Representativeness
Representativeness is the term used by the European Commission in determining the legitimate participants in social dialogue, provided for under Articles 154/155 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). To qualify, organisations must relate to specific sectors or categories and be organised at the European level, have member organisations that are recognised and an integral part of a Member State’s social partnership structure with the capacity to negotiate agreements, and have adequate structures to ensure effective participation in consultation processes.
Find the latest content on this topic below.
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Agriculture sector – 2026
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the organisations involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the agriculture sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the sector. This study identifies the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), representing employees, and the Employers’ Group of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union / Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union (GEOPA-COPA), representing employers, as the most representative European-level social partner organisations in the agriculture sector.
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Sugar-manufacturing sector – 2026
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the sugar manufacturing sector.Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Personal services sector – 2026
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the personal services sector.Eurofound carries out studies on the representativeness of European sectoral social partner organisations, in line with the request it received from the Commission in 2006.
These representativeness studies are carried out across multiple sectors and are designed to provide the basic information needed for the setting up and functioning of the European sectoral social dialogue committees. The research aims to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in each sector in the field of industrial relations in the EU Member States.
A decade on from first carrying out these studies, Eurofound analysed the European concept of representativeness, reviewing key elements such as electoral success, organisational strength in terms of membership, and the capacity to negotiate. The analysis can contribute to the discussion on whether elements of Eurofound’s methodology in its representativeness studies need to be adjusted.
At EU level, the European Commission first delineated the concept of representativeness in 1993, defining it more clearly in 1998 in its Decision 98/500/EC on the establishment of Sectoral Dialogue Committees. Representativeness forms the basis for allowing European social partner organisations to be included in the list of organisations to be consulted by the Commission as set out in Article 154 of TFEU, and for providing legally binding implementation of their agreements as laid down in Article 155 of TFEU. Representativeness legitimises their role and effective participation in European sectoral social dialogue committees. It is also about having the capacity to negotiate, which is crucial in negotiations leading to agreements implemented by Council Decision.
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
13 December 2024
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Extractive industries sector
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the extractive industries sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue, and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the EU Member States. This study assesses the representativeness of IndustriAll Europe, representing trade unions in the extractive industries sector, and Euracoal, Euromines, IMA-Europe, Aggregates Europe – UEPG, and APEP, representing the employers and companies, in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for extractive industries.
9 November 2023
Representativeness of the social partners in European cross-industry social dialogue
This study provides information to allow for an assessment of the representativeness of the national and supranational social partners at cross-industry level in the EU. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European cross-industry social dialogue, and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in selected sectors in the EU Member States. This study identified ETUC, BusinessEurope, SMEunited and SGI Europe as the most representative social partner organisations at cross-industry level in the EU.
23 November 2022
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Food and drinks sector
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the Food and drink sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in the EU Member States. This study identifies EFFAT – representing employees – and FoodDrinkEurope – representing employers – as the representative European-level social partner organisations in the food and drink sector.
27 October 2021
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Live performance sector
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the live performance sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the EU Member States. This study identified EURO-MEI, FIA and FIM – representing employees – and PEARLE* – representing employers – as the representative European-level social partner organisations in the live performance sector.
20 October 2021
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Audiovisual sector
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the audiovisual sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in the EU Member States. This study identifies EURO-MEI, EFJ, FIA and FIM – representing employees – and ACT, AER, CEPI, the EBU and the FIAPF – representing employers – as the representative European-level social partner organisations in the audiovisual sector.
9 December 2021
Industrial relations landscape in Europe
This report analyses and compares the industrial relations landscape in several sectors and activities that form a public service cluster across the 27 EU Member States and the UK – altogether employing over 57 million workers and representing 25% of the total workforce in the economy. It is based on Eurofound’s representativeness studies on the central government administration (CGA), education, human health, local and regional government (LRG), and social services sectors. The landscape includes over 500 national trade unions and around 400 employer organisations across the public services sectors, with the highest numbers of trade unions and employer organisations found in the human health sector. The aim of the study is to contribute to a better understanding of the overall industrial relations landscape of employer and union organisations in a number of sectors, while helping social partners in these sectors to further strengthen their social dialogue and build capacity.
6 December 2019
European sectoral social dialogue: Facts and figures
European sectoral social dialogue plays an important role in promoting dialogue between the social partners in industrial sectors at European level. There are currently 43 European sectoral social dialogue committees that bring together the social partners from the EU Member States – representatives of trade unions and employer organisations – to engage in dialogue on behalf of specific sectors. This research report provides facts and figures on sectoral diversity, social partner organisations, and representativeness at EU, Member State and sectoral levels.
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Victoria Cojocariu
Research officerVictoria Cojocariu is a research officer working on social dialogue and industrial relations, and contributing to projects investigating digitalisation, work organisation and workplace practices. She is extensively involved in the representativeness studies Eurofound conducts to support European social dialogue, as well as other studies analysing collective bargaining practices and the role of social partners at national and European level. From 2025, Victoria manages the EU PolicyWatch database. Prior to joining Eurofound in 2019, Victoria was a researcher for the Centre for Public Innovation in Bucharest and for the Open Society Foundation Romania, contributing to national and international research projects in the field of migration, education, access to the labour market of third-country nationals, as well as human rights. She holds BA and MA degrees in Sociology.
Tina Weber
Senior research managerTina Weber is a senior research manager in Eurofound’s Working Life unit. Her work has focused on labour shortages, the impact of hybrid work and an ‘always on’ culture and the right to disconnect, working conditions and social protection measures for self-employed workers and the impact of the twin transitions on employment, working conditions and industrial relations. She is responsible for studies assessing the representativeness of European social partner organisations. She has also carried out research on European Works Councils and the evolution of industrial relations and social dialogue in the European Union. Prior to joining Eurofound in 2019, she worked for a private research institute primarily carrying out impact assessments and evaluations of EU labour law and labour market policies. Tina holds a PhD in Political Sciences from the University of Edinburgh which focussed on the role of national trade unions and employers’ organisations in the European social dialogue.
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