States’ Social Security and Support for the Wage-Work Bargain: Reconstructing Europe’s Floor of Social Protection

My paper was given as keynote speaker on Themes III at the ISLSSL European Congress of Labour Law and Social Security. My presentation looked at European States’ social security systems and Europe's floor of social protection, with a primary focus on their support for the employment relationship and the wage-work bargain. After commenting on the effects of the post-2007 crisis, consideration was given to core features of in-work support systems and their inter-action with labour market distributive mechanisms like collective bargaining. A central argument was that whilst attention certainly needs to be given to repairing Europe’s social security and systems – something requiring new approaches at EU and European State levels to the way in-work support is funded and delivered - the welfare of workers and their families requires institutions like collective bargaining and wage regulation to function effectively. Such labour market institutions are an integral part of the overall floor of protection for Europe's workers and families.
Strengthening those institutions, as well as repairing the other elements in the floor, will be essential next steps in re-balancing the responsibilities of employers, individuals, and State schemes as part of a renewed, rights-based Social Europe.
Speaker's notes that informed the presentation, and the debates that followed the discussants' reports, are provided.