*** ANNETTE JOBERT (Ed.): Les nouveaux cadres du dialogue social. Europe et territoires. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes - Peter Lang (1 av. Maurice, B-1050 Brussels. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.net ). "Travail & Société" series, No. 61. 2008, 267 pp, €36.90. ISBN 978-90-5201-444-9.
The range of collective bargaining fora and social dialogue opportunities (between employers and trade unions) has been expanding in the European Union. These days, industry-specific and sector-specific and regulation is the crux of the various national systems, but there have been major changes. Firstly, since the start of the 1980s, social dialogue in companies, in large companies at any rate, has tended to become independent of the law and industry-specific collective bargaining. New forms of social dialogue and negotiation have been emerging (in some Member States more clearly than in others) in regions and also locally in response to the devolution of state powers and the decentralising of state action on employment, training and economic development, which has torn apart the traditional negotiations structure and brought on board a wide variety of players with a view to meeting common interest objectives. The European construction project has also shaken things up with the development of European-level inter-professional and sector-based social dialogue and the introduction of works councils in multinational companies. This has opened the door to a Europeanising of industrial relations alongside a multi-country approach to forms of regulation.
Clearly, this diversification has raised a raft of questions, one of which being whether the diversification is part of the construction and consolidation of multi-level governance in the EU. This book, and the multidisciplinary research commissioned by the 'Commissariat Général du Plan' in France from 2003 to 2005 that preceded it, examines the diversification, along with its causes, pathways and ramifications. At the same time, the authors reflect on how the various layers of negotiation mesh with one another and the repercussions of the new forms of negotiation, consultation and partnership on industrial relations in general at both national and EU level.
Four areas of research have been investigated. Firstly, 'territorial' social dialogue is examined by comparing and contrasting the situation in Germany, France and Italy, three countries which increasingly decentralised public policy in the face of rising unemployment in the 1980s in order to stimulate job creation. In addition, the EU's employment strategy since 1997 has forced Member States to get their regions and local areas more greatly involved in policy. For each country, a general description of territorial social dialogue and the political, social and legal debate it has given rise to is set out. Experiences of social dialogue are examined in detail, enabling the authors to examine the involvement of trade union and employer organisations in local regulations, which cover a greater variety of aspects than 'traditional' work regulations, enabling them to query the strategies of 'traditional' collective bargaining stakeholders. The second chapter looks at developments in the historical context, examining the collective agreements signed in France during the 1936 Popular Front, a precursor movement. The third chapter looks at social dialogue in the telecoms industry at EU and national level in France and Italy. The authors start by reviewing the literature and examining the history of EU telecoms policy, before examining the structure and outcome of social dialogue in the telecoms industry in detail through interviews with trade unionists and employers. The fourth chapter examines multinational companies as a new social dialogue framework in the EU, studying legislation and the formation and mobilisation of the new trans-national representation body - the European works councils. The authors' analysis focusses on companies undergoing mergers, acquisitions, sell-offs and other forms of large-scale restructuring. The main lessons to be learned from the research are set out in the conclusions, which are just as rich and varied as the rest of the book.
Pierre Bouvier
*** MARIE-ANGE MOREAU, MARIA ESTHER BLAS LÓPEZ (Eds.): Restructuring in the New EU Member States. Social Dialogue, Firms Relocation and Social Treatment of Restructuring. Editions Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (see above). "Work & Society" series, No. 69. 2008, 232 pp, €32.50. ISBN 978-90-5201-456-2.
As the economic crisis hits the European labour market with a vengeance, the feeling among people in the 'old' Member States that newcomers are taking the jobs of people in the West has been boosted. Since the 1970s, West European economies have undergone a raft of types of restructuring, which industry felt were necessary to gain efficiency and a competitive edge. The word 'restructuring' is usually used in connection with redundancies and relocation of production to countries that are not necessarily part of the EU. One needs to bear in mind, however, that the economies of central and Eastern Europe are also undergoing an intense restructuring of their industries that is bringing social disaster and industrial success stories in its wake. There is a lack of academic literature studying this and in order to fill the gap, this book in the "Travail & Société" series analyses restructuring from the viewpoint of the new EU Member States. Moving in academic economics and social science circles, the authors examine the impact of the relatively new restructuring process in the new EU Member States, in the economic and social domains, examining the impact of national and EU policies on the concept of restructuring and the role of politicians and other stakeholders in protecting workers from the impact of restructuring. Divided into two sections, the study starts by looking at industrial relations and social dialogue (dialogue between trade unions and employers) in the new Member States and the new face of restructuring in the enlarged EU. The study goes on to focus on company relocation practices in central and Eastern Europe, concentrating on Hungary and Poland and looking at the social impact of the restructuring process. The book is decidedly technical and will be of interest to social science researchers and academics first and foremost but will also be a good read for any readers interested in the tangible aspects of restructuring in the European Union.
