Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

cabinet resignation, Romania reneged on a minimum wage agreement signed by all
partners in 2008.
Pay, pensions and austerity
Amongst the austerity measures implemented in many countries, pay and pensions
are now arenas of conflict in the context of government austerity measures,
undertaken in response to the economic crisis. In the teeth of considerable opposition,
the Polish government raised the general retirement age for men and women to 67 for
those in army, police and uniformed services. Generalised reductions and freezes in
social benefits introduced by a recent fiscal austerity bill in Romania provoked
widespread demonstrations among wide-ranging sectors of the population, resulting
in a cabinet resignation in early 2012.
Combating the effects of the crisis
More positively, interventions on economic regeneration are providing a way of
combating the effects of the economic crisis. Lithuania has introduced a series of
ESF-funded initiatives aimed at capacity building in social dialogue for unions and
employers and designed to feed into economic growth. Additional programmes of
vocational training and certification also seek to reduce unemployment. Lithuania is
joined by Bulgaria in adopting an approach that acknowledges the importance of the
social economy in stimulating the “real” economy. Crucially, the perennial theme of
young people’s insertion into the labour market is also addressed by Bulgaria, not
merely to ease transition from school to work and reduce youth unemployment from
its current high of 30%, but to provide benefits to employers. This First Job National
Agreement is supported by all social partners.
Source: EIRO
For more information on social pacts in selected CEECs, see box 2.3. For a round-up
of public sector austerity measures and social partner responses in the CEECs, see
table 2.10.
2.5 Conclusions and prospects for the future development in industrial relations in
CEECs
This concluding section evaluates the future prospects for industrial relations in the CEECs,
based on past and present developments. When taking into account the structural indicators
(such as union/employer density, bargaining coverage, industrial conflict), the future of
industrial relations in CEECs is contested. However, the evaluation of future prospects should
not be based on structural indicators alone. It is important to reflect on two key issues, which
proved to have a large impact on the future of industrial relations in the CEECs. These are the
coordinated Europeanisation of social standards and industrial relations across the EU
Member States on the one hand, and individual revitalisation strategies of national social
partners across the CEECs on the other hand.
The differences between the CEECs and the EU-15 presented in sections 2.2 and 2.3 have
fuelled various discussions on coherence and convergence across the EU after recent
enlargements. It became clear that Europeanisation as an upward harmonisation of social
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