either requested by the Government or other organs of sovereignty, or upon the Council’s own initiative. Through these opinion reports, the Council expresses an opinion on the final drafts of policy documents such as the country’s major options of the plan, plans for economic and social development, economic and social policies, Portugal’s place in European institutions in light of those policies, the use of European funds at the national level, the country’s policies of restructuring and social and economic development, the country’s economic and social situation, and the regional development policies.

The social concertation role aims to promote social dialogue and negotiation between the Government and the Social Partners – the latter being trade unions and employers’ representatives – and it is taken forward via tripartite negotiations with representatives of such bodies, during which legislation proposals are appraised, especially with regard to social and labour issues, and social concertation agreements take place.

The Economic and Social Council’s work is carried out via the legal entities that constitute it, namely the President, the Plenary, the Specialised Standing Committee on Social and Economic Policy, the Specialised Standing Committee for Regional Development and Land Planning, the Specialised Interdisciplinary Standing Committee for Fertility, the Coordinating Board, the Administrative Board, and the Social Concertation Standing Committee. The latter works independently of the Social and Economic Council, which is nonetheless tasked with providing the logistic and administrative support for its functioning.