Rules on the Operation

(2) The key economic and social areas the ESC is concerned with are the following:

- the social contract;

- the budget memorandum and the state budget;

- documents prepared within the framework of the European Semester;

- key documents of the International Labour Organisation, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Council of Europe, and other similar institutions in the European Union and other international organisations;

- key documents of the European Cohesion Policy;

- umbrella legislation and key documents in the following fields:

· social and compulsory insurance rights;

· labour relations, the labour market, employment, and health and safety at work;

· economic and fiscal policy;

· legal security;

· education and training;

· Healthcare;

· Slovenia's economic situation and development;

· joint management, trade union rights and freedoms; and

- key national strategies.

– participate, in its capacity as an important stakeholder, in the preparation of legislation, before and during public discussion thereof, by formulating positions, opinions, and recommendations concerning working papers, drafts and proposals for acts, regulations, and orders within the scope of the work of the ESC, proposed by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, in accordance with paragraph 2 of the preceding Article,

(2) Participation of the ESC in the drafting of regulations referred to in indent one of the preceding paragraph of this Article shall be carried out within the time limits that enable the Government and the National Assembly to regularly carry out their adopted annual work programmes, while allowing adequate inclusion of the ESC in the preparation of such regulations. The deadlines for the discussion of individual documents prior to public discussion shall be determined by the ESC College. If the College cannot agree on certain deadlines, the deadlines that shall be observed shall not exceed thirty days for the regular legislative procedure and eight days for the shortened or urgent procedure.

(3) For the implementation of indent two of paragraph one of this Article, the Secretariat-General of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia shall, after receiving a proposal for an act from the field of the ESC activity submitted to the National Assembly by other authorised proposers, simultaneously with the submission of the proposal for the act to the competent ministry or government office, also submit these documents to the ESC College. For this purpose, the competent ministry or government office shall provide its position on the proposal for the act. The ESC College may decide to submit the proposal for the act for consideration at the ESC meeting, or submit such a proposal for consideration to an expert committee or negotiating group. The ESC College shall decide on the proposal for the act no later than within three business days. The consideration of the proposal for the act at the ESC session must be completed before the deadline for the submission of the opinion of the competent ministry to the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for consideration.

(4) The ESC shall submit its proposals, recommendations, and opinions to the National Assembly. Acting in accordance with a relevant decision, it may submit its proposals, recommendations, and opinions also to the National Council, to academic and technical circles, and to the general public.

(2) Each partner shall appoint its representatives to the ESC. Each partner shall have eight members. Each member may have one alternate.

(3) The representatives of employees shall be appointed by trade union associations or confederations that are representative at the national level; the representatives of employers shall be appointed by associations of employers and chambers that are representative at the national level. Representatives of the Government shall be appointed by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia.

(4) Each social partner shall appoint alternate members and shall inform the other two partners and the ESC Secretary of their appointment.

(5) The composition of each partner’s representation shall ensure that the interests of each social partner that is a party to the tripartite social dialogue are represented.

(6) Alternate members of the ESC shall have the same rights and powers as ESC members.

(2) The President of the ESC shall:

- represent the ESC,

- convene and chair ESC sessions,

- convene and chair ESC College sessions,

- ensure the application of the Rules of Procedure of the ESC.

(2)The ESC Secretary shall carry out professional, administrative, and other work and technical tasks that ensure the conditions for the work of the ESC.

(3) The ESC Secretariat shall be set up by the Government, which shall also ensure appropriate working conditions.

(2) The ESC Secretary shall participate in the work of the ESC College.

(3) ESC College sessions shall be closed to the public.

(4) The ESC President shall convene and chair ESC College sessions.

(5) The ESC College shall decide on the following:

– the draft agenda of ESC regular sessions;

– motions for convening ESC extraordinary sessions or correspondence sessions;

– motions to submit a document for discussion to the ESC; however, the ESC College may not refuse to discuss a proposal that refers to basic economic and social areas as defined in paragraph 2 of Article 3;

– on allocating a proposal for discussion to one of the following: the ESC, the ESC Expert Committee, or ESC negotiating groups;

– on proposals concerning the participation of the general public, representatives of stakeholders, or individual independent experts at any ESC session; and

– the method of informing the public of ESC sessions.

(6) The ESC College shall decide by unanimity.

(7) The presence at a session of two members of the College shall constitute a quorum. If there is no quorum after a College session has been convened for the second time, the decisions falling within the competence of the College shall be adopted by the ESC President.

(8) The ESC College shall adopt the annual work schedule indicating the dates of all ESC regular sessions.

(9) The ESC College shall meet at least once a month. The session shall be convened no less than eight days before the date of the ESC session.

(10) The draft agenda for the next ESC session shall be set at an ESC College session.

