Industrial relations and social dialogue

Key policy messages

The main findings emerging from Eurofound research serve as input for policymakers to address some of the key issues in this area.

• The social partners, through collective bargaining, play a crucial role in safeguarding fair treatment for European workers and a stable and predictable framework for employers.
• Effective collective bargaining ensures that competition between enterprises can focus on increasing efficiency rather than exploiting labour through common rules on pay and working conditions.
• Industrial relations systems are increasingly under threat due to changes in society, labour markets and the organisation of work. This has posed challenges to the capacity of key actors in industrial relations systems in the Member States.
• In terms of pay, findings show that seven out of 10 minimum wage workers in the EU report at least some difficulty in making ends meet, as compared to less than 5 out of 10 other workers; however, these figures vary greatly across countries. Against the background of the pandemic, minimum wages can play a role in the policy mix to stabilise incomes – and thus demand – to counteract a downward spiral into recession or depression.
• Effective European social dialogue depends on strong links with the national level so the EU agenda stays relevant and EU autonomous agreements are implemented in a meaningful way at national level.
• While several joint initiatives have emerged from European social dialogue, few agreements have been concluded. There is concern in some sectors that social partner requests to implement agreements through European legislation have been rejected, and that better links between EU and national levels are required.
• Falling trends in trade union density are a matter for concern in many Member States. Fewer than one in three workplaces (with 10+ workers) in the EU (29%) has some form of employee representation. Legislative requirements are a key driver for the presence of representation.
• Collective bargaining remains at the core of industrial relations systems in the EU. Policymakers should seize the opportunity of the COVID-19 crisis to introduce new initiatives to promote, strengthen and underpin collective bargaining.
• In addition to social partner efforts, effective social dialogue and well-functioning industrial relations require public monies and the support of public authorities. Policymakers should explore new forms of knowledge transfer, resource provision and engagement with EU- and national-level social partners.
• Safeguarding and promoting fair, well-functioning and balanced industrial relations is critical to ensuring inclusive and sustainable growth and social progress in the EU. In the wake of COVID-19, it will also be an important way for policymakers to integrate the social and economic dimensions of the EU, as set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights.

During 2021–2024, Eurofound will provide important insights into the challenges and prospects in the area of industrial relations and social dialogue in the EU. With a long-established expertise in this field, Eurofound explores the main developments affecting the actors, processes and key outcomes of industrial relations. It compares national systems of industrial relations, including national social dialogue and collective bargaining. Building on its EU PolicyWatch database created in 2020, Eurofound will monitor policy initiatives by governments, social partners and other actors to cushion the social and economic fallouts of the crisis, as well as to assist in the recovery efforts. Its regular reporting on pay setting, minimum wage and working time developments, as well as working life outcomes, will be ongoing.

Eurofound’s expertise supports the capacity-building of the social partners to achieve effective social dialogue, and the Agency promotes the development of the European social dialogue by looking at the representativeness of social partner organisations in different sectors to assess their eligibility to participate in social dialogue committees.

Eurofound’s research aims to assist the European institutions, national public authorities and social partners at various levels to address the challenges facing the EU and at national level in the areas of policy formation, social dialogue, collective bargaining and the regulation of employment relations.

The Agency’s work programme is aligned with the European Commission’s political guidelines over the next four years, directly feeding into a number of key policy areas aimed at creating a strong social Europe. In particular, Eurofound will support the policy initiatives under the European Pillar of Social Rights linked to social dialogue and the involvement of workers, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specific findings will be available to inform the European policy debate on minimum wages and pay transparency, as well as on working time. In consultation with the European Commission, Eurofound will continue its focused work on European social dialogue through its series of representativeness studies in selected sectors.

• European Commission: Priorities 2019–2024: An economy that works for people
• European Commission: Priorities 2019–2024: A new push for European democracy

In 2024, Eurofound continues its national monitoring of trends and developments in industrial relations, social dialogue, collective bargaining and working life regulations and outcomes. 

To support European social dialogue, in 2024 the Agency plans to publish studies on the representativeness of social partner organisations in six sectors: construction, extractive industries, chemical sector, road transport including urban public transport, postal and courier services, and graphical industries. In addition, studies are ongoing on the following sectors: agriculture, temporary agency work, ports, maritime transport, tanning and leather, footwear, sugar, inland waterway transport, central government administration, railways and commerce. Eurofound continues its work on initiatives to support capacity building for effective social dialogue. In 2024, the Agency launches a new phase of Tripartite Exchange Seminars in collaboration with the European Training Foundation, Cedefop and the European Environment Agency.

Eurofound carries out its annual exercise of examining the involvement of national social partners in policymaking, in the context of the European Semester process and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which in 2024 includes findings on the role of tripartite discussions held in Economic and Social Councils in Member States having such bodies. The contribution made by sectoral social partners to the implementation of reforms and investments included in the Recovery and Resilience Plans is also analysed, looking at policy processes that link European and national policy agendas. 

Eurofound’s EU PolicyWatch database continues to capture relevant policy initiatives by governments, social partners and other actors, including those taken to mitigate the socioeconomic consequences of the war in Ukraine, as well as those related to the twin transition.

Work on outcomes in collective bargaining agreements beyond the topic of pay concludes in 2024 and the results and dataset are planned for 2025. Research also concludes on how larger increases in statutory minimum wages affect collective bargaining and collectively agreed wages for low-paid groups. 

Eurofound collaborates with the European Institute for Gender Equality in 2024 to investigate further experiences with the implementation of gender pay transparency measures, with a focus also on those Member States that have recently introduced new legislation, and how the ‘work of equal value principle’ is defined and implemented.

The annual reviews on minimum wages and on working time in the EU continue in 2024. The working life country profiles are also being updated. The ongoing monitoring of industrial relations systems includes regular updates to the European Industrial Relations Dictionary.

• Resource: EU PolicyWatch
• Pilot: Minimum wages pilot project
• Resource: European Industrial Relations Dictionary