(NDu)
*** RUUD J. A. MUFFELS (Ed.): Flexibility and Employment Security in Europe. Labour Markets in Transition. Edward Elgar Publishing (The Lypiatts, 15 Lansdown Road, Cheltenham, Glos, GL50 2JA, UK. Tel: (44-1242) 226934 - Fax: 262111 - email: info@e-elgar.co.uk - Internet: http://www.oup.com ).2008, 407 pp. ISBN 978-1-84720-464-6.
This research looks at the need for flexibility on the European labour markets and how national employment policies pursue this agenda while protecting high quality, highly paid jobs. Arising from the TLM.Net programme, this collection of essays by a series of social science and economics researchers and lecturers pays particular attention to the labour market choices made in this connection in the different countries of Europe, listing the similarities and differences between the different labour markets. It examines the extent to which European social labour legislation can help achieve high levels of flexibility while ensuring security of employment and income for workers. The authors shed light on why some EU Member States perform better than others in this domain. They compare and contrast the labour markets of several EU countries, identifying the dynamics and assessing changes to the markets in question. They also analyse the best practice of countries like Australia, Canada and Denmark to see how it could be more widely introduced in the EU. The book will be useful reading for economics students and anyone taking decisions about jobs and employment who needs to understand the interaction between labour market flexibility and security for workers.
(NDu)
*** DAVID NATALI: Pensions in Europe, European Pensions. The Evolution of Pension Policy at National and Supranational Level. Presses Interuniversitaires Européennes / Peter Lang (see above). 2008, 290 pp, €31-90. ISBN 978-90-5201-460-9.
Pensions, so fundamental to the social economy model defended at EU level, are in danger. The aging population is encouraging constant changes at national level, whilst the European Union attempts to better coordinate pension policies using its soft law tools. Although this constant process of re-examining policy has given much food for thoughts for experts, this book's author points out that the research to date has been far too focussed on comparing national policies. He certainly does not reject such comparisons, looking himself at the development of pension systems in nine European countries, but the author focusses on the need to move beyond this and look more closely at how national and supranational pensions bodies interact. Based on a research programme carried out by the European Social Observatory (monitoring centre), the book looks at the establishment of pension systems as a "game at two levels" where the Open Coordination Method introduced by the 2001 Laeken Economic plays a far great role that might appear at first sight. Taking account of the this (and the welfare mix whereby the pension system is a combination of state, the market, the community and the family), David Natali provides innovative research with an original raising of the question of convergence, the European Union's role, and past and future changes to the European pension system.
(TBa)
*** STELLA AVALLONE, BIANCA VALOTA-CAVALLOTTI (Eds.): The Role of Women in Central Europe after EU Enlargement. Challenges of Gender Equality Policy in a Wider Europe. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, CH-2542 Pieterlen, Switzerland. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - Fax: 3761727 - email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Marie Jahoda sozialwissenschaftliche Studien" series, No. 1. 2009, 271 pp, ISBN 978-3-631-56953-5.
The proceedings of a convergence held in 2006 by the Austrian Cultural Forum in Milan and the state University of Milan's Centre of East European Studies, this book looks at sexual equality in central and Eastern Europe. Historically, women in Eastern Europe were in a better position than their sisters in Western Europe, although the Communist regimes gradually deformed this by championing absurd levels of physical equality. In parallel, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, women were, Sonja Lokar explains "turned overnight after the first free elections, into the biggest group that lost out from the transition," due to lack of access to the governing bodies of political parties. Women would have to wait until 2000 and preparations for their counties joining the European Union before they could take up the fight again. It is this history that is dissected in the book from the historical, cultural, economic and foreign policy viewpoints. The conclusions only apply to the “new” Europe…
(PBo)
*** FRANCOISE THEBAUD, GENEVIEVE DERMENJIAN (Eds.): Quand les femmes témoignent. Histoire orale, histoire des femmes, mémoire des femmes. Editions Publisud (15 rue des Cinq-Diamants, F-75013 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 45807850 - Fax: 45899415 - email: publisud.editions@cegetel.net - Internet: http://www.editionspubisud.hautetfort.com ). "L'Europe au fil des siècles" series. 2009, 242 pp. ISBN 978-2-86600-562-3.
Little attention is paid to oral history in French historiography but some women historians are pioneers here, as is demonstrated by this book following on from a conference at Avignon University in France examining the past and present intermeshing of women's organ history and women's memories from three angles. In the first, the authors (all female European academics) provide historiographical and methodological summaries. In the second, they use case studies to examine the contributions of organ history to women's history and gender history. In the third, they examine the issues of subjectivity and memory within the study of oral history.
(PBo)
*** DANIEL FASQUELLE: Soins transfrontaliers: pour un droit ambitieux et clair de la mobilité des patients. French National Assembly's 'Commission Chargée des Affaires Européennes'(Boutique de l'Assemblée Nationale, 7 rue Aristide Briand, F-75007 Paris. Tel: (33-1) 40630033 - Internet: http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr ). "Rapport d'information" series, No. 1308. 2008, 85 pp, €3-50. ISBN 978-2-11-124992-9.
This newsletter hails the fact that the European Commission's draft directive on patient rights takes the initiative back from the European Court of Justice, but also criticises the directive's lack of ambition and suggests some improvements.
(MT)