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Rules on the Operation


The representatives of employees, employers and of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia have unanimously adopted the


RULES of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council



GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

The Economic and Social Council (hereinafter: ESC) is a tripartite body of the social partners and the Government of the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter: partners) established to discuss strategic issues and measures relating to economic and social policy and other issues relating to specific areas of agreement among the partners.


Article 2

These Rules of Procedure regulate the competences, organisation and work of the ESC and its working bodies.


COMPETENCES OF THE ESC

Article 3

(1) The ESC shall monitor and discuss the situation in the economic and social areas, participate in drafting documents and formulate opinions, positions and proposals concerning documents and areas as defined in this Article that are of relevance to all three partners.

(2) The main economic and social areas with which the ESC is concerned are as follows:

      – the social pact;
      – the budget memorandum and the state budget;
      – European Semester documents;
      – key documents of the International Labour Organization, the European Economic and Social Committee, the Council of Europe, other similar institutions in the European Union and other international organisations;
      – key documents in the field of European Cohesion Policy;
      – systemic legislation and key documents in the following fields:
              · social rights and compulsory insurance rights;
              · labour relations, the labour market, employment, and health and safety at work;
              · economic and fiscal policy;
              · legal certainty;
              · education and training;
              · healthcare;
              · Slovenia's economic situation and development;
              · joint management, trade union rights and freedoms;
      – key national strategies.

(3) In addition to the areas that call for tripartite dialogue, the ESC may, if the ESC College so decides, discuss other issues which are not subject to tripartite dialogue but which relate to the area of economic and social affairs.


Article 4

(1) Within the scope of its work, the ESC shall:

– as an important stakeholder, participate in the drafting of regulations before and during the formal public debate by formulating positions, opinions and recommendations on proposals for laws, decrees, orders and other acts relating to the main economic and social areas with which the ESC is concerned, which are proposed by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia, in accordance with paragraph two of the preceding Article;

– participate, prior to the adoption of the opinion of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on the proposals for acts in the field of the ESC's activities submitted to the National Assembly by other authorised proposers, by formulating positions, opinions and recommendations on these proposals;

– submit motions for the adoption of new regulations or amendments to existing ones;

– discuss the starting points for amendments to regulations in the field of the ESC's activities, which the Government of the Republic of Slovenia adopts at its session and submits to the ESC College for consideration.

(2) In accordance with indent one of the preceding paragraph of this Article, the participation of the ESC in the drafting of regulations shall be carried out within time limits that enable the Government and the National Assembly to regularly carry out their adopted annual work programmes, while at the same time ensuring the appropriate involvement of the ESC in the drafting of regulations. The specific time limits for the consideration of each document shall be determined by the ESC College before the start of the public debate. If no agreement is reached within the College on the time limits, time limits shall be taken into account that may not exceed 30 days in the case of ordinary procedures and eight days in the case of shortened or urgent procedures.

(3) To implement 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 in the field of the ESC's activities submitted to the National Assembly by other authorised proposers, at the same time as it submits the proposal for the act to the competent ministry or government office, also submit it 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 a session of the ESC or to propose it for consideration by an expert committee or negotiating team. The ESC shall decide on the proposal for the act no later than within three working days. The consideration of the proposal for the act at the session of the ESC must be completed before the time limit 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. In accordance with the adopted decision, it may submit them to the National Council and to professional circles and the general public.


ORGANISATION AND WORK OF THE ESC

1. Composition of the ESC

Article 5

(1) The tripartite composition of the ESC shall reflect the equal representation of the three partners, namely representatives of workers, employers and the Government.

(2) Each partner shall appoint its representatives to the ESC. Each partner shall have eight members. Each member may have two alternates if the ESC College so decides.

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

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

(5) The composition of the representatives of each of the partners shall ensure that the interests of each partner participating in the tripartite social dialogue are represented.

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


2. President and Deputy-President of the ESC

Article 6

(1) The President and Deputy-President of the ESC shall be appointed by the ESC from among its members or alternate members, with each of the partners having a one-year term of office as President and Deputy-President. Members of individual partners may agree to divide the one-year term of office into shorter terms of office. In each term of office, the President and Deputy-President of the ESC shall be from the same partner group.

(2) The ESC President shall:

– represent the ESC,

– convene and chair sessions of the ESC,

– convene and chair sessions of the ESC College,

– ensure the implementation of the Rules of Procedure of the ESC.


