Stakeholders’ views on and experiences with the articulation of social dialogue and its effectiveness

Bringing together five consortium partners, the EESDA project, implemented during 2017-2019, advances the current knowledge and expertise on the articulation of social dialogue in Europe and its effectiveness. It studies the ways in which social dialogue at different levels functions and the channels through which EU-level social dialogue – across and within sectors – affects the actors, decisions and outcomes at national and sub-national level, and vice versa. Research conducted within the EESDA project includes an assessment of social dialogue articulation between national and European level across 27 EU member states by means of desk research, an online survey among national social partners and interviews with EU-level social partners as well as other national stakeholders. It then concentrates on the effectiveness of social dialogue in six EU Member States (i.e. Estonia, Ireland, France, Portugal, Slovakia and Sweden – with distinct industrial relations models and traditions) and four sectors (i.e. construction, commerce, education and healthcare, with a focus on a specific occupation in each sector). Findings from interviews, case studies and discourse analysis are completed using network analysis that sets out to visualise and reveal strong and weak ties between different actors and to draw lessons for experiences and best practices in other sectors and countries. The analysis considers efforts that have a direct and indirect impact on social dialogue, such as EU Directives, Autonomous Agreements, Framework of Actions, joint projects, joint statements or programme funding.