Coordinated bargaining in Europe: From incremental corrosion to frontal assault?

Abstract

The viability of coordinated, multi-employer bargaining arrangements as a cornerstone of labour market regulation in Western Europe has come under further threat following the crisis. Already, pressure for decentralization had corroded the capacity of sector agreements to specify universal standards applicable at company level. Procedural mechanisms articulating the two levels had become looser and more open-ended. This process has intensified in Northern European countries, whilst in Southern Europe, under pressure from the European institutions, a frontal assault on multi-employer bargaining arrangements is now underway. Reinforced European economic governance intensifies the need for coordination of bargaining across borders, but the capacity for achieving this is significantly reduced by the erosion of capacities for effective coordination within national bargaining systems.