Job shake-up faces resistance

Date: 11/07/02

IT'S crunch time for Europe's labour markets as a succession of centre-right governments attempt to usher in a raft of radical reforms.

The potentially explosive shake-up has already provoked general strikes in Italy and Spain, with further industrial unrest in Germany.

Trade unions believe that many of the reforms are simply a means of keeping wages down and making it easier for employers to fire people.

But companies say they need more flexible labour laws to compete in a global market.

Smaller member states, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden, where such reforms are traditionally easier to introduce, boast Europe's best-performing job markets.

But they, along with the bigger countries in the eurozone, can often find themselves at the mercy of the markets - and the performance of the euro.

For now, all eyes are on the likes of Silvio Berlusconi and José María Aznar, as they try to turn their words into action.

Europe's labour markets are facing radical reforms.