3. Secretary of the ESC

Article 7

(1) The ESC Secretary shall be a public official and shall not be a member 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 organised by the Government, which shall also ensure appropriate working conditions.


4. ESC College

Article 8

(1) The ESC College shall be a working body of the ESC, which shall organise the ESC's work and shall consist of the current President of the ESC and a representative of each of the other two partners.

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

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

(4) The sessions of the ESC College shall be convened and chaired by the ESC President.

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

– the proposed agenda of sessions of the ESC;

– a motion to convene an extraordinary or correspondence session of the ESC;

– a motion to submit a document for consideration by the ESC; the ESC College may not refuse to consider a proposal relating to the main economic and social areas as defined in paragraph two of Article 3;

– the allocation of a proposal for consideration by the ESC, the ESC expert committee, or ESC negotiating teams;

– proposals for the participation of members of the public, representatives of interest groups or individual independent experts in a particular session of the ESC;

– the method of informing the public after a session of the ESC.

(6) In order to make the work of the ESC more efficient, the ESC College shall determine the future topics to be considered by the ESC on the basis of a list of regulations submitted monthly by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and to be drawn up by the line ministries in the next two months. This does not exclude the consideration of other laws, implementing regulations or other acts governing subject matter referred to in paragraph two of Article 3 of these Rules. Nor does the preceding paragraph exclude the right of an individual social partner to propose that a particular subject matter be considered at a session of the ESC.

(7) The ESC College shall decide unanimously.

(8) The session of the ESC College shall be quorate if at least two of the three members of the College are present. If the ESC College is not quorate even after it has been reconvened, the ESC President shall take decisions that are within the competence of the College.

(9) The ESC College shall adopt an indicative annual schedule of dates for regular sessions of the ESC.

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

(11) The draft agenda for the next session of the ESC shall be set at a session of the ESC College.

5. ESC expert committees

Article 9

(1) ESC expert committees shall be working bodies of the ESC which may independently consider issues relating to the field of the ESC's activities, in accordance with Article 3, and shall adopt opinions, recommendations and positions on the documents under consideration.

(2) The ESC shall set up ESC expert committees at its session.

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

      – the Expert Committee on Labour and Social Affairs, which shall deal mainly with issues relating to social rights, compulsory insurance rights, labour relations, employment and safety and health at work;

      – the Expert Committee on Finance and the Economy, which shall deal mainly with economic, fiscal and industrial policy issues;

      – the Expert Committee on the Organisation of the State and Public Affairs, which shall deal mainly with issues relating to legal certainty, education and training, and health.

(4) Expert committees shall be composed of representatives of each partner (hereinafter: committee members). Each partner may appoint no more than eight members to an expert committee.

(5) The ESC College shall decide what issue shall 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, together with the documents to be discussed, shall be sent to committee members no later 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 session of the ESC. 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.


6. ESC negotiating team

Article 10

(1) The ESC may set up a negotiating team to decide on a particular issue.

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


7. Sessions of the ESC

Convening of sessions

Article 11

(1) Sessions of the ESC shall be convened and chaired by the ESC President or, in their absence, by their deputy. The invitation to the session, together with the documents to be discussed, shall be sent to the members of the ESC and their alternates not later than seven days before the date of the session.

(2) A session of the ESC shall be quorate if a majority of representatives of each partner are present.

(3) At its sessions, the ESC shall not, as a rule, discuss items on the agenda for which the relevant 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) Regular sessions of the ESC 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 sessions of the ESC shall be fixed in the annual schedule adopted by the ESC College at the end of each year for the following year.


Conduct of sessions

Article 12

(1) At the beginning of a session, the ESC President shall inform the ESC which persons, in addition to the members and their alternates, have been invited to the session.

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

(3) Proposals to remove individual items from the agenda shall be submitted to the ESC President and to the Secretary by no later than 12 noon on the day before the beginning of the session. Any ESC partner may put forward such a proposal.

Urgent proposals to include items on the agenda shall be submitted to the ESC President and to the Secretary by no later than 12 noon on the day before the beginning of the session. Such a proposal may be put forward by one of the ESC partners.

(4) Items on the agenda marked A shall be discussed in accordance with the following procedure:
          (a) At the beginning of the consideration of each item on the agenda, the proposer shall present the item and any proposed decisions, positions or opinions to be adopted by the ESC. As a rule, the time allowed to the proposer shall not be limited.

