The project deals with the communication process between the representatives of professionals and the representatives of employees employed in professional firms (that is, social dialogue). As a communication process, it includes social interaction, involving multiple profiles such as rational and emotional patterns and social relationship, an interaction focused on a specific object. In this project, the specific object is the digital transition and its impact on professional firms.

The aim of the project is to provide a model of social dialogue to face the negative impact of digitalisation. In particular, following the Council Conclusion on “A new start for a strong social dialogue” and the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the “Role and future of the liberal professions in European civil society 2020”, the proposal aims to strengthen the social dialogue mechanism as a tool to achieve employment security and social protection measures in the liberal professions’ sector.

The partnership involved in the project is made up by social partners, from Italy, Belgium and Malta, together with a European social partner representing professionals and managers.

Project partners agree that social dialogue includes all types of information exchange, consultation and negotiation between social partners and governments and that collective bargaining agreement is the key component of a larger social dialogue mechanism.

Based on the aforementioned assumption, the Italian experience of collective bargaining in the liberal professions’ sector is taken as a good practice to be analysed and mainstreamed in the professional sector at European level.

To this end, planned activities include a study on social dialogue procedures in the sector of liberal professions, a training session with seminars on professional trends and sustainability measures and a European conference on social dialogue for the future of professionals. The drafting of guidelines on the role of the social dialogue mechanism for the sustainability of the liberal professions’ sector complete the project.