Strikes and minimum service laws in Europe

This briefing looks at the how the right to strike is defined and operates in other European countries, including any limitations placed on the right to strike in public services. This has been a topic of significant debate in the UK as points of comparison for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill 2022-23 as it makes its way through Parliament.

The right to strike

The general right to freedom of assembly is guaranteed by Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to which almost all European countries are parties. This includes the right to organise in trade unions and to take industrial action. A separate treaty of the Council of Europe, the European Social Charter, also guarantees the right to strike under Article 6.

Many countries, such as France or Italy, have further embedded the right to strike in their national constitutions. In other countries, such as the Netherlands, the right to strike is simply inferred in domestic law from the protections of the ECHR and European Social Charter.

In most European countries, case law (law developed by the courts) around how the right to strike should be interpreted and its relation to other essential rights and freedoms has developed over time. In some countries this case law forms the basis for any limitations placed on the right to strike in key public services, while in others limitations are explicitly set out in statute.

Restrictions on strikes in public services

Most European countries have prohibitions on at least some public sector workers from striking altogether, although the list of professions covered differs from country to country. Most commonly included are the armed forces, police and judges. Some countries also prohibit strikes from fire and rescue workers, public prosecutors or certain key categories of civil servants.

Laws requiring minimum service levels in key public services during strikes also vary across Europe. Some countries, such as Portugal or Greece, have explicit frameworks set out in statute for sectors where minimum services must be provided.

Others, such as Germany or the Netherlands, have no explicit statutory minimum service laws but court rulings have allowed restrictions to be imposed in practice for certain services where the right to strike is balanced against competing public interests. France is an example that combines elements of both statutory and non-statutory restrictions.

A few countries, such as Poland and Austria, have no minimum service requirements in law at all. In Poland, however, there is still an extensive list of professions prohibited from striking altogether.

Where minimum service levels do exist, their breadth and extent also vary. Some countries, such as Finland or Croatia, draw these restrictions narrowly around the protection of lives, public safety and/or property that would otherwise be endangered. In other countries the competing requirement is a broader ‘public interest’, the ‘requirement to satisfy social needs’, or ‘provide services essential to the community’. These can extend to restrictions beyond areas such as healthcare and emergency services to education, transport, energy and telecommunications sectors.

How minimum service laws work in practice

In terms of how these minimum service laws operate in practice, most include some role for dialogue and negotiation with the trade unions, with agreements around how minimum services are set.

If negotiations fail, some countries, such as Estonia, provide for independent arbitration in setting minimum service levels by a Public Conciliator. Others, such as Portugal, allow government ministers to determine the minimum levels in such cases, following attempts at government-facilitated arbitration. Only in a minority of countries, such as in Spain, are minimum service levels set by government ministers in the first instance.

Romania and Greece are also unusual in setting a flat figure – one third of regular service – which must be provided across all restricted services regardless of the specifics of each case. In most other countries, the actual minimum service levels are determined on a case-by-case basis.

Sources for this paper

Except where otherwise cited, the information in this briefing paper is drawn from a series of written responses from the parliamentary libraries of other European countries, provided to the House of Commons Library in response to questions in January and February of 2023 via the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD). This is not an exhaustive list of European countries with minimum service laws. For information about proposals to introduce minimum service laws in the UK, see the Library briefing on the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill 2022-23