Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Hospitals

This report examines the role of social partner associations and collective bargaining in the economic subsector of hospital activities. The study first outlines the economic background of the sector. It then describes the relevant social partner associations in all EU Member States, focusing in particular on membership levels, their role in collective bargaining and public policy, and their national and European affiliations. The final section analyses the relevant European associations, in terms of membership composition and capacity to negotiate. The aim of the representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in selected sectors. The impetus of these studies arises from the European Commission objective to recognise the representative social partner associations to be consulted under the EC Treaty provisions. Hence, this study is designed to provide the basic information required to establish sectoral social dialogue.