Enhancing the Effectiveness of
Social Dialogue Articulation in Europe
(EESDA)
Project No. VS/2017/0434
Social Dialogue Articulation and Effectiveness:
Country Report for France
This report presents a country study analysing the articulation and effectiveness of social
dialogue in France. The methodological approach relies on desk research and semi-structured
interviews with social partners in France, aiming at obtaining deeper insights into how issues
are articulated in French social dialogue, actors are interacting, and how social dialogue
outcomes are achieved – and ultimately implemented. Following a brief historical background
on the industrial relations system and the evolutions in the French context after a series of
reforms, the report then provides both a cross-sectoral overview of social dialogue articulation
and the interaction with European-level social dialogue. It also offers a sectoral perspective by
looking at four sectors with a particular focus on four occupations within these sectors:
commerce (sales agents), construction (construction workers), education (teachers) and
healthcare (nurses). The research suggests a diversity of experiences both in cross-sectoral and
sectoral social dialogue articulation and their effectiveness depending on the type of actor (e.g.
trade unions, employer organisations, etc.) and on the sector of focus. The perceptions of
social dialogue effectiveness are mixed in the face of continuous reforms over the last decades.
Interactions with European-level social dialogue and social partners is considered as important
(particularly in some sectors), but the intensity of the interaction is limited when it comes to
involvement in the European Semester process
