Documents Barbier, Jean-Claude 44 results

"Dans le domaine des politiques et des services sociaux, du droit du travail et de la protection sociale, la répartition des compétences a peu changé depuis le traité initial de la Communauté européenne en 1957. Pourtant, au fur et à mesure des années, l'impact du droit européen des libertés économiques n'a pas cessé de croître. Son influence sur le droit du travail et les arrangements collectifs de protection sociale est de plus en plus mise en lumière avec la nouvelle jurisprudence de la Cour de justice de l'Union européenne. Les acteurs des services sociaux dans les pays membres les plus anciens en sont de plus en plus conscients et ils sont inquiets pour une grande partie d'entre eux, notamment dans les associations. De l'autre côté, les associations se félicitent des avancées des droits individuels qui sont dues à l'influence résolue du droit de l'Union. Ce droit apparaît comme le dieu Janus, avec ses deux visages."

"La Stratégie européenne pour l'emploi a-t-elle un impact substantiel sur les politiques nationales ? L'article s'interroge sur son efficacité en matière d'européanisation des politiques de l'emploi et, plus largement, sur l'articulation des politiques économiques et sociales au niveau communautaire. Malgré la méthode de coordination ouverte, les politiques nationales restent des agrégats de programmes nationaux. Une esquisse de théorie des transformations liées à la SEE dégage trois types : transformations des représentations et des discours nationaux, transformations organisationnelles, convergence effectives des programmes et des systèmes et conclut que la diversité nationale ne s'est pas réduite. Quant à la macroéconomie et à l'emploi, ils restent des domaines séparés."

"The ESOPE project focused on precarious employment (PE). It sought to study how PE is understood in both scientific and policy terms, what is its incidence, and how it could be explained, paying particular attention to sectoral and policy factors. To do this, the project undertook three main strands of research: literature review, policy analysis, and empirical research through case studies. Three dynamic and expanding service sectors were the object of in-depth case study research: Call Centres, studied in Spain, Italy and Germany; the Performing Arts, studied in France and the UK, and, through existing surveys, at the EU-15 level; and Domiciliary Care for the Elderly, studied in Spain, France, Italy, and England. In the five countries of our study there is usually a reference, often implicit, to a standard or norm of employment, and what falls below such a norm (and can thus be considered precarious) is expressed in each country by means of different notions, e.g. insecure, poor quality, casual or indeed precarious employment. Yet, such a norm is comparatively weak in the UK, and the term PE is rarely used in the UK and only in some scientific contexts in Germany.
PE was understood as a multidimensional concept involving diverse combinations of insecurity and instability, poor working conditions, insufficient pay, and lack of protection. Operationally, however, this notion presents a major problem: how to combine these dimensions in an integrated measure - a challenging problem also obtaining in the case of the notion of 'quality of employment' to which no satisfactory solution, as f ar as we known, has been provided in the literature. Estimations of the incidence of PE at the national level may however be done through the aggregation of different forms of PE. Such estimations vary, as it may range from 25-30% in some countries to 40-45% of total employment in others - figures which might be higher if account were taken of PE in the informal economy and hybrid forms of employment combining characteristics of self and waged employment which seem to have recently grown. Overall, the research evidence showed a very high incidence of PE in the three service sectors studied. Indeed these sectors were found to be largely built on the basis of highly varied and complex patterns of PE: fixed-term, marginal, agency, and casual employment; low working hours; self and quasi self-employment; project and on call work; and undeclared and illegal work. Overall there are no professional prospects (call centres), seniority and salary progression are almost systematically denied (particularly in call centres), trajectories are discontinuous and unpredictable (domiciliary care and performing arts), and the exit rate is very high in the three sectors.
The blurring of boundaries between employment (which implies a status) and work, and between employment and self-employment, were found to be crucial to account for PE. Its growth appears linked to labour market deregulation, the encroachment of commercial law on labour law, and the spread of practices such as outsourcing and contracting-out. In particular, our empirical research has provided ample evidence showing that the generation of PE in the sectors studied is directly linked to the emergence of new modes of business and work organisation based on a redefinition of what their economic activity consists in, which directly results in a redefinition of employment itself as a set of circumscribed work tasks, projects or assignments. Relevant policy implications were drawn concerning the need to very significantly improve the survey instruments to better reflect the reality of employment (particularly in what concerns the new employment hybrids combining self and waged employment, low working hours, constrained part-time, low wage employment and the working poor, and undeclared and illegal work); further research needed; implications concerning national and European policy making (particularly in terms of new protections and compliance with regulations), and collective bargaining (particularly about the important role of social dialogue)."

"Highly valued by its citizens, the European social model is a defining feature of Europe and the European Union yet is under threat from the effects of both globalisation and the aftermath of the financial crisis. The Sustainability of the European Social Model addresses this issue in light of the current crisis that changed the landscape. It examines how social Europe responds to uncertainties that affect its development from a range of different disciplinary perspectives. The book begins by analysing interactions between EU law and national policies from a comparative perspective, highlighting the legal, social and institutional complexities that constrain the development of 'social Europe' It assesses the sustainablibity of EU law and policies in the areas pensions and employment policy and then focuses on two crucial areas of EU social policy: the regulations on working time and the provisions of social services of general interest.The expert contributors compare the experiences of a range of member states (and also bring in external comparison) to explore topics such as ageing, job quality, social protection and employment policies, social dialogue and the relationship between the various methods of European policy-making such as the 'community method' and the Open Method of Co-ordination. The analyses show that sustainability of the European social model will depend heavily on addressing failings in European governance. Insightful and comprehensive, this book is a detailed and timely resource for academic researchers. Its practical, policy-oriented insights into important issues in social and employment policy, as well as into European policy-making itself, will also be of great interest to practitioners and policy-makers."

