Explaining the deadlock of the European social dialogue: negotiating in the shadow of hierarchy

Sørensen, Julie Malene Eichstedt; Würtzenfeld, Mathias; Hansen, Magnus Paulsen

doi:10.1017/s0143814x21000209

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Unions have become more active in the European social dialogue, in collaborating with parties in the European Parliament and the Commission (Vanhercke and Spasova, 2021), as well as through transnational cooperation, mobilization and protest (Dølvik and Ødegård, 2012; Erne, 2008; Vulkan and Larsson, 2019). This activism has faced numerous obstacles, but over the years it has been increasingly significant (Lehndorff, 2015; Prosser, 2016; Sørensen et al, 2022).…”

Section: Social Rights As ‘Resources Of Power’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social citizenship as a marble cake: The changing pattern of right production and the role of the EU

Ferrera,

Corti,

Keune

2023

Journal of European Social Policy

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The launch of the European Pillar of Social Rights has reinvigorated the debate on the role that the European Union can exercise in the sphere of subjective rights. Such debate has traditionally focused on the limits of the current social acquis, considered unable to create fully-fledged European social citizenship, that ultimately remains limited to the right to reside and freely move within the EU and enjoy social rights as nationals. Conversely, this article argues that the gradual expansion of the EU’s social acquis has slowly but clearly started to disconnect social rights from their exclusive national foundations, leading to the emergence of a new marble cake pattern of right production, which to a large extent reproduces the trajectory of federal polities. To capture this development, this article proposes an original analytical framework to dissect the notion of social rights as bundles of power resources (normative, instrumental and enforcement), which enable individuals to claim and actually receive material benefits in order to cope with a codified array of risks and needs. By shifting the attention from the formal dimension (laws and their enforcement) to its concrete practice (access and outputs), our conception connects the concept of social citizenship more directly to what ultimately matters for life chances (individualised material benefits) as well as for the social and political bonds of a community (the rights-based claim and experience of social protection). In so doing, we move beyond the boundaries of the nation-state as the only producer of social entitlements and are able to appreciate the increasing relevance of the European Union as a provider of power resources and guarantor of policy outputs.

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Section: Social Rights As ‘Resources Of Power’mentioning

confidence: 99%

Social citizenship as a marble cake: The changing pattern of right production and the role of the EU

Ferrera,

Corti,

Keune

2023

Journal of European Social Policy

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“…In addition, the multiplicity of participants and levels of social dialogue in the EU allows researchers to consider it within the framework of the theory of multi-level governance [Keune and Marginson, 2015]. Promising, in our opinion, will be studies of social dialogue within the framework of game theory which allows to establish the asymmetry of the interaction of various actors in the decision-making process [Sørensen et al, 2022]. Among Russian researchers the European social dialogue is most often considered as one of the many components of the EU social policy [Kargalova, 2006;Egorova and Kargalova, 2010;Social Europe in the 21st Century, 2011].…”

Section: European Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a rule, the process of coordinating opinions on a draft law already submitted by the Commission takes place with a greater confrontation of the social partners. This ultimately results in the final directive texts being less ambitious than the original proposals [Sørensen et al, 2022]. Thus, the social partners have several tactics for participating in the development or adjustment of social policy in the EU.…”

Section: Contradictions Of the "New Startmentioning

confidence: 99%

European Social Dialogue: History, Characteristics, and Perspectives

Bisson

2022

Her. Russ. Acad. Sci.

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The author examines the role of the European Social Dialogue (ESD) in decision-making on social policy and labor relations at supranational level in the EU. The author looks into the history and distinctive features of the ESD, its formats, procedures, and legal framework. Based on a review of the institutionalization of social dialogue at the national level in the EU-27, the author draws two conclusions. The first is that the development of social dialogue is uneven across the Union because of the particularities of the social models of the member states and their political and socioeconomic development. The second is that, despite national differences, the coverage of workers by collective agreements in the EU as a whole and the entrenchment of social dialogue at the supranational level make it an integral and distinctive feature of the European social model. An analysis of the evolution of the ESD suggests that there has been a continual move towards a more autonomous status for the social partners. However, because of the 2008–2010 crisis, the ESD’s role has significantly weakened. “A New Start for Social Dialogue” announced by the Juncker’s Commission and several further initiatives are largely declarative. The Court of Justice’s 2021 decision limiting the scope for implementing autonomous agreements at the communitarian level could have a negative impact on the further development of the ESD. Finally, the author positively assesses the possible role of the ESD in overcoming the social consequences of internal and external challenges and the negative effects of transformation of the labor markets.

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“…For example, the EU relies on unanimity voting in sensitive policy areas, which is difficult to achieve with the 27 member states pursuing different interests and having different needs and demands (e.g., Pircher et al, 2024). Similarly, the EU‐level social partners who are key actors when it comes to shaping Social Europe often disagree profoundly on overall aims, focus or instruments regarding specific policy initiatives (e.g., Im et al, 2024; Sørensen et al, 2022). This is evident in the fact that they have only seldomly made use of their right under Article 154 TFEU to negotiate agreements in the field of social policy among themselves and thereby replacing the so‐called ordinary legislative procedure where the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council are the main actors (e.g., Falkner, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards Social Europe? Obstacles and opportunities in the multi‐level governance of welfare states

Eick,

Im,

Leschke

2024

Soc Policy Adm

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Social Europe, or the social dimension of the European Union (EU), has been receiving increasing attention in academic debates. This special issue introduction discusses Social Europe through the analytical framework of multi‐level governance while asking, perhaps controversially, whether Social Europe has the potential to become a fully‐fledged welfare state. This introduction also summarises the articles included in this special issue which focus on different governance levels, including EU institutions, member states, national parties, economic sectors, workers and the general public. On this basis, the introduction identifies sources of challenges and opportunities for Social Europe from various levels of governance. We conclude that the needs and demands become more diverse when we move from European institutions to the citizens. Notably, obstacles from one governance level often carry over to another governance level. Consequently, it becomes much more difficult to design welfare policies on the EU level that work for everyone. While a more evolved EU‐level welfare state may be possible in the future, substantial obstacles make it difficult to achieve in the short run. Hence, future research should examine the multi‐level structure of Social Europe in more detail to better grasp what Social Europe can and cannot deliver and why. Such research is not only relevant in the European Union but also in other multi‐level governance systems across the world.

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Explaining the deadlock of the European social dialogue: negotiating in the shadow of hierarchy

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Social citizenship as a marble cake: The changing pattern of right production and the role of the EU

Social citizenship as a marble cake: The changing pattern of right production and the role of the EU

European Social Dialogue: History, Characteristics, and Perspectives

Towards Social Europe? Obstacles and opportunities in the multi‐level governance of welfare states

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