The European Semester and modernisation of public administration

摘要: Public services across the European Union (EU) have undergone profound structural changes in the last decades, while the economic and financial crises which began in 2007-2008 accelerated this movement and accentuated changes that in some cases were already on the policy agenda in certain EU countries (Eurofound 2015, European Commission 2013d, Vaughan-Whitehead 2013). As stated by the European Commission (EC) in its report on industrial relations 2012 “traditional patterns of employment relations have been challenged, past trends in employment levels have been reversed, and public sector wages and pension systems have been cut and reformed in order to curb overall public sector pay bill and reduce public debt”(European Commission 2013d: 93). Degradations of working conditions and job quality could also be added to this gloomy picture (Eurofound 2015 2014). Moreover, the nature of public sector industrial relations has also changed rapidly in many EU countries since the start of the economic crises, although with differing intensity across Member States (MS). Collective bargaining has become more unilateral: in some countries authoritative decisions from governments have taken precedence over social dialogue. Wage-systems are more centralised than before and there is a general weakening of trade union influence over governments (Eurofound 2015; European Commission 2013d).The introduction of a new framework of economic governance at the European level, the European Semester (ES), contributed to this trend. The setting of binding rules constraining national budgets to sometimes severe austerity …