The End of the “Flexicurity” Model and the Resilience of National Models: Labor Unions, Collective Bargaining, and Employment in Germany, France, and Italy

Since the 1990s, under the influence of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and of strategies developed at EU level, the notion of “flexicurity” has become the dominant paradigm for labor market policies. However, the crisis has led to a questioning of the appropriateness of this policy paradigm in times of economic recession. Since 2008, social partners and policy makers have faced a new agenda of fighting the employment crisis all across Europe. This comparative study of negotiated policies in Germany, France, and Italy shows the limited scope of Europeanization and the resilience of national models in this domain. We examine the stances of labor unions and employers’ organizations, their practice of social dialogue and collective bargaining, and the use of relevant policy instruments. We outline three paths toward the reconfiguration of industrial relations in the face of the crisis and provide evidence for three ways in which domestic actors can adapt the idea of “flexicurity” to the context of the crisis.