Marco Biagi – författare

For two decades now, a social dialogue has been in progress concerning industrial relations on a European level. The publication of the first Report of the European Commission on Industrial Relations marks a significant moment: the general acceptance that European Union policy is no longer merely attempting to harmonize national regimes in this area. but focusing instead on the pursuit of such basic aims as keeping workers healthy and safe, ensuring that their interests are represented, and providing some protection from economic uncertainty.

In this book fifteen notable scholars and policymakers from six European countries explore the territory of industrial relations in Europe as it now stands. The important questions for which they provide in-depth materials include:

- How far has ''Europeanisation'' progressed in this field''?- In what ways does the monetary union affect industrial relations?-To what extent is the evolving European policy a ''pact'' between the national employers and trade union organisations?-What subtle variations persist in the theme of worker security versus labour market flexibility?- What is the ''new style'' of collective bargaining?- Is the power of the state government in industrial relations beyond EU intervention?- How will the Nice Charter of Fundamental Rights affect industrial relations?- W h a t kinds of labour law and social security legislation may be expected in the near future?- How is the globalisation of the market economy affecting wages and working time?- How does the prospect of EU enlargement to the East affect industrial relations policy?

As a detailed analysis of current reality in the field of European industrial relations, this remarkable book is of great value to a wide range of interested parties, including academics, business people and their counsel, policymakers, government officials, and labour lawyers. These essays were originally presented as papers at a December 2000 conference in Modena, sponsored by the Italian Industrial Relations Research Association in collaboration with the European Commission and the Centre for International and Comparative Studies in Labour Law and Industrial Relations of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia.

The eighteen essays in this volume concentrate on the issues surrounding workers'' participation, the area of industrial relations uppermost in Marco Biagi''s thinking at the time of his assassination in March 2002. The trend toward ever greater employee involvement in managerial decision-making has been growing in Europe for over a decade, to a significant extent as a result of Biagi''s work. From the start, he clearly discerned that the key to quality of work was worker participation. This book stands not merely as a homage, but as evidence that Biagi''s assassination will not affect the progress he was making.

In what amounts to an integrated series of recommendations for further European legislation on workers'' participation in industrial relations, the authors analyse and evaluate the following:

• experience gained from implementation of the European Works Council Directive and the European Company Statute Directive;• implications of the new Directive on Information/Consultation in National Undertakings and of the European Forum on the Financial Participation of Workers; and• experience in a variety of national contexts, including those of Japan, Italy, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Poland, and Slovenia.

In the final analysis, employee involvement-when it is a genuine commitment on the part of all stakeholders-is seen as a sharing of cultural values that successfully reconciles efficiency and social justice. Those who believe this is a goal worth achieving, for reasons both economic and social, will recognize in this book an immensely valuable contribution.