Article 154 [Participation of the Social Partners]

Article 154 TFEU (ex-Article 138 TEC) has its origin (like Article 155 TFEU) in Articles 3 and 4 of the Social Policy Agreement included into the Social Policy Protocol appended to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. The content of current Article 154 TFEU is exactly the same as the one of Article 3 of that Agreement, with logical adaptations. Apart from this novelty introduced by the Maastricht Treaty, the consultation of social partners has been developed since the EC's origins within their representatives in the European Economic and Social Committee. From this point of view, since the beginning of European integration, the European social partners have been consulted by the Commission prior to legislative proposals on social matters. As a result, the European social partners have in a number of cases influenced the shaping of European social policy legislation and contributed significantly to the definition of European social standards as well as to the modernisation of labour markets.