The Centre for European Reform is a think-tank devoted to improving the quality of the debate on the European Union. It is a forum for people with ideas from Britain and across the continent to discuss the many political, economic and social challenges facing Europe. It seeks to work with...

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Austria is laid down by the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG). According to the ArbVG, collective agreements can be concluded only between collective organisations of employers and employees. Therefore, the Austrian labour law systematically benefits...

The Belgian collective bargaining system is highly institutionalised and coordinated. Over 90% of employees are covered by a collective agreement, placing Belgium among the countries with the highest coverage in Europe. Also, the Belgian trade unions have a relatively high level of membership...

The right to collective bargaining is set out in the 1972 French Labour Code. In the last decades, collective bargaining has expanded, partly as a result of government initiatives. The importance of sectoral bargaining increased with the adoption of the 1982 Auroux laws, which obliged the...

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Germany is laid down by the Collective Agreements Act, 1949. Collective agreements can be concluded between employer associations (or individual employers) and trade unions. In contrast, works councils – statutory employee representation bodies...

Italian industrial relations are characterised by a low degree of ‘legal institutionalisation’. Legislation and the state have a limited role in the regulation of collective bargaining, conflict and union representation. In fact, it is possible to say that there is almost a complete...

The right to collective bargaining and the binding character of collective agreements is enshrined in the Spanish Constitution (Section 37.1). The system of collective bargaining is thoroughly regulated in Title III of the Workers’ Statute. In particular, Section 82.3 establishes the legally...

In Ireland, collective bargaining is organised as a three-tier system, with a dominance of bargaining and complementary bargaining at sectoral and company level. For over two decades collective bargaining, covering the unionised private and public sectors, has been regulated by national...