Towards the Single Employment Contract

Introduction. The New Frontier of Labour Law: Between Freedom and Security
1. Flexibility
1.1 The Origins of the Issue: The Demand for Labour Market Flexibility
1.2 Different Kinds of Flexibility
1.3 From the Standard Employment Contract to a Plurality of Types
2. Segmentation
2.1 Segmentation in EU Labour Markets
2.2 Contractual Arrangements and Segmentation in EU Labour Markets
3. The Single Employment Contract: Origins and Presuppositions
3.1 The Origins of the Single Employment Contract: 'Re-Thinking' Work
3.2 The Presuppositions of the Single Employment Contract
3.3 The European Commission Perspective
4. An Outline of the Single Employment Contract
4.1 Basic Structure and Application
4.2 Monetary Compensation
4.3 Legal Norms
4.4 Other Rights
4.5 The Anticipated Benefits of the Single Employment Contract
5. Contrasting Views of the Single Employment Contract
5.1 Introducing the Single Employment Contract
5.2 Criticisms of the Proposal and Some Responses
6. Selected Proposals for Introducing the Single Employment Contract
6.1 Italy: The Debate about Flexicurity
6.2 France: The Contrat de Travail Unique (CTU)
6.3. Spain: The Debate on the Single Employment Contract
7. Contractual Arrangements in EU Labour Markets
7.1 Types of Protection Offered
7.2 Incentives to Convert Temporary Contracts into Open-Ended Contracts
7.3 Cost Structures and Financial Incentives in Choice of Contract Type
8. Further Developments
Conclusions