Social dialogue
Social dialogue can be defined as negotiations, consultations, joint actions, discussions and information-sharing involving employers and workers. Well-functioning social dialogue is a key tool in shaping working conditions, involving a variety of actors at various levels. It balances the interests of workers and employers and contributes to both economic competitiveness and social cohesion.
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.
Involvement of employer organisations and trade unions in the European Semester in 2024–2025
This report examines the role of trade unions and employers’ organisations in shaping the medium-term fiscal structural plans and the 2025 annual progress reports. It analyses social partners’ involvement at national level with governments, as well as their engagement with the European Commission in fact-finding missions, country reports and country-specific recommendations, and assesses their participation in the broader European semester, including the new social convergence framework.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.Policymakers need solid evidence to understand the changes taking place in the labour market and to respond to the changing dynamics of industrial relations in Europe. Eurofound uses data and analysis drawn from its network of correspondents in the EU Member States and Norway to map trends and patterns and to point to examples of well-functioning social dialogue at both European and national level.
Eurofound research investigates aspects such as social partner involvement in policymaking, employee involvement and participation, collective bargaining, pay and reward systems, employee representation and industrial relations at all levels. It examines the extent to which industrial relations have adapted to the emergence of multinational organisations.
The Agency has produced a large body of work extending over 40 years that has charted the many and changing facets of social dialogue in Europe at various levels: company, sectoral, national, European and international.
The industrial relations flagship report published in 2022 presents an overview of the most important developments in industrial relations, including social dialogue, between 2015 and 2019. Other work in this area maps the key dimensions of industrial relations.
Publication: Industrial relations: Developments 2015–2019
Publication: Mapping key dimensions of industrial relations
Social dialogue is a key principle of the European Pillar of Social Rights proclaimed in 2017. The emergence of new debates on social justice, democracy, the quality of work and new models for labour relations have been challenging traditional industrial relations and social dialogue systems.
Thirty years after the historic inauguration of European social dialogue at Val Duchesse in Brussels, the European Commission relaunched the process of a new start for social dialogue at a high-level event bringing together social partner organisations from across Europe on 5 March 2015. European social dialogue is an instrument of EU social policy, contributing directly to shaping EU labour legislation and policies.
On 25 January 2023, the Commission proposed a Council Recommendation on 'strengthening social dialogue in the EU' and published a new Communication on reinforcing and promoting social dialogue, ‘harnessing its full potential for managing fair transitions’, as announced in the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan. In September 2023, Commission President von der Leyen announced a social partner summit in 2024 to echo the summit held in 1985.
In March 2025, the Commission and the cross-industry social partners signed a joint Pact on strengthening European social dialogue. This builds on the January 2024 Val Duchesse Summit and its Social Partner Declaration.
European Commission: Val Duchesse Social Partner Summit 2024opens in new tab
Eurofound blog: From Val Duchesse to Riga: how to relaunch social dialogue?
European Commission: Commission sets out concrete actions for greater involvement of social partners at national and EU levelopens in new tab
European Commission: The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Planopens in new tab
This is a selection of the most important outputs for this topic.
20 November 2024
Tripartite Exchange Seminar 2024: The role of social dialogue in a green just transition
20 March 2023
Trends in national social dialogue in responding to external shocks or crises: Background paper
This paper provides an overview of the involvement of the social partners in policymaking and social dialogue in recent years, primarily at national peak level. It will focus on the evolution of social dialogue over the past decade and a half in terms of its response to external shocks, focusing on three key periods: the financial and economic crisis between 2008 and 2012; the subsequent recovery and consolidation phase between 2013 and early 2020; the recent series of new crises, starting in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic up to today’s combined challenges of inflation, the ‘cost of living crisis’ and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
1 December 2022
Social dialogue and collective bargaining in the hospital sector during the COVID-19 pandemic
This report analyses the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in addressing the challenges created or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic in the hospital sector. It also explores whether existing social dialogue and collective bargaining processes at national level were adapted in order to address these new challenges. The research included a literature review to contextualise the structural features of the hospital sector and an analysis of policy initiatives to manage the crisis implemented across the EU27 and Norway. The findings indicate that the level and nature of the social partners’ involvement in pandemic responses varied across Europe. Social dialogue and collective bargaining played a prominent role in some countries, while in others the social partners were less involved. Although no substantial changes were identified in social dialogue institutions and processes, the breadth of issues they deal with expanded beyond the traditional areas of employment and working conditions.
7 February 2022
Collective labour disputes in the EU
In recent years, apart from some intermittent spikes, there has been a general decrease in industrial action across the EU Member States. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend has continued, with the most significant labour disputes not surprisingly occurring in the human health and social services sector, the education sector and the transport and logistics sector. This report analyses the data collected in 2018–2019 by Eurofound during the piloting of its Industrial Action Monitor (IAM) database. Using cluster analysis, the research classified industrial action in Europe into five categories: national disputes of interest and rights, sometimes involving different forms of employment; extended disputes about collective pay agreements; localised disputes about employment problems, working time and restructuring, with short work stoppages; localised disputes about workers’ rights and grievances over company policies; and disputes concerning public policies.
