Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Manufacture of sugar

This report examines the operations of social partner organisations and collective bargaining in the sugar manufacture sector. The study first outlines the economic background of the sector. The second part analyses the social partner organisations in the Member States of the European Union (with the exception of Cyprus, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta, where the sector is not present), looking in particular at membership levels, the role of the organisations in collective bargaining and public policy, and their national and European affiliations. The third and final part of the report analyses the relevant European organisations, in particular their membership composition and capacity to negotiate. The aim of the 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 associations to be consulted under the EC Treaty provisions. Hence, this study seeks to provide basic information required to establish sectoral social dialogue.