THE COLLECTIVE INTEREST OF WORKERS IN EUROPEAN UNION LAW

Abstract

The notion of the ‘collective interest of workers’, i.e. the interest of a group of workers, cannot be found in European Union labour law. Although collective representation and collective bargaining are important pillars of the European social model, this absence of the notion can be explained by the (ultra)liberal market philosophy of the European project, which favours an individualistic approach to labour relations and an irenic conception of collective labour relations. Nevertheless, the notion of ‘collective interest’ can be found in other contexts, referring to the interests of the members of an entity or the users of a service. This idea infuses the EU collective labour law. Actors defending the interests of a group of workers are recognised as legitimate actors, albeit partial and fluctuating. It appears that, without being named, the collective interest of workers was first established in the functioning of the ECSC and the EEC, which became the EC and then the EU. The role of trade unions was institutionalised: they were involved in the development of European social policy. It was only at a later stage that Community law, and then EU law, took up the interests of workers as a group within the company, in the context of the harmonisation of legislations on the prerogatives of their representatives.