Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Catering sector

This study sets out to provide the necessary information for establishing sectoral social dialogue in the contract catering sector. It first sketches the sector’s economic situation, then analyses the social partner organisations in all 27 EU Member States, focusing on membership levels, role in collective bargaining and public policy, and national and European affiliations. Finally, the study explores the representative associations at European level, particularly their membership composition and their 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 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.