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the institute for employment studies

the institute for employment studies. 40 years anniversary seminar 23 October 2008. BRITAIN AND THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL: CAPITALISM AGAINST CAPITALISM ? Richard Hyman London School of Economics. OVERVIEW. the view from 1969 Britain and the EU: capitalism against capitalism ?

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the institute for employment studies

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  1. the institute for employment studies 40 years anniversary seminar 23 October 2008

  2. BRITAIN AND THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL: CAPITALISM AGAINST CAPITALISM ?Richard HymanLondon School of Economics

  3. OVERVIEW • the view from 1969 • Britain and the EU: capitalism against capitalism ? • the ‘social dimension’ and British industrial relations • the Anglicisation of Europe ? • an unhappy marriage of conflicting capitalisms ?

  4. THE VIEW FROM 1969 (1) • In Place of Strife • ‘penal clauses’ + Donovan • primary commitment to voluntarism (Kahn-Freund) • support for collective regulation • transformation • law • decollectivisation

  5. THE VIEW FROM 1969 (2) • de Gaulle departs • opening UK access to EEC • uneasy relationship: ‘awkward partner’ • Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown: resist EU employment rights • but British labour law now partially Europeanised

  6. CAPITALISM AGAINST CAPITALISM ? • fog in channel... • de Gaulle: UK, US, Commonwealth are socially, economically and culturally distinct from ‘Continental’ states • ‘Anglo-Saxon’ and ‘Rhineland’ capitalisms (Albert) • ‘liberal market economy’: bias to ‘lightly regulated labour market’

  7. ‘SOCIALEUROPE’ • stakeholder capitalism • decommodification and solidarity • bias to collective regulation • institutionalised ‘social partnership’ • but varieties of welfare/employment regimes • hence ‘European social model’ imprecise: arena of contest

  8. THE SINGLE MARKET AND THE ‘SOCIAL DIMENSION’ • tension between market liberalism (4 freedoms) and social regulation • ‘Treaty base’: limited EU social competence • expansion since Maastricht • but multiple veto points

  9. EUROPEAN SOCIAL REGULATION AND BRITISH INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS • working time • employment protection and ‘atypical’ work • information and consultation • equal opportunities

  10. WORKING TIME • UK exceptional: no general legal maximum • ‘health and safety’ Treaty base (QMV) WTD 1993  Regulations 1998 • revision? key issues: • individual opt-out • ‘reference period’ • on-call time • what practical impact ?

  11. EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION AND ‘ATYPICAL’ WORK • unfair dismissal: IRA 1971 – but less protection than in most EU states • ARD 1977  TUPE: limits contracting-out as cost-cutting strategy • fixed-term directive: little impact ? • part-time directive: more substantial implications • agency work ?

  12. INFORMATION AND CONSULTATION • UK exceptional: no generalised system • EU: failed initiatives from 1970 • EWC directive 1994 under Maastricht social chapter • how significant ? • revision ? • ICE directive 2002  Regulations 2004 • what impact ?

  13. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES • Treaty of Rome  Equal Pay Act 1970 • Equal Pay Directive 1975: equal value • harassment, burden of proof, maternity, parental leave • Amsterdam Treaty and Framework directive 2000: race, age, disability, sexual orientation... • a radical cumulation of rights ?

  14. THE ANGLICISATION OF SOCIAL EUROPE ? • towards ‘shareholder value’ • eastern varieties of capitalism • EES: supply-side agenda • adaptability  ‘flexicurity’ and ‘modernisation’ • ECJ: free movement overrides social protection • the ghost of Bolkestein

  15. AN UNHAPPY MARRIAGE OF CONFLICTING CAPITALISMS ? • British IR: reluctant Europeanisation • repertoire of individual rights despite erosion of collective regulation • but market-making threats to European social models • UK: from maverick to mainstream ? • but have ‘free markets’ lost their credibility ?

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