Projects

The VOICE project is a 24-month EU-funded initiative aimed at strengthening the meaningful involvement of social partners in the European Semester and related EU policy coordination processes. SGI Europe is leading the part of the project dedicated to the ‘Fifth Freedom’, understood as the free movement of knowledge, skills and innovation across Europe, as put forward in Enrico Letta’s report on the future of the Single Market.

Despite formal commitments to social dialogue within the European Semester, the effective involvement of social partners remains uneven across Member States. Consultation processes often lack structure, sufficient timing, and real impact on policy outcomes. This limits both the democratic legitimacy and the social dimension of EU economic governance. The VOICE project addresses these challenges by reinforcing the capacity of social partners, improving the quality of their participation, and fostering more structured and impactful engagement in the design and implementation of reforms.

Project objectives

The VOICE project aims to strengthen the capacity and role of social partners in the European Semester and related policy coordination processes at both EU and national level.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

• enhance shared knowledge and understanding of the European Semester and the role of social partners within it;
• support capacity building of social partner organizations in order to improve the quality and impact of tripartite social dialogue;
• facilitate transnational exchange of good practices and mutual learning among social partners;
• promote more structured and effective involvement of social partners in the design, implementation, and monitoring of policies and reforms.

Work package 5 – Operationalisation of the “Fifth Freedom”

SGI Europe is leading the project's work package 5 focusing on the operationalization of the “Fifth Freedom”, the free movement of knowledge. While the Fifth Freedom encompasses a wide range of policy areas, including digital infrastructure and data governance, this work will concentrate on the dimensions where social partners can have a concrete and practical impact, in particular skills development, talent retention, labour mobility, and public-private cooperation in research and innovation.

Work package 5 aims to create a structured space for dialogue and policy co-creation between employers’ organizations and trade unions on how social dialogue can contribute to stronger and more inclusive knowledge, research and talent ecosystems in the EU. Particular attention is paid to the links between education and training systems, labour market needs, innovation capacity, and the territorial dimension of knowledge ecosystems.

The specific objectives of the work package are to:

• translate the concept of the Fifth Freedom  into operational proposals through inclusive and structured dialogue between social partners and public institutions;
• explore how social partners can contribute to strengthening research, innovation, and talent retention in the EU;
• address skills mismatches, mobility barriers, and public-private research collaboration through inclusive and structured dialogue;
• contribute to the formulation of joint policy orientations and recommendations reflecting shared priorities of social partners.