"Les recherches sur « l'Europe sociale » ont longtemps eu pour principal objet d'évaluer le contenu de « l'acquis communautaire » et d'analyser les obstacles à l'émergence d'une « dimension sociale » dans le cadre du processus d'intégration européenne. La crise contemporaine de la zone euro conduit, à maints égards, à reconsidérer ces enjeux et à réfléchir aux enseignements à tirer pour le devenir de « l'Europe sociale », qui au terme d'une « longue marche » est dans l'impasse.

Ce dossier est coordonné et présenté par Jean-Claude Barbier et Arnaud Lechevalier, qui signent un avant-propos très complet faisant le point sur la notion d'Europe sociale et sur les conséquences de la crise pour son évolution, voire pour son existence même. Le dossier est composé de sept articles qui traitent de sujets variés : multilinguisme, jurisprudence communautaire, évolution des droits des travailleurs, etc. Deux d'entre eux portent sur des États hors zone euro, l'un sur la République tchèque, l'autre sur le Danemark. S'y ajoutent trois contributions suggérant des pistes de réforme : la première, de la secrétaire générale de la Confédération européenne des syndicats, la deuxième, de la directrice générale adjointe de BusinessEurope et la dernière, du sociologue grec spécialiste des politiques de santé Charalampos Economou.

"The current Eurocrisis has demonstrated the ambiguity of ‘European social policy', where, as the Greek case shows, the only place in European Union law where some form of ‘solidarity' is supposed to exist, i.e. ‘social policy', has no direct concern with it. The absence of solidarity at a time when it is most needed can be explained by persisting national diversity, and the incapacity of the system to generate political consensus, leading to the greatest outbreak of nationalistic political activity since the Second World War."

"The ESOPE project focused on precarious employment (PE). It sought to study how PE is understood in both scientific and policy terms, what is its incidence, and how it could be explained, paying particular attention to sectoral and policy factors. To do this, the project undertook three main strands of research: literature review, policy analysis, and empirical research through case studies. Three dynamic and expanding service sectors were the object of in-depth case study research: Call Centres, studied in Spain, Italy and Germany; the Performing Arts, studied in France and the UK, and, through existing surveys, at the EU-15 level; and Domiciliary Care for the Elderly, studied in Spain, France, Italy, and England. In the five countries of our study there is usually a reference, often implicit, to a standard or norm of employment, and what falls below such a norm (and can thus be considered precarious) is expressed in each country by means of different notions, e.g. insecure, poor quality, casual or indeed precarious employment. Yet, such a norm is comparatively weak in the UK, and the term PE is rarely used in the UK and only in some scientific contexts in Germany.
PE was understood as a multidimensional concept involving diverse combinations of insecurity and instability, poor working conditions, insufficient pay, and lack of protection. Operationally, however, this notion presents a major problem: how to combine these dimensions in an integrated measure - a challenging problem also obtaining in the case of the notion of 'quality of employment' to which no satisfactory solution, as f ar as we known, has been provided in the literature. Estimations of the incidence of PE at the national level may however be done through the aggregation of different forms of PE. Such estimations vary, as it may range from 25-30% in some countries to 40-45% of total employment in others - figures which might be higher if account were taken of PE in the informal economy and hybrid forms of employment combining characteristics of self and waged employment which seem to have recently grown. Overall, the research evidence showed a very high incidence of PE in the three service sectors studied. Indeed these sectors were found to be largely built on the basis of highly varied and complex patterns of PE: fixed-term, marginal, agency, and casual employment; low working hours; self and quasi self-employment; project and on call work; and undeclared and illegal work. Overall there are no professional prospects (call centres), seniority and salary progression are almost systematically denied (particularly in call centres), trajectories are discontinuous and unpredictable (domiciliary care and performing arts), and the exit rate is very high in the three sectors.
The blurring of boundaries between employment (which implies a status) and work, and between employment and self-employment, were found to be crucial to account for PE. Its growth appears linked to labour market deregulation, the encroachment of commercial law on labour law, and the spread of practices such as outsourcing and contracting-out. In particular, our empirical research has provided ample evidence showing that the generation of PE in the sectors studied is directly linked to the emergence of new modes of business and work organisation based on a redefinition of what their economic activity consists in, which directly results in a redefinition of employment itself as a set of circumscribed work tasks, projects or assignments. Relevant policy implications were drawn concerning the need to very significantly improve the survey instruments to better reflect the reality of employment (particularly in what concerns the new employment hybrids combining self and waged employment, low working hours, constrained part-time, low wage employment and the working poor, and undeclared and illegal work); further research needed; implications concerning national and European policy making (particularly in terms of new protections and compliance with regulations), and collective bargaining (particularly about the important role of social dialogue)."