Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Inland water transport

This study sets out to provide the necessary information for establishing consultation procedures between those involved in the inland water transport sector. The report identifies the employers and trades unions involved and also analyses relevant European organisations. There is a brief outline of the sector’s economic background. The study also analyses relevant EU social partner organisations, except for those in Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia and Spain, which have virtually no inland water transport. It focuses on their membership, their role in collective bargaining and public policy, and their national and European affiliations. Finally, there is an analysis of the relevant European organisations, in particular their membership composition and their capacity to negotiate. The aim of the series of representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in selected sectors. The impetus for these studies arises from the goal of the European Commission to recognise the representative social partner organisations to be consulted under the EC Treaty provisions. Hence, this study is designed to provide the basic information required to establish and evaluate sectoral social dialogue.