Survey on bilateral organisations in Italy and four EU countries

Bilateral bodies are those agencies jointly established by workers’ unions and employers’ associations, managed on a peer-to-peer basis by workers’ and employers’ representatives. They are aimed at providing various services to their affiliated. The project aims at providing an overview of the functions and features of bilateral bodies in Italy, both at the national as well as at the sub-national level, as well as of their role in the provision of welfare state services and labour active and passive policies with focus on income support, training and apprenticeship. The survey is based mainly on the analysis of collective bargaining contracts, statutes and regulations of bilateral organisations, and on a wide range of interviews with national representatives of social partners, as well as directors and presidents of both national and territorial bilateral organisations.

Finally, the study envisages also an in-depth comparative analysis in four European countries (France, Spain, Sweden and Germany).

The results of the survey will be made available through synthesis reports and an online searchable database.