Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 - European Commission - Europa

noted, however, that many of the former national monopolies have continued to
operate and play an important role in their sectors;
national histories, traditions and institutions, which continue to shape markets in
different ways in different countries.
Another important trend is the delegated management of public services to private companies
in many sectors and Member States. For example, private companies in France are world
leaders in the water sector. In the UK, rail sector operators are private companies. Further,
contracting out of elements of public services to private contractors has become
commonplace in many sectors, such as cleaning.
The development of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is another relatively recent feature in
public service provision. Under PPPs, private companies are entrusted, under long-term
contracts, with the conception, construction, ownership, maintenance or exploitation of
structures and equipment. The UK uses this formula widely, employing it in the construction
and operation of roads, hospitals and schools, and the general management of prisons.
Ireland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France and Greece have also used PPPs. In the new
EU Member States, this type of management is rarely used but it is encouraged by a specific
legislative framework (Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, and Czech Republic). In many
countries, the services produced under PPP arrangements are “sold” back to the
administration.
For further information, see Public Services – supporting the very fabric of European society,
CEEP; and Public Services in the European Union and in the 27 Member States. Statistics,
Organisation and Regulations. CEEP, May 2010.
1.6 Overview and classification of national and public sector industrial relations
models
Industrial relations are defined using many dimensions. Further, any sectoral, national or
supranational industrial relations system is described by its own values over these dimensions
which display differences and similarities with other sectoral, national or supranational
industrial relations systems. The preceding sections have examined typical industrial relations
dimensions such as union density, employers’ association density, union fragmentation,
employers’ association fragmentation, collective bargaining coverage, and collective
bargaining centralisation for the public sector and have highlighted and discussed the
differences and similarities between sectoral and national industrial relations systems across
the EU Member States.
This multi-dimensionality of industrial relations makes it hard to identify overarching and
general similarities and differences across sectors and countries over all dimensions
simultaneously. Visser (2008) was the first to achieve this over different dimensions by
identifying national industrial relations systems for all EU Member States. Visser provided a
comprehensive classification of industrial relations systems (i.e. models or regimes) on a
national level for all EU Member States in which five different models of industrial relations
systems in the EU-27 countries are identified as follows:
Organised Corporatism, including Denmark, Finland and Sweden;
Social Partnership, including Austria, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands
and Slovenia;
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