Are foreign multinational companies more or less likely than domestically-owned firms to recognise trade unions and engage seriously in collective bargaining? On the face of it, a multinational company is in a stronger position relative to employees as it can play off one group against another. On... Find out more

This Working Paper analyses the development of the interpretation that the European Commission has given to the TFEU provision concerning mechanisms for extensions of collective agreements. The paper examines how the Commission has reinterpreted these provision and the challenges this poses for the... Find out more

This Summer’s World Cup in Russia will showcase an array of expensive footballing talent. Off the pitch, however, moves are also afoot to bring the sector under the auspices of European Union employment legislation. This Working Paper looks at regulation of the football ‘industry’ in the context of... Find out more

This working paper looks at the views of managers responsible for European Works Councils (EWCs) within multinational companies on the operation of the institution. It also examines the policies of Business Europe on EWCs vis-à-vis the views of these managers.The findings of structured interviews... Find out more

While the European intersectoral social dialogue has been, according to the Commission’s own admission, dragging its feet for the last few years on account of a lack of commitment on the part of the private sector employers, the sectoral social dialogue is often presented as a more dynamic and... Find out more

This new working paper is intended to map reforms of employment protection law in the member states with the aim of addressing these legal changes in the context of the crisis, but also in the context of the deregulation agenda of the European Commission.The report critically addresses the large... Find out more

This Working Paper maps the labour law reforms in various European countries either triggered by the crisis or introduced using the crisis – falsely – as an excuse. Such reforms generally render existing labour law provisions more flexible and loosen minimum standards, shifting the emphasis to soft... Find out more

Based on a survey of national experts, this Working Paper evaluates from a European and national comparative perspective the austerity packages that the governments of EU member states have announced and implemented following the recent financial crisis and the Great Recession. The study raises... Find out more

In the run-up to European Monetary Union (EMU) trade unions across Europe began to coordinate their bargaining policies transnationally. This paper provides an overview of the efforts made by European and national trade unions to coordinate collective bargaining and wage formation at the sectoral... Find out more

The Viking-Laval – Rüffert cases raise the question of the relationship between market freedoms and fundamental social rights, with a particular focus on the freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike. In its rulings on these cases the ECJ has put in question... Find out more