The International conference “Support of the social dialog of the new members of the European Union and the country candidates” was held on 11th and 12th May in Skopje, for the agricultural sector in organization of the Group of employers of agricultural organizations of EU – GEOPA and the federation of syndicates of food, agriculture and tourism – EFFAT.

From our country at the conference participated the social partners OEM and Agro- labor union, as the host, represented by its president Zivko Danevski.

The vice-president of The Organization of employers Angel Dimitrov, underlined that the agriculture is saving the social condition. The agriculture takes part of the gross domestic product with 12 percent, with 16 percent by the food industry, while it engages 17 percent of the employees in this country. Among all of the country participants of the conference solely Macedonia has a branch collective agreement, while collective negotiations and collective agreement ,per se, on a employer level are far more developed in Croatia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

Arndt Spahn,  political secretary of EFFAT, has stated that the goal of the project is the social dialog, decreasing the differences, decreasing of poverty and safety and health during work. The cooperation between the employers, labor unions and the governments of the countries in the region is not on the satisfying level. The situation in the agricultural sector is similar in the full-part country members of the Union and the candidate countries.