Representativeness of the European social partner organisations : graphical sector.
Date: 2025-11-11
Institutions: Eurofound, Nicolitsas, Daphne
Subjects: EU Member State, creative industry, labour law, social dialogue, social partners

RESEARCH REPORT

Industrial relations and social dialogue
Representativeness of the  
European social partner organisations: 
Graphical sector

Representativeness of the  
European social partner organisations: 
Graphical sector

European Foundation 
for the Improvement of 
Living and Working 
Conditions

When citing this report, please use the following wording: 
Eurofound (2025), Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector, Sectoral social 
dialogue series, Dublin.  

Author: Daphne Nicolitsas  

Research managers: Tina Weber and Victoria Cojocariu 

Eurofound project: Representativeness studies (170203) 

Provider: Network of Eurofound Correspondents 

PDF: 

ISBN 978-92-897-2504-0

      doi:10.2806/3783220

TJ-01-25-020-EN-N 

This report and any associated materials are available online at https://eurofound.link/ef24005 

It is part of Eurofound’s Sectoral social dialogue series. See the full series at https://eurofound.link/efs006 

© European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2025  

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Cover image: © littlewolf1989/Adobe Stock 

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Research carried out prior to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020, and published 
subsequently, may include data relating to the 28 EU Member States. Following this date, research only takes into 
account the 27 EU Member States (EU28 minus the UK), unless specified otherwise. 

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is a tripartite 
European Union Agency established in 1975. Its role is to provide knowledge in the area of social, employment and 
work-related policies according to Regulation (EU) 2019/127. 

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1. 

1.1. 
1.2. 
1.3. 
1.4. 

0.1. 
0.2. 
0.3. 
0.4. 

2.1. 
2.2. 
2.3. 
2.4. 
2.5. 
2.6. 
2.7. 

Contents 
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1 
Objectives of the study ........................................................................................................................ 1 
Historical background of the graphical industry social dialogue committee ...................................... 2 
Definitions and methodology .............................................................................................................. 2 
Data collection and quality control measures ..................................................................................... 7 
Economic background and employment specificities in the graphical sector .......................... 9 
Specificities of graphical sector activities in the Member States ........................................................ 9 
Employment in the graphical sector .................................................................................................. 10 
Companies in the graphical sector and economic development ...................................................... 19 
Industrial relations in the graphical sector ........................................................................................ 32 
2.  National level of representation ........................................................................................... 39 
National trade union membership domain and strength .................................................................. 41 
Involvement of national trade unions in collective bargaining ......................................................... 49 
National employer organisation membership domain and membership strength ........................... 54 
Involvement of national employer organisations in collective bargaining ........................................ 63 
National collective bargaining and social dialogue patterns ............................................................. 68 
Participation in sectoral policies and national sectoral social dialogue ............................................ 69 
Fragmentation and pluralism ............................................................................................................ 73 
European level of representation .......................................................................................... 77 
Representativeness of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging in the graphical sector ....................... 82 
Sectoral trade unions not represented in the social dialogue committee for the graphical sector .. 92 
Other European organisations with which national trade unions are affiliated ............................... 96 
Representativeness of Intergraf in the graphical sector ................................................................... 96 
Sectoral employer organisations not represented in the social dialogue committee for the graphical 
 ......................................................................................................................................................... 106 
Other European organisations with which national sectoral employer organisations are affiliated .... 
 ......................................................................................................................................................... 110 
3.7. 
Representativeness of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging and Intergraf in the Member States with 
the largest workforces ................................................................................................................................... 110 
Capacity to negotiate and represent member organisations .......................................................... 111 
3.8. 
Effective participation in the graphical social dialogue committee ................................................ 114 
3.9. 
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 116 
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 118 
Annex ......................................................................................................................................... 119 

3.1. 
3.2. 
3.3. 
3.4. 
3.5. 
sector 
3.6. 

3. 

 
 
 
 
 
List of tables 
Table 1: Joint texts of the European social partners participating in the graphical ESSDC .................... 2 
Table 2: Classification of activities in the graphical sector used in the current study ............................ 3 
Table 3: Membership domain patterns of an organisation .................................................................... 5 
Table 4: Employment in NACE sectors 18.1, 18.2, 58.1 and 58.2, 2022 (thousands) ........................... 12 
Table 5: Share of self-employed people in NACE 18.1, 18.2, 58.1 and 58.2, 2021 and 2022 ............... 18 
Table 6: Number of companies in the graphical sector, 2022 .............................................................. 21 
Table 7: Number of companies by company size class in the EU-27, 2022 .......................................... 23 
Table 8: Number of people employed by company size class, EU-27, 2020 ........................................ 24 
Table 9:  Sectoral  workforce  in  the  largest  companies,  average  company  size  and  concentration  in 
terms of employment, 2023 ................................................................................................................. 25 
Table 10: Number of enterprises in NACE 18.1, 2013–2022 ................................................................ 29 
Table 11: Number of enterprises in NACE 18.2, 2013–2022 ................................................................ 30 
Table 12: Number of companies in NACE 58, 2013–2022 .................................................................... 31 
Table 13: Organisational density of trade unions in the graphical sector ............................................ 33 
Table 14: Organisational density of employer organisations in the graphical sector .......................... 35 
Table 15: Collective bargaining coverage and extension mechanism .................................................. 37 
Table 16:  Comparative  overview  of  the number  of  national  trade unions  organising workers  in  the 
graphical sector in each Member State, 2015 and 2023 ...................................................................... 41 
Table 17:  Comparative  overview  of  the  number  of  national  employer  organisations  with  member 
companies in the graphical sector in each Member State, 2015 and 2023 ......................................... 41 
Table 18: Scope of membership domains of sectoral trade unions, 2023 ........................................... 42 
Table 19: Trade union coverage by workforce categories, company size groups, geographical coverage 
and additional sectors of activity in the graphical sector ..................................................................... 44 
Table 20: Membership strength of the trade unions, 2023 .................................................................. 47 
Table 21: Overview of graphical sector trade unions’ involvement in collective bargaining in the EU-
27, 2023 ................................................................................................................................................ 49 
Table 22: List of graphical trade unions’ role in the national industrial relations landscape ............... 51 
Table 23: Scope of membership domains of sectoral employer organisations, 2023 .......................... 55 
Table 24:  Employer  organisation  coverage  by  company  size,  geographical  coverage  and  additional 
sectors of activity .................................................................................................................................. 58 
Table 25: Membership strength of national employer organisations in the graphical sector ............. 60 
Table 26: Overview of graphical employer organisations’ involvement in collective bargaining in the 
EU-27, 2023 ........................................................................................................................................... 63 
Table 27: List of graphical employer organisations’ role in national industrial relations’ landscape ... 65 
Table 28: Collective bargaining in the graphical sector by involvement of social partner organisations, 
2023 ...................................................................................................................................................... 68 
Table 29: Type of collective bargaining in the graphical sector by Member State, 2023 ..................... 68 
Table 30: Coverage of collective bargaining in the graphical sector by Member State, 2023 ............. 69 
Table 31: Consultation of employer organisations and trade unions by Member State, 2023 ........... 69 
Table 32: Social dialogue bodies in the graphical sector: features and activities, 2023 ...................... 71 
Table 33: Reasons for fragmentation and pluralism of trade unions in the graphical sector, 2023 .... 73 
Table 34: Reasons for fragmentation and pluralism of employer organisations in the graphical sector, 
2023 ...................................................................................................................................................... 76 
Table 35: Trade unions’ affiliation with European organisations for their graphical sector members, 
2023 ...................................................................................................................................................... 78 
Table 36: Affiliation of each employer organisation with Intergraf or other European organisations, 
2023 ...................................................................................................................................................... 80 
Table 37: Scope of membership domains of sectoral trade unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical 
and Packaging, 2023 ............................................................................................................................. 85 

 
Table 38: Trade union coverage by workforce categories and company size groups of sectoral trade 
unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, 2023 ...................................................... 86 
Table 39: Membership strength of trade unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, 
2023 ...................................................................................................................................................... 87 
Table 40: Overview of the involvement in collective bargaining of the trade unions affiliated with UNI 
Europa Graphical and Packaging in the EU-27, 2023 ............................................................................ 88 
Table 41:  Role  of  the  graphical  trade  unions  affiliated  with  UNI  Europa  in  the  national  industrial 
relations landscape, 2023 ..................................................................................................................... 90 
Table 42: Membership strength of trade unions not affiliated with UNI Europa, 2023 ....................... 92 
Table 43:  Role  of  non-represented  graphical  trade  unions  in  the  national  industrial  relations 
landscape, 2023 .................................................................................................................................... 94 
Table 44: Scope of membership domains of sectoral employer organisations affiliated with Intergraf, 
2023 ...................................................................................................................................................... 99 
Table 45:  Employer  organisation  coverage  by  workforce  categories  and  company  size  groups  for 
employer organisations not affiliated with Intergraf, 2023 ............................................................... 102 
Table 46: Membership strength of employer organisations that are members of Intergraf, 2023 ... 103 
Table 47: Intergraf-affiliated national employer organisations’ role in the national industrial relations 
landscape, 2023 .................................................................................................................................. 105 
Table 48:  Membership  strength  of  national  employer  organisations  that  are  not  affiliated  with 
Intergraf, 2023 .................................................................................................................................... 106 
Table 49: Role of non-represented graphical employer organisations in the national industrial relations 
landscape, 2023 .................................................................................................................................. 108 
Table 50:  Overview  of  the  representation  of  the  national  social  partner  organisations  from  the  six 
Member States with the largest sectoral workforce in the ESSDC ..................................................... 110 
Table 51: Affiliations in the Member States where the graphical sector has a share over 1 % of total 
employment ........................................................................................................................................ 111 
Table 52: Effective participation in the graphical ESSDC, 2022–2024 ................................................ 114 
Table 53:  Comparative  overview  of  the  social  partners  in  the  graphical  sector  based  on  European 
Commission Decision 98/500/EC criteria ............................................................................................ 115 
Table 54: Activities considered part of the graphical sector in each Member State, 2023 ................ 119 
Table 55: Features of the graphical sector workforce, 2023 .............................................................. 122 
Table 56: Features hindering the organisation of the workforce in the graphical sector, 2023 ........ 124 
Table 57: Means used by trade unions to attract members in the sector in recent years, 2023 ....... 126 
Table 58:  Company  features  that  hinder  the  organisation  of  companies  in  employer  organisations, 
2023 .................................................................................................................................................... 128 
Table 59: Scope of membership domains of trade unions not represented in the ESSDC, 