Covenants are agreements between the government and social partners to implement
public policy. They are a form of soft law, guiding the regulation of
self-regulation, and are specifically relevant in bridging the macro and meso
levels of society. Covenants prove effective where actors share goals, and learn
to advance policy-making by monitoring efforts, effects and possible risks, and
by subsequently fine-tuning follow-up actions. Positive-sum outcomes often
result. We describe successful examples of this method of cooperation in the
realm of working conditions and employment, and claim that covenants can be
helpful in facilitating collective-bargaining framework agreements. In terms of
EU policies, covenants are an instance of so-called European Governance
Arrangements, the political and institutional foundations of which are still to
be developed.
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