The evolution of the crisis : developments in wage bargaining systems

The chapter examines the different wage-setting institutions in the EU and analyses whether collective wage bargaining has experienced a significant transformation in the latest decade. As emphasised in chapter 1, the economic crisis accelerated the long-term tendency to decentralise wage-bargaining institutions, especially by allowing more derogations to sectoral standards in lower-level agreements. However, although national patterns vary, decentralisation in many cases is still embedded in coordinated collective bargaining systems. In a context of decentralised bargaining, coordination enables social partners to consider macroeconomic objectives and the possible spill-over effects of wage developments. The chapter provides an overview of initiatives to coordinate wage bargaining across national borders.