After some promise in the 1990s, European unions have grown increasingly disillusioned with regard to the results of EU social policy and EU social dialogue. The paper analyses the extent and reasons of this disillusion by looking at the impact on social dialogue of the Active Inclusion Recommendation launched by the European Commission at the outset of the economic crisis in 2008. The Recommendation led to a tripartite framework agreement at the EU level in 2010 (the only such agreement in a decade), which was then to be implemented at national and regional levels. With a multilevel governance approach, the paper looks at the extent to which social dialogue on Active Inclusion at the EU level, in six EU countries (France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) and six regions (Rhône-Alpes, Lombardy, Lower Silesia, Catalonia, West Sweden and Greater Manchester) within those countries was somehow revitalised. The analysis, looking at both top-down and bottom-up processes and based on documentary analysis and interviews, shows that the initiative displays ambiguities similar to those of typical composite EU principles, such as famously the case of ‘flexicurity’. The multilevel governance of the EU, including the interaction between ‘soft’ employment policies and evolving ‘hard’ Eurogovernance tools, and with poor horizontal and vertical coordination, resulted in multiple distortions of the principle and, over time, to frustration. Unions’ engagement varies by level, country and region, reflecting both traditional national approaches and the local perception of ‘active inclusion’ as an opportunity. Although trade unions were more welcoming of ‘active inclusion’ than they had been for flexicurity, similar related threats and opportunities led to modest achievements and a gradual fading of the idea at the European and national levels, with some more opportunities however at the regional level. The paper concludes that, if trade unions want to engage with the idea of a European Social Model and with Eurogovernance, they could develop stronger networks among regional organisations.

Scalise, G., Meardi, G., Burroni, L., Keune, M., Bellini, A., Galetto, M., et al. (2021). Opportunities and Traps for Trade Unions in European Employment Policy Initiatives: The Case of Social Dialogue on Active Inclusion. ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR SOZIALREFORM, 67(4), 306-332 [10.1515/zsr-2021-0011].

Opportunities and Traps for Trade Unions in European Employment Policy Initiatives: The Case of Social Dialogue on Active Inclusion

Scalise, G;
2021

Abstract

After some promise in the 1990s, European unions have grown increasingly disillusioned with regard to the results of EU social policy and EU social dialogue. The paper analyses the extent and reasons of this disillusion by looking at the impact on social dialogue of the Active Inclusion Recommendation launched by the European Commission at the outset of the economic crisis in 2008. The Recommendation led to a tripartite framework agreement at the EU level in 2010 (the only such agreement in a decade), which was then to be implemented at national and regional levels. With a multilevel governance approach, the paper looks at the extent to which social dialogue on Active Inclusion at the EU level, in six EU countries (France, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK) and six regions (Rhône-Alpes, Lombardy, Lower Silesia, Catalonia, West Sweden and Greater Manchester) within those countries was somehow revitalised. The analysis, looking at both top-down and bottom-up processes and based on documentary analysis and interviews, shows that the initiative displays ambiguities similar to those of typical composite EU principles, such as famously the case of ‘flexicurity’. The multilevel governance of the EU, including the interaction between ‘soft’ employment policies and evolving ‘hard’ Eurogovernance tools, and with poor horizontal and vertical coordination, resulted in multiple distortions of the principle and, over time, to frustration. Unions’ engagement varies by level, country and region, reflecting both traditional national approaches and the local perception of ‘active inclusion’ as an opportunity. Although trade unions were more welcoming of ‘active inclusion’ than they had been for flexicurity, similar related threats and opportunities led to modest achievements and a gradual fading of the idea at the European and national levels, with some more opportunities however at the regional level. The paper concludes that, if trade unions want to engage with the idea of a European Social Model and with Eurogovernance, they could develop stronger networks among regional organisations.
Articolo in rivista - Articolo scientifico
European employment policies; trade unions; social dialogue; active inclusion; Europeanisation; regionalisation;
English
27-gen-2022
2021
67
4
306
332
open
Scalise, G., Meardi, G., Burroni, L., Keune, M., Bellini, A., Galetto, M., et al. (2021). Opportunities and Traps for Trade Unions in European Employment Policy Initiatives: The Case of Social Dialogue on Active Inclusion. ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR SOZIALREFORM, 67(4), 306-332 [10.1515/zsr-2021-0011].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Meardi et al 2021 Opportunities and Traps for Trade Unions in European Employment Policy Initiatives.pdf

Accesso Aperto

Tipologia di allegato: Author’s Accepted Manuscript, AAM (Post-print)
Dimensione 937.28 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
937.28 kB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/348908
Citazioni
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
Social impact