Contingent Crises,Permanent Reforms: Rationalising Labour Market Reforms in the European Union

Abstract

Labour market reforms across Europe over the past years have near-universally been justified as responses to the financial crisis. Drawing on the results of INLACRIS' comparative study of a range of EU Member States, this article suggests that any such links are, however, deeply misguided: a contingent crisis in financial markets cannot be solved through permanent structural reforms in employment law. Excessive regulation did not cause the financial crisis, and the ensuing reforms can only be linked tentatively, if at all, to the problems facing national budgets. As a result, the reforms discussed may even have a counterintuitive impact, as they lead to a further deterioration of states' ability adequately to control and distribute employment risk.