(2) ESC Expert Committees shall be set up by the ESC at a session thereof.

(3) The ESC shall have the following expert committees:

- The Expert Committee on Labour and Social Affairs, which shall tackle in particular issues pertaining to social rights, mandatory insurance rights, work relations, employment, and health and safety at work;

- The Expert Committee on Finances and the Economy, which shall tackle in particular economic, fiscal, and industrial policy issues;

- The Expert Committee on the Organisation of the State and Public Affairs, which shall tackle in particular issues regarding legal safety, education and training, and health.

(5) The ESC College shall decide what issue will be discussed by an expert committee.

(6) The first session of an expert committee shall be convened by the ESC College. The invitation to the session, which is to contain the documents to be discussed, shall be sent to committee members no less than three working days before the date of the session.

(7) The expert committee shall be chaired by the member who proposed the documents to be discussed.

(8) The chair of the committee shall report to the ESC on the work of the expert committee in writing. On the basis of the report, the ESC College shall decide whether to put the item on the agenda of the ESC session. After an expert committee concludes its work on a certain topic, the ESC shall examine the expert committee's final report and documents and shall adopt its position thereon.

(2) Each ESC partner may propose the setting up of an ESC negotiating team. The decision on the setting up of an ESC negotiating team shall be taken by the ESC.

(2) The presence of a majority of representatives of each partner at an ESC session shall constitute a quorum.

(3) At its sessions, the ESC shall not, as a rule, discuss items on the agenda for which appropriate documents have not been prepared and forwarded in advance and discussed by the ESC College. Such discussion is possible only in urgent cases if the ESC so decides at the beginning of the session by a unanimous vote of all three partners.

(4) ESC regular sessions shall be held at least once a month. The ESC may also hold extraordinary sessions or, in exceptional cases, correspondence sessions.

(5) The dates of regular ESC sessions shall be determined in the annual work programme adopted by the ESC College at the end of each year for the following year.

(2) At the beginning of a session, the ESC shall determine the agenda. Items on the agenda marked A shall be those that are to be discussed for the first time, items marked B shall be those that have previously been discussed by an ESC expert committee, and items marked C shall be those that have previously been discussed by an ESC negotiating team.

(3) Proposals to remove items from the agenda shall be submitted to the ESC President and to the Secretary no later than by noon of the day before the beginning of the session. Any ESC partner may put forward a proposal.

Urgent proposals to include items on the agenda shall be submitted to the ESC President and to the Secretary no later than by noon of the day before the beginning of the session. Any ESC partner may put forward such a proposal.

(4) Items on the agenda marked A shall be discussed according to the following procedure:

(a) At the beginning of the consideration of each item on the agenda, the proposer of the item shall present the item and any decisions, positions, or opinions that the ESC should adopt. As a rule, the time allowed to each proposer is not limited.

(b) After the proposer, the floor shall be taken by representatives or rapporteurs who are to present the previously harmonised positions of their partner group. The presentation of the positions of each representative shall be limited to ten minutes. If a partner group's position has not been previously harmonised, the group shall inform the ESC thereof and the members shall be able to present separate opinions, and the intervention of each ESC member shall be limited to five minutes. If other partner groups have been unable to harmonise their positions, the presentation of separate opinions shall be taken in turns.


(c) The President shall then open the item for discussion. The floor shall then be taken by speakers in accordance with the list of speakers; the first to participate in the discussion shall be ESC members. Each speaker shall be allotted five minutes.

(č) Any speaker shall have the right to reply to the statements of another speaker, if such relate to his own statements or if he believes that his statements were misunderstood or misinterpreted. The reply shall be limited to the necessary explanation and may not exceed two minutes. The President shall decide whether there are grounds to grant a reply. If the reply is not founded, the speaker shall be called to order. A reply to a reply shall not be allowed unless the chairperson assesses that the references in the reply were incorrect.

(d) The President may suspend a session and determine when it will resume. Any member may require such suspension only once for every item on the agenda and for no more than 15 minutes. A suspension may last longer if so decided by the President on the basis of a reasoned proposal.

(e) When the discussion of an item is concluded because there are no other speakers, the chair shall ask if there are other requests to speak. When the chair establishes that there are no further requests to speak, he shall close the discussion.

(f) After the discussion, the proposer has the right to a final statement, which shall not exceed 15 minutes.

(g) The ESC President shall formulate the decision and submit it for adoption.

(a) At the beginning of the consideration of each item on the agenda, the chair of the expert committee or the head of the negotiating team shall present the report of their work and any decisions, positions, or opinions that the ESC should adopt.

(b) After the chair of the expert committee or the head of the negotiating team, the floor shall be taken by representatives or rapporteurs who are to present the previously harmonised positions of their partner group. The presentation of the positions of each representative shall be limited to five minutes.

