European social policy and the Nordic countries

Book abstract:

The contributions to this volume have been brought together and edited from presentations made to a two-day technical seminar held in Brussels with financial and organisational support of the social affairs directorate of the European Commission on the 15th and 16th May 1995. The seminar provided an important first opportunity, following accession to membership of the European Community by Finland and Sweden, for representatives of the Commission to discuss with delegates from all of the significant labour market organisations throughout the Nordic countries some of the challenges and fears raised by the superimposition of a 'European-level' framework upon the fabled social structures of those Nordic countries.

The results of these exchanges offer a rich body of reference for those interested in the experience of the 'Nordic model' of labour law and industrial relations, and serve to set that experience in a context of social policy development for the European Union in the medium-term period up until the millennium.

The book is split into three parts. Part one, 'The Nordic labour markets and systems of labour law', covering the Danish industrial relations model, labour legislation and industrial relationships in Iceland, labour law and the labour market in Norway and labour law in Sweden. Part two, 'European Union perspectives on the Nordic systems', looks at Nordic labour markets and European social policy in particular from the perspectives of the European Commission, ETUC, UNICE and the CEEP. Part three covers selected background documentation such as the Treaty Establishing the European Community, the Agreement on Social Policy and the European Commission's Medium-term Social Action Programme.