The IRSDACE project funded by DG EMPL of the European Commission aimed at increasing the knowledge on the collaborative economy within the context of industrial relations and social dialogue.
It aimed to identify how traditional players in the labour market, e.g. trade unions, employers’ associations, member states and the EU, experience and respond to the collaborative economy.
Specific objectives were to gather a comparative and detailed understanding of the current situation in industrial relations but also potential for better social dialogue in the area of collaborative economy through research and dissemination activities, which will increase understanding and knowledge on the role of different social partners, highlighting where remedies are needed, and possible policy actions in a comparative manner across seven European countries with different industrial relations experiences.
IRSDACE had five main tasks: i) conceptualisation of platform work, its place in the labour market, employment policy and industrial relations; ii) analysis of discourse on platform economy among established industrial relations actors; iii) assessment of the implications of workers’ experience with the platform economy for industrial relations and social dialogue; iv) comparative analysis of national experiences; and v) analysis of how EU-level employment policy and the industrial relations agenda should respond to the emergence of work in the platforms economy.
Seven country case studies have been produced in this project covering Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Spain and Denmark. The project combined mixed research methodologies such as desk research and literature reviews, online survey, semi-structured interviews, data analytics and country focus groups to provide comparative national and EU-level policy-oriented research findings on the topic.
