An initial concept on social cohesion was developed in September 2000 by an informal Working Group composed of the representatives of the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the International Labour Office, the European Trade Union Confederation, the International Organization of Employers, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the World Bank and the Office of the Special Co-ordinator. The concept was submitted to the meeting of Working Table II in Istanbul in October 2000.
Tasked by the Working Table II Chairman to develop an Action plan for the Initiative, the Working Group, which now also included representatives from the countries in South Eastern Europe and from the World Health Organization, met in Paris in December 2000, It identified employment and vocational training, social dialogue, social protection, health and housing as the main areas for which objectives and strategies had to be developed. The latter were formulated in several subsequent meetings of the Working Group and expert subgroups in Budapest, Brussels, Geneva and Sofia in the first quarter of 2001.
The French government, which took the chair of the Initiative from April 2001, presented the Action Plan to the meeting of Working Table II in Tirana in May 2001. The Action Plan was widely supported by the Stability Pact partners. The government of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia accepted to be the first co-chair of the Initiative.
