Flexibility and security: an asymmetrical relationship?
many), the abolition of incentives for early retirement (Netherlands) and the reduction of obligatory
severance pay (Spain).22 Often these unfavourable towards labour measures are introduced to offset
other more positive measures, but they also reflect the tendency for severe cuts in government social
spending.
A closer look at the aforementioned policy measures indicates that, despite their notable differ-
ences, there emerge a number of common policy features across the EU countries:
• an absence of radical measures, suggesting that cautious and incremental initiatives are
preferred to more spectacular and far-reaching reforms;
• an absence of polarization in the direction of either too much flexibility or too much
security, reflecting the concerns of trade unions, on one hand, to avoid further labour
market deregulation, and of businesses, on the other, to minimize rigidities and costs;
• a common trend to provide more security for non-standard employment and to reduce
excessive precariousness;
• a concern with reducing business costs as well as social spending;
• a focus on lifelong learning policies and on job transitions (training initiatives, incentives
to take up job offers, improvement of employment services);
• a top-down approach in many countries: flexicurity is not endorsed as a mainstream
policy but rather as an obligation to comply with the requirements of the European
Employment Strategy. As a result, rather than an integrated approach, piece-meal and
fragmentary measures are often promoted.
5.3. Ardent supporters, reluctant followers and the front of
rejection
Despite its high degree of institutionalization at various policy levels (the EU, the OECD, the
ILO), the flexicurity agenda is far from being undisputed. As one would expect, the degree of en-
dorsement of the EU flexicurity agenda varies greatly, both across countries and sectors as well as
within. Businesses, in general, are in favour of flexicurity and they consider it as “an appealing concept
22 See Eurofound report on “Flexicurity and industrial relations”, 2008
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