ETUI Research

The second ETUI Policy Brief on social policy in Europe looks into the social dimension of the recently ratified Lisbon Treaty. Although it was widely expected that the Treaty will strengthen social Europe, the author demonstrates that it only partly lives up to these expectations and is very much lacking in ambition in this respect. Nevertheless, the minor contribution made by the Constitutional Treaty in the social sphere might serve to halt the current tendency to allow the economy to take precedence over social considerations provided that there is a state of permanent mobilisation and deep commitment on the part of the institutional players and social partners.

Reliance on private retirement pensions is on the increase both at Member State level, via the spread of quasi-mandatory occupational plans, and at EU level, as a result of initiatives including the IORP Directive. This Working Paper analyses the legislative and market trends that underpin this development, assessing the impact of the global financial crisis, presenting the regulatory improvements required, and delineating the future prospects of the market for supplementary pensions.

This Working Paper sheds light on the multi-dimensional and changing interplay between state, market institutions and social partners in relation to supplementary pension schemes, the importance of which is growing across Europe. The paper offers a lucid analysis of the responsibility shared among these three sets of actors to protect against the risk of old age by developing the provision of privately managed fully-funded schemes.

Trade unions are often portrayed as representing the interests of already privileged insiders while freezing out ‘marginal’ groups from employment, or at least from better-paid positions. But a new analysis, published by ETUI researchers Rory O’Farrell and Andrew Watt in the journal Intereconomics, compares EU countries and finds that both income inequalities and unemployment rates tend to be lower in countries with strong trade unions.

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This Policy Brief considers the lessons to be drawn from the crisis for both public and private pensions in Europe. The author, Agnes Streissler, points out that both pay-as-you-go and funded systems are dependent on economic growth and are under pressure because of demographic changes. At the same time, private systems are considerably more risky in terms of the entitlements of successive cohorts leaving the labour market.

Little systematic theorising about EWCs has taken place to date. The aim of the volume European Works Councils in complementary perspectives is to expand the prevailing research perspectives on EWCs by drawing on theoretical findings from industrial relations research, organisational sociology and international management studies. The theoretical approach is completed by case studies.

Brian Bercusson was a leading European labour law academic and a true defender of European trade union and workers' rights. As a legacy for future generations but also as the expression of the trade union’s heartfelt gratitude for his unstinting attachment to defending workers’ rights, the ETUI Experts Group has gathered a selection of the most important writings of Brian Bercusson on Labour Law and Social Europe