Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?
3. The rationale behind flexicurity
policies
3.1. The challenges of globalisation and the Lisbon strategy
Eager to address the challenges of increasing international competition, economic volatility and
technological change, the European Commission has been investigating over the past 20 years for
the appropriate policies and tools that would at the same time produce growth and jobs, whilst
safeguarding the European social model. Within this context, the elaboration of policies that — un-
like the American flexible labour market approach- would balance the flexibility needs of business
with the security needs of the employees has been at the centre of policy debate in the EU since the
mid-1990s. In 1996, the Green Paper on partnership for a new organization of work for the first time made a
mention to the need of pursuing flexicurity policies in order to address the uncertainties inherent in
the reorganization of work. Ten years later, in 2006, the Commission issued a Green Paper on the mod-
ernization of Labour Law where it specifically addressed issues related to different kinds of contracts
and the flexicurity challenge (Eurofound, 2007).
In June 2007 the Commission adopted a Communication “Towards Common Principles of Flex-
icurity: More and better jobs through flexibility and security”, proposing the establishment of com-
mon principles of flexicurity to promote more and
better jobs — in line with the Lisbon objectives- by combining flexibility and security for workers
and companies. These common principles, elaborated in close cooperation with the social partners’
organisations, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the
Committee of the Regions, were adopted by the European Council in December 2007.
Over the years, the flexicurity strategy became an important policy component of the European
Employment Strategy, the Social Agenda and the Lisbon agenda. Guideline 21 of the Integrated
Guidelines for Growth and Jobs stresses the need to promote flexibility combined with employment
security and reduce labour market segmentation, having due regard to the role of the Social Partners.
Other guidelines, in particular Guideline 18 on modern social protection systems, Guideline 19 on
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