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This paper analyses the significance and social role of social partnership, primarily from the perspective of the European experience. Historically speaking, partnership is most clearly connected with the development of social-market economy and the principle of subsidiarity, as it was applied in Germany and other European continental countries after Worm War II. The same understanding of social partnership was built into the foundations of the establishment of the European Union. However, later development led to the expansion of the social roles of social partnership, so that they became not only the consulting partners, but equal actors in the process of governing the Union. Yet this process does not lack numerous difficulties. Social partnership is faced with constant questioning, as the old model of social dialogue was consistent with the national social models, which are being weakened today, due to processes of globalization and privatisation. In spite of its problems and understatements, the European experience is very important to post-communist countries, including Croatia. The post-communist development stripped many social values of legitimacy, which led to thorough social marginalisation of all non-state actors, especially unions and civil society organisations. Social dialogue is fostered only demonstratively, almost exclusively on the national level, and not on the level of companies, branches of industry and lower levels of government. Contrary to that, this paper warns that the social development of post-communist Croatia is significantly limited without a far greater role of social and civic partners, and that the existing political-institutional framework of the social dialogue should be filled with the appropriate content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]