What do we know about the impact of social partners on European Union social governance?
Thanks to the recently concluded ShaPE project, academics, trade union professionals, and policymakers now have access to an unprecedented body of historical knowledge on the role of social partners in European integration—particularly in Treaty-making and social policy law-making. This knowledge provided the foundation for the project’s formulation of concrete recommendations aimed at strengthening social dialogue and modernising the EU’s social governance framework. In a nutshell, the project calls for a strategic re-anchoring of the EU’s social dimension within the Treaties, reinforced mechanisms for cross-border collective bargaining, and stronger institutional guarantees for the implementation of European social partner agreements.
On 9 December 2025, ShaPE partners recently had the opportunity to present their key findings to a broader audience at a concluding event held at the European Parliament in Brussels. These findings are available on the ShaPE project website.
Rediscovering the historical foundations of Social Europe
Through extensive archival research in Florence, Brussels, and Amsterdam, ShaPE reconstructed the decisive role played by the ETUC, UNICE, and CEEP in negotiating the Social Policy Agreement annexed to the Maastricht Treaty. The project’s academic publications demonstrate in new ways the complex interactions between the social partners who acted as active co-drafters whose proposals significantly shaped the final outcome, the Member States and the EU institutions. This process challenges dominant interpretations of EU Treaty-making and reveals alternative pathways for Social Europe that were considered but ultimately not adopted.
A digital exhibition and meta-archive make these materials more accessible to and understandable for a wider audience.
Clarifying the limits of social partner participation in EU law-making
Legal and industrial relations analyses show that, despite a Treaty framework that has appeared favourable to European Social Dialogue since Maastricht, its implementation has been uneven and often inconsistent. Case studies demonstrate divergent outcomes: some agreements were transformed into EU directives (for example, Parental Leave), others were blocked or left unimplemented (such as the Hairdressers’ Agreement and the EPSU case), while several negotiations failed to reach agreement altogether. The research concludes that although the constitutional framework supports collective bargaining, interpretations by the Commission and the Court of Justice have frequently constrained genuine social partner autonomy and hindered the development of a strong, co-regulatory European social dialogue.
Equipping Europe for future transitions through Treaty evolution
The ASPE Group identified major socio-economic transformations—AI-driven technological change, the green transition, demographic decline, migration dynamics, and evolving claims to social rights—that are set to reshape European labour markets. Current Treaty provisions are insufficient to manage these transitions in a socially just and coherent manner. ShaPE therefore proposes targeted Treaty adjustments, including:
- establishing upward social convergence as an explicit Treaty objective;
- expanding legal bases for EU action on the future of work, skills, and platform labour;
- granting social partners structured and guaranteed follow-up so that agreements become binding EU law when requested;
- redefining representativeness criteria to reflect actual negotiating capacity;
- supporting cross-border collective bargaining through the recognition of transnational agreements.
Together, these reforms aim to restore balance between economic and social constitutionalism and to anchor the EU’s transformation strategies in democratic, worker-centred governance.
About ShaPE
The Social Partners as Shapers and Makers of Social Europe: Discovering Foundations and Futures (ShaPE) was a European Commission–funded research initiative directed by Professor Claire Kilpatrick at the European University Institute, in cooperation with the Historical Archives of the European Union and numerous external partners, during 2024 and 2025. The project brought together leading academic institutions, social partner organisations, and policy experts to combine archival discovery, legal and policy analysis, and forward-looking institutional proposals designed to empower social partners in addressing the profound challenges confronting the European Union today.
Consult all of ShaPE’s research outputs here.