In terms of specific issues, problems over pay accounted for over 40% of disputes, employment problems accounted for 20%, other aspects of working conditions accounted for 16% and protests accounted for 13%. Noting the lack of complete data on industrial action in Europe, the analysis points to the need for a systematic collection of empirical evidence in the future to provide a sound basis for comparative analysis.
23 March 2021
Working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020
This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2020 for 29 countries – the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the United Kingdom. The country reports summarise first evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working life based on national research and survey results. They outline the policy responses of governments and social partners in their efforts to cushion the socioeconomic effects and include a focus on policy areas that have been accelerated or disrupted due to the crisis. Finally, the reports explore the impact of the pandemic on industrial action, working time and wages.
Please note that there is no consolidated report on working life in the EU in 2020.
9 March 2021
Involvement of social partners in policymaking during the COVID-19 outbreak
Since 2016, Eurofound has closely monitored the involvement of national social partners in policymaking as part of the European Semester cycle. In 2020, the focus was on their involvement during the first months of the COVID-19 outbreak. While the pandemic has presented a huge challenge to social dialogue, the results of the analysis highlight how social dialogue can be an effective tool in shaping policy initiatives and finding solutions to emergency situations affecting businesses, workers, the economy and society. It is clear that the participation of social partners in the design and implementation of national recovery and resilience plans in 2021 will be key in the recovery process and for strengthening social dialogue going forward.
11 December 2020
Industrial relations: Developments 2015–2019
As part of its mandate to promote dialogue between management and labour, Eurofound has monitored and analysed developments in industrial relations systems at EU level and in EU Member States for over 40 years. This flagship report is based on the work done in this context during the last programming period (2015–2019). It draws on the extensive monitoring of industrial relations systems and social dialogue carried out by Eurofound on an ongoing basis. The overall aim of the report is to assist policymakers and industrial relations actors both to understand the challenges facing social dialogue and to identify possible ways to contribute to balanced and well-functioning industrial relations systems going forward.
12 October 2020
European Company Survey 2019 - Workplace practices unlocking employee potential
This report is based on the fourth edition of the European Company Survey (ECS), which was carried out jointly by Eurofound and Cedefop in 2019. It describes a wide range of practices and strategies implemented by European companies in terms of work organisation, human resource management, skills use and skills development, and employee voice. The report shows how these practices are combined and how the resulting ‘bundles of practices’ are associated with two outcomes beneficial to employees and employers: workplace well-being and establishment performance.
The analysis finds that the establishments that are most likely to generate this win–win outcome are those that combine a high degree of worker autonomy, a balanced motivational strategy, a comprehensive training and learning strategy, and high levels of direct employee involvement in decision-making, as well as offering managerial support for these practices. To boost the adoption of employee-oriented practices – particularly in relation to autonomy, skills and employee involvement – managers should be offered appropriate support, as they play a key role in the decision to initiate workplace change. They are also crucial to its success, as they must continuously support the workplace practices implemented.
Researchers at Eurofound provide expert insights and can be contacted for questions or media requests.
Mária Sedláková
Research officerMária Sedláková is a research officer in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. She is responsible for drafting overview reports for sectoral representativeness studies, management and quality control of national reporting on industrial relations, social dialogue and working life, and development of a project on collective bargaining beyond pay. Before joining Eurofound, she worked as a technical research officer within the Governance and Tripartism Department at the International Labour Organization in Geneva on the Social Dialogue Flagship Report 2022. She also worked as a researcher at the Central European Labour Studies Institute in Bratislava (2013–2020), focusing on social dialogue, collective bargaining, working conditions and sociology of work. Maria holds an MA in Political Science with specialisation in Comparative European Politics from Central European University.
Peter Kerckhofs
Senior research managerPeter Kerckhofs is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. His work focuses on the role of social partners in the European Semester and also on national reporting on industrial relations developments. Peter has a wide expertise in developing the methodology for representativeness studies, applying European and national representativeness criteria in the specific context of different sectors, while also accumulating an in-depth knowledge of the industrial relations landscape in various sectors. Peter has also worked on projects related to European Works Councils and European Sectoral Social Dialogue. Before joining Eurofound, he worked as a researcher for ETUI and UCL, as a political secretary for EMCEF and was scientific coordinator of the PhD School of the social sciences faculty of KU Leuven. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Master’s degree in Political Science from KU Leuven and one in International Relations from UCL, and has a PhD in Industrial Relations from the University of Manchester.
This section provides access to all content that has been published on the topic.