(c) If a partner group's position has not been previously harmonised, the group shall inform thereof the ESC and the members shall be able to present separate opinions, and the intervention of each ESC member shall be limited to no more than three minutes. If other partner groups have been unable to harmonise their positions, the presentation of separate opinions shall be taken in turns.

(č) After the discussion, the proposer has the right to a final statement not exceeding ten minutes.

(d) The ESC President shall formulate the decision and submit it for adoption.

(2) As a rule, each partner shall harmonise its members’ positions on the topic being discussed prior to the ESC session. Each partner shall appoint a rapporteur to represent its harmonised position on an item placed on the ESC session’s draft agenda. However, each individual ESC member shall have the right to provide a separate opinion and comments.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph 1 of Article 13, the ESC may decide, on the proposal of the chair, to adopt decisions, positions, or opinions also in cases where the members of one of the partners are not unanimous. In such cases, at least two thirds of the members of such partner must vote in favour of the adoption. Without prejudice to the decisions, positions, and opinions adopted in this way by the ESC, each member of the ESC shall have the right to have his separate opinion recorded.

(2) The draft decisions shall be sent by the ESC Secretary to the ESC members for revision within two working days of the ESC session. The draft minutes shall be sent by the ESC Secretary to the ESC members for revision within seven working days of the ESC session.

(3) Members shall be able to propose amendments for three days after having received the draft minutes or decisions. The proposed amendments may not alter the spirit of the decisions adopted at the session or their presentation at the session. In cases of ambiguous content, the ESC College shall make the final decision.

(2) An initiative to convene an extraordinary session may be submitted by any member of the ESC or by the ESC College. The initiative shall state the reasons for convening the extraordinary session and contain the items to be discussed.

(3) An extraordinary session shall be held no later than fifteen days after the initiative was submitted. The draft agenda and the items to be discussed shall be annexed to the invitation.

(4) The draft agenda of the extraordinary session shall contain only those points from the initiative to convene an extraordinary session that meet the requirements for the deliberation thereof set by these Rules.

(5) Rules governing regular sessions under Articles 12, 13, and 14 of these Rules of Procedure shall apply to the conducting, decision-making, and minutes of extraordinary sessions.

(2) An initiative to convene a correspondence session may be submitted by any member of the ESC or by the ESC College. The initiative shall state the reasons for convening a correspondence session and shall contain the items to be discussed.

(3) A correspondence session shall be held no later than eight days after the initiative was submitted. The proposed decision and the items to be discussed shall be annexed to the invitation.

(4) The invitation shall indicate the manner and the deadline by which the members of the ESC must submit their opinions and positions. The deadline for submitting opinions shall be no less than two working days and no more than fourteen working days.

(5) If there is no vote against it, a decision shall be deemed adopted. If there is no agreement, the matter may be returned to the ESC College for discussion.

(6) The decision adopted shall be sent by the ESC Secretary to all ESC members within three working days of the ESC correspondence session.

(2) The ESC College may decide to invite to an ESC session representatives of stakeholders and independent experts.

(3) Positions, decisions, and opinions shall be published on the ESC website or in other media determined by the ESC.

(4) In order to promptly inform the public of its work, the ESC shall issue a press release or hold a press conference after each session. The participants at ESC sessions shall not make public statements before the session is concluded.

(2) As of the entry into force of these Rules, the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 59/94), the Correction of the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 64/94), the Amendment to the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 32/95) and the Amendment to the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the RS, No. 40/07) shall cease to be in force.

(3) These amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council shall enter into force on the day following the publication thereof in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia.

 
Ljubljana, 15. November 2019 

EVA 2019-2611-0064

 

Signatories:
Government of the Republic of Slovenia
mag. Ksenija Klampfer, m.p.

Employers:
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
mag. Sonja Šmuc, m.p.

Association of Employers of Slovenia
Marjan Trobiš, m.p.

Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Branko Meh, m.p.

Slovenian Chamber of Commerce
mag. Mariča Lah, m.p.

Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Drago Delalut, m.p.


Employees:
Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia
Lidija Jerkič, m.p.

Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia - PERGAM
Jakob Krištof Počivavšek, m.p.

Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia
Peter Majcen, m.p.

Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions of Slovenia
Branimir Štrukelj, m.p.

Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia "Independence"
Evelin Vesenjak, m.p.

Slovenian Association of Trade Unions "Alternative"
Zdenko Lorber, m.p.

Association of Workers’ Trade Unions of Slovenia "Solidarity"
Albert Pavlič, m.p.

*The consolidated text of the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council transposes the provisions of the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No. 59/94), Correction of the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No. 64/94), Amendment to the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No. 32/95) and Amendment to the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No. 40/07), and the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No.1/17), Correction of the Rules on the Operation of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No. 69/19).