Labour markets and industrial relations

Although the labour market and labour relations have been marginal to the process of European integration, present developments, both within member states and at the European Union (EU) level, have major implications for the European business environment. The last thirty years have witnessed profound changes in the nature of European employment, with important implications for both employers and trade unions. In the 1960s, the traditional image of the worker as a full-time, securely employed male in manufacturing was still fairly close to the norm. In the 1990s, the number of workers fitting that description has declined: the growth in the proportion of women in the workforce, the expansion of service sector employment, and the proliferation of part-time and temporary work — not to mention the persistence of high levels of unemployment (especially among younger workers) — have all transformed the character of labour markets and the nature of industrial relations. At the same time, a major new force in labour market regulation has appeared in the form of supranational government, initially in the area of the freedom of movement of labour but more recently in the progressive development of new rules regarding health and safety and the harmonisation of social protection and workers rights across the EU.