Aliki Mouriki
5) Overcoming opposition to the flexicurity agenda is possible only through social dialogue and
participation of all the stakeholders in the decision-making process. Otherwise, flexicurity will
continue to incite the same opposition as pure flexibility, despite its notable security dimen-
sion and success record in some countries.
6) Building broad coalitions is of paramount importance in view of pushing through difficult
reforms that put into jeopardy vested interests and with an uncertain outcome. In a context
of adversarial relationships and of low mutual trust, it is hard to expect the social partners to
reach an agreement on labour market and welfare reform,
Additionally, the cross-country analysis of Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Greece, illustrates
that:
i) countries with a long tradition in social consultation and negotiated change, like Denmark
and the Netherlands, are better placed to successfully address challenges and pursue reforms.
However, even in these countries, the balance of power between business and labour at any
given time can lead to an asymmetric exchange of concessions;
ii) the presence of a “culture of compromise” is the result of historic factors and is more likely
to be encountered in countries where the social actors share a common awareness of vulner-
ability and of the real issues at stake (i.e. Denmark and the Netherlands);
iii) although the process of European integration has given a significant impetus to the social
consultation process in both Spain and Greece, there is still a long way to go, especially for
the latter. Exogenous pressures alone are not enough to trigger off a substantial shift in the
attitudes of social actors towards concertation and cooperation;
iv) the scope and the effectiveness of social consultation also depend on the quality of the inter-
locutors engaged in the concertation process: how forward looking they are, to what degree
they can grasp the real challenges and opportunities, and whether they can transcend narrow
interests and mistrust to develop a new partnership approach;
v) the increasing heterogeneity of the workforce raises the question as to how suitable are tra-
ditional unions, by definition representing the interests of the more established and pro-
tected workers who form their constituency, to negotiate the flexicurity agenda and ensure
the employment and social security rights of the more vulnerable segments of the workforce
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