          (b) After the proposer has spoken, the floor shall be given to the representatives or rapporteurs representing the previously coordinated position of their partner group. The presentation of the position of each partner's representative shall be limited to ten minutes. If the position of the partner group has not been previously coordinated, they shall inform the ESC and shall be given the opportunity to present a separate opinion, each individual member of the ESC for a maximum of five minutes. If several partner groups have failed to coordinate their positions, the partners shall take turns to present the separate opinions.

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

          (č) Each speaker shall have the right to reply to another speaker's statements if such relate to their own statements or if they believe that their statements have been misunderstood or misinterpreted. The reply shall be limited to the necessary explanation and shall not exceed two minutes. The ESC President of shall decide whether the reply is pertinent. If the reply is not pertinent, the speaker shall lose the floor. A reply to a reply shall not be permitted unless the ESC President considers that the statements made in the reply were inaccurate.

          (d) The President may suspend a session and determine when it will resume. Any member may request a suspension of the session, but not for more than 15 minutes at a time and only once for each item on the agenda. A suspension may last longer if the ESC President so decides on a reasoned proposal.

          (e) When the list of speakers notified in advance has been exhausted, the President shall ask if there are any further speakers. When the President has established that there are no further speakers, they shall close the discussion.

          (f) After the discussion, the proposer shall be given the opportunity to make a final statement, which may not exceed 15 minutes.

          (g) The ESC President shall draw up a decision and propose it for adoption.

(5) Items on the agenda marked B or C shall be discussed in accordance with the following procedure:
          (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 give a report on the work, presenting any proposed decisions, positions or opinions to be adopted by the ESC.

          (b) After the chair of the expert committee or the head of the negotiating team has spoken, the floor shall be given to the representatives or rapporteurs representing the previously coordinated position of their partner group. The presentation of the position of each partner's representative shall be limited to five minutes.

          (c) If the position of the partner group has not been previously coordinated, they shall inform the ESC and shall be given the opportunity to present a separate opinion, each individual member of the ESC for a maximum of three minutes. If several partner groups have failed to coordinate their positions, the partners shall take turns to present the separate opinions.

          (č) After the discussion, the proposer of the documents shall be given the opportunity to make a final statement, which may not exceed 10 minutes.

          (d) The ESC President shall draw up a decision and propose it for adoption.


Decision-making

Article 13

(1) Decisions taken at an ESC session shall be adopted unanimously. Each partner shall have one vote.

(2) As a rule, each partner shall coordinate the positions of its members on the subject being discussed prior to the ESC session. Each partner shall designate a rapporteur to present the previously coordinated position of their group for each topic on the agenda of the ESC session. However, each individual ESC member shall have the right to provide a separate opinion and comments.

(3) Notwithstanding paragraph one of Article 13, the ESC may decide, on the proposal of the President, to adopt decisions, positions, or opinions also in cases where the members of one of the partners are not unanimous. In such case, at least two thirds of the members of such partner must vote in favour of the adoption. Notwithstanding the decisions, positions and opinions of the ESC so adopted, each member of the ESC shall have the right to have their separate opinion recorded.


Declaration of coordination

Article 13a

(1) After the ESC completes the coordination of a law, an implementing regulation and another regulation or act, the working body shall draw up and sign a declaration of coordination, which shall clearly indicate which articles are coordinated and which are not, and in the case of non-coordinated articles, include statements of the individual partners with regard to the non-coordinated article or solution.

(2) The declaration of coordination shall include an indication of the duration of the coordination and the parties involved in the coordination and shall be attached to the minutes of the session of the ESC at which the final proposal for an act, implementing regulation or another regulation is discussed. After approval, the minutes of the session of the ESC, which show the positions of the individual members of the ESC, together with the declaration of coordination, shall be submitted to the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the National Assembly.

Minutes of sessions

Article 14

(1) ESC sessions shall be audio recorded. On the basis of the audio records, the ESC Secretariat shall draft the minutes of the ESC sessions.

(2) Draft decisions shall be sent by the ESC Secretary to the ESC members for review within two working days of the ESC session. Draft minutes shall be forwarded by the ESC Secretary to the members of the ESC for review within seven days of the ESC session.

(3) Members shall have the right to propose corrections within three working days of receipt of the draft minutes or decisions. The proposed corrections may not alter the substance of the decisions adopted at the session or of the record made of the session. The ESC College shall decide on disputed content.

Extraordinary sessions

Article 15

(1) An extraordinary session shall be convened by the ESC President on the proposal of the ESC College.

(2) A motion to convene an extraordinary session may be submitted by any member of the ESC or by the ESC College. The motion shall state the reasons for convening the extraordinary session and be accompanied by the documents to be discussed.

(3) An extraordinary session shall be held no later than fifteen days after the motion was submitted. The draft agenda and the documents to be discussed shall be attached to the convocation notice.

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

(5) The rules governing regular sessions under Articles 12, 13, and 14 of these Rules of Procedure shall apply to the conduct and recording of extraordinary sessions and decision-making at such sessions.


Correspondence sessions

Article 16

(1) A correspondence session shall be convened by the ESC President on the proposal of the ESC College.

(2) A motion to convene a correspondence session may be submitted by any member of the ESC or by the ESC College. The motion shall state the reasons for convening the correspondence session and be accompanied by the documents to be discussed.

(3) A correspondence session shall be held no later than eight days after the motion was submitted. The proposed decision and the documents to be discussed shall be attached to the convocation notice.

(4) The convocation notice shall specify how and by when the members of the ESC may submit their opinions and positions. The time limit for submitting opinions shall be no less than two working days and no more than fourteen working days.

(5) The decision shall be deemed adopted if there is no vote against it. If there is no agreement on the matter under discussion, it may be referred back to the ESC College.

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


Sessions of ESC working bodies

Article 17

The rules on convening ESC sessions, conducting ESC sessions, decision-making and the keeping of minutes of ECS sessions shall apply mutatis mutandis to the work of ESC working bodies.


8. The public nature of the work of the ESC

Article 18

(1) Unless decided otherwise by the ESC College, ESC sessions shall be closed to the public.

(2) The ESC College may decide to invite to an ESC session representatives of interest groups 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. No public statements shall be made by the participants at an ESC session until the ESC session is concluded.


9. Funding

Article 19

The funds for the work of the ESC shall be provided by the State from its budget.


10. Verifying compliance with the rules

Article 19a

(1) Compliance with the Rules of Procedure of the ESC shall be verified at each session of the ESC College. In the event of alleged breaches of the Rules of Procedure of the ESC or decisions adopted at a session of the ESC, the breach alleged by one of the social partners shall first be attempted to be resolved by the ESC College. If the ESC College fails to find a solution, a tripartite meeting with the minister responsible for social dialogue, the minister of the relevant line ministry or the Prime Minister shall be organised at the request of the social partner within two weeks at the latest, with a view to preventing social dialogue from being suspended again.

(2) If the ESC College fails to find a solution, the Government of the Republic of Slovenia and the social partners may agree to obtain an expert opinion on the alleged violation of the Rules of Procedure of the ESC from an expert designated by agreement among the members of the ESC College.

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 20

(1) The provision of paragraph three of Article 5 shall apply from the date of application of the legislation governing the representation of trade unions and employers at the national level.

(2) As of the entry into force of these Rules, the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia [Uradni list RS], No. 59/94), the Corrigendum to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia [Uradni list RS], No. 64/94), the Amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia [Uradni list RS], No. 32/95) and the Amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia [Uradni list RS], No. 40/07) shall cease to be in force.

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

Ljubljana, 4 July 2024

EVA 2024-2611-0030



Signatories:

Government of the Republic of Slovenia:
Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities
Luka Mesec

Employers:
Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia
Tibor Šimonka

Association of Employers of Slovenia
Marjan Trobiš

Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Blaž Cvar

Slovenian Chamber of Commerce
Mariča Lah

Association of Employers in Craft and Small Business of Slovenia
Marko Lotrič

Employees:

Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia
Lidija Jerkič

Confederation of Trade Unions of Slovenia PERGAM
Jakob Krištof Počivavšek

Trade Union Confederation 90 of Slovenia
Damjan Volf

Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions of Slovenia
Branimir Štrukelj

Confederation of New Trade Unions of Slovenia "Independence"
Evelin Vesenjak

Slovenian Association of Trade Unions "Alternative"
Zdenko Lorber

Association of Workers' Trade Unions of Slovenia "Solidarity"
Albert Pavlič
 


*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), Amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Economic and Social Council (Ur. list RS, No. 63/2024)

Amendments to the Rules ESS.pdf