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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.

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    Eurofound research

    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.

    Role of social partners in policymaking

    The Agency maps the form and quality of social partner involvement in national policymaking in various outputs. Since 2020, the EU PolicyWatch database monitors if and how social partners contributed to designing or implementing national policies to cushion the socioeconomic impacts of policies set in various crisis contexts. The quality of the national social partners’ involvement in designing and implementing reforms and policies in the context of the European Semester process are monitored since 2016. Annual working papers from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents on developments in working life, including industrial relations, completes the picture on social dialogue and social partner involvement from the national level. 

    Representativeness studies

    Eurofound’s representativeness studies carried out across multiple sectors, following a mandate from the Commission in 2006, provide the basic information needed for the setting up and functioning of the European sectoral social dialogue committees.

    Employee representation and involvement at company level

    Eurofound’s main tool to monitor company-level social dialogue is the European Company survey (ECS), with the latest edition completed in 2019. Among other aspects, it monitors the existence of company-level employee representation structures, company social dialogue and collective bargaining in the different national contexts. 

    Regularly updated resources

    • EU PolicyWatch database: Maps policies related to different crisis contexts (such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine or the twin transition) and records for each case the form of social partner involvement. 
    • European Industrial Relations Dictionary: Developed in 2005 as an online reference tool for policymakers and practitioners, the dictionary is a valuable storehouse of information on employment and industrial relations in the EU.
    • Country profiles: These working and living country profiles provide relevant contextual information on the structures, institutions and regulations underpinning working life in the EU Member States and Norway and at EU level.

    Key outputs

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    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...

    7 februari 2022
    Publication
    Research report
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    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...

    23 maart 2021
    Publication
    Other
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    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...

    11 december 2020
    Publication
    Flagship report

    EU context

    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.

     

    Eurofound expert(s)

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    Mária Sedláková is a research officer in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. She is responsible for drafting overview reports for sectoral representativeness studies, management...

    Research officer,
    Working life research unit
    Publications results (252)

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional postal and courier activities sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their

    29 November 2024

    Three years after the adoption of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), this report reviews the quality of the social partners’ involvement in 2023 in the ongoing implementation of reforms and investments funded by that initiative. It also examines the quality of their involvement in the prepa

    26 February 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the furniture sector.

    08 December 2023

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the woodworking sector.

    21 November 2023

    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.

    09 November 2023

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football sector.

    26 October 2023

    Automation and digitisation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly powerful and pervasive. The full range of their effects in the workplace is yet to be seen. It is, however, important not only to explore the ethical implications of digital te

    12 September 2023

    After a long period of price stability, inflation has made a remarkable comeback in the EU. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis spurred by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the disruption of the international supply chain, among other factors, have driven up the

    06 September 2023

    In 2022, the European Semester process was updated to take into account the launch of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) in February 2021. Over the past year, Member States have implemented national recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) in a context of huge geopolitical and economic upheaval

    29 March 2023

    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

    20 March 2023

    Online resources results (436)

    Tripartite Exchange Seminar 2024: The role of social dialogue in a green just transition

    Explore our digital summary of the discussion during the Tripartite Exchange Seminar 2024. The TES 2024 is a joint initiative of four EU agencies – Cedefop, EEA, ETF and Eurofound – to put social dialogue at the heart of a green just transition in national and European social initiatives.

    Patterns and trends in social partner involvement in times of crises. 20-21 March 2023, EMCO meeting hosted by the Swedish Presidency, Stockholm. Presentation by Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras, Research Manager, Eurofound.

    23 maart 2023
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    Mixed impacts of COVID-19 on social dialogue and collective bargaining in 2020

    ​​​​​​​A first analysis of developments in working life in 2020 shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact on social dialogue and collective bargaining in the EU, Norway and the UK, albeit to varying degrees. While in some countries, standard procedures were by and large maintained,

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    Changing priorities: The impact of COVID-19 on national policy agendas

    A first analysis of working life policies and developments in 2020 shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has in some cases speeded up and in other cases slowed down several policy developments in the EU, Norway and the UK, albeit to varying degrees, and dependent on national contexts. Increased

    EU level: Latest developments in working life Q2 2020

    Activities of the European Commission and social partners regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, the high-level hearing on implementing the European Pillar of Social Rights and a fair EU minimum wage initiative are the main topics of interest in this article. This EU update reports on the latest

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    EU seeks views on the minimum wage

    Against a background of growing polarisation, it is worth remembering the model of social dialogue that allows us each year to debate and reach thousands of agreements that start from different and distant positions and interests.

    Latvia: latest working life developments Q2 2018

    A new agreement on overtime pay, a warning about the power balance between employers and employees, an increase in wages and a workforce deficit are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Latvia in the second quarter of

    Czech Republic: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017

    New employment strategies to address labour shortages, the post-election political shift in the Chamber of Deputies and an award-winning documentary on working conditions are the main points of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in the

    Lithuania: Trilateral agreement promoting social dialogue signed

    An agreement on reforms crucial to Lithuania’s economic growth was signed on 16 October after almost a year of discussions. The agreement, signed by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and representatives of the social partners, identifies long-term objectives such as improving efficiency in the


    Blogs results (6)

    The COVID-19 pandemic made us acutely aware of how dependent our society is on certain essential workers. We felt deep gratitude towards workers in healthcare especially, because they worked ceaselessly in often-difficult conditions.

    22 november 2023
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    Decision-makers approached minimum wage setting for 2021 cautiously due to the economic uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Despite this, nominal statutory minimum wages rose in most Member States and the UK, although at lower rates than in recent years.

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    In the context of the ongoing trend of a fall in collective bargaining coverage, and recent calls at EU level to promote collective bargaining coverage as an instrument to support fair and decent wages, new data from Eurofound’s fourth European Company Survey (ECS) show that two-thirds of workers (i

    28 oktober 2020
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    The workings of industrial relations are constantly evolving. In this blog piece, Eurofound authors Christian Welz and Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras discuss a tool that Eurofound has developed to enable this process of change to be monitored and analysed, enabling stakeholders in Member States to asse

    28 maart 2018
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    Europe has gone through significant economic change over the past decade. Businesses have had to manage the challenges posed by the financial crisis, globalisation and a rapidly changing labour market. Eurofound's new report Win-win arrangements: Innovative measures through social dialogue at compan

    3 oktober 2016
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    The new European Commission (EC) under President Jean-Claude Juncker is committed to re-launching social dialogue and a first step was taken with the organisation of a high-level conference in Brussels on 5 March. The aim of the conference was to discuss concrete ways to strengthen social dialogue w

    20 april 2015
    Upcoming publications results (6)

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the graphical industry. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation

    July 2025

    This report reviews the quality of the national social partners’ involvement in the implementation of the reforms and investments shaping the digital and green transition in the context of national policymaking. These reforms and investments stem mainly from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

    March 2025

    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 par

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the construction sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participatio

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the chemical sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the road transport sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participat

    December 2024

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