This article examines the emerging legal and policy architecture of the care sector in the European Union (EU) and its interaction with national collective bargaining systems; focusing on the Italian healthcare and social-care context. The first part traces the emergenge of a functional – albeit still non-binding – EU concept of the care sector; reconstructed through an extensive review of secondary legislation; soft law and strategic policy documents; and the progressive institutionalisation of care in the European Care Strategy and the 2022 Council Recommendations. Through a longitudinal analysis of EU legislative and policy sources (1998–2025); the article demonstrates that European governance increasingly embraces an integrated understanding of care; spanning health; social and long-term care; and combining both formal and informal dimensions. Despite this conceptual consolidation; however; the EU social dialogue architecture remains structurally fragmented along national cleavages; as sectoral committees reproduce distinctions between public/private; formal/informal; and domestic/institutional care. This mismatch between EU functional definition and institutional representation limits the capacity of social dialogue to contribute to coherent regulatory outcomes. The second part analyses how EU-level principles resonate within Italian industrial relations. Italian collective bargaining in healthcare and social care is characterised by significant contractual differentiation; resulting in marked wage disparities and instances of contractual dumping; particularly affecting lower-qualified care workers with limited bargaining power. The article argues that accreditation mechanisms within the National Health Service (NHS) could serve as regulatory levers to promote upward convergence; provided they are linked to collective agreements concluded by the most representative social partners. Overall; the article contends that a coherent care sector requires legal alignment between EU-level governance and national labour regulation. Strengthening EU competences; redefining social dialogue structures; and enhancing national accreditation-based safeguards emerge as key pathways to ensuring dignified working conditions and sustainable; high-quality care provision across Member States.
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-9602-3167
EURICSE, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-8768-8167
Chapter Title
Reconstructing the Legal Architecture of the Care Sector: EU Governance, Social Dialogue, and Italian Collective Bargaining
Authors
Samuele Renzi, Michele Mazzetti
Language
English
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1029-4.13
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
CARE4CARE - We Care for Those Who Care - Vol. III
Book Subtitle
Building Dignified Care Work in Europe: Critical Reflections, Policy Proposals and Practical Tools
Editors
Maria Luisa Vallauri, William Chiaromonte
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
408
Publication Year
2026
Copyright Information
© 2026 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-1029-4
ISBN Print
979-12-215-1028-7
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-1029-4
eISBN (epub)
979-12-215-1030-0
Series Title
Studi sul lavoro di cura - Studies on Care Work