Prospects of European Sector Bargaining: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for the Occurrence of Supranational Interest Coordination

The aim of this study is to analyse differences and similarities in industrial relations systems in nine sectors across the European member states to identify the prospects of the European Sectoral Social Dialogue (ESSD). Industrial relations in Europe are characterised by increasing diversity within national systems and by functional convergence between them. Increased diversification is caused by the way in which employers adapt to competitive pressures and how trade unions respond to organisational and technological changes. Economic internationalisation and restructuring pose major challenges to collective bargaining and increase the problems of inter-class compromise. Institutional responses, expressing the heterogeneous nature of interests in decision making, are decentralisation and differentiation within collective agreement frameworks. When the structures of industrial relations systems follow product markets, collective bargaining at the supranational level is essential to achieve the protective function of coordinated bargaining. The strategic coordination of interests at the European level is thought to complement national bargaining policies. There are specific sectoral industrial relations factors that are partially accountable for the success of the European level coordination. Sectoral characteristics appear to be evident for the functioning of the ESSD and large differences in the outcome are apparent across sectors. Past research has not paid much attention to sector differences. In this study we analyse differences in the functioning of ESSD across sectors. It is argued that the functioning of European sectoral level interest coordination is favoured by certain configurations of sectoral and national industrial relations. In the context of the complex sectoral institutional and economic environment in which the ESSD are embedded a Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is applied to identify the prerequisites and prospects for the functioning of the ESSD.