Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Local and regional government sector and social services

This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the local and regional government (LRG) sector, including social services. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in the EU Member States and the United Kingdom. This study identified the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) (representing employers) and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) (representing employees) as the most representative European-level social partner organisations in the LRG sector. The European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions (CESI) also have affiliated trade unions in the sector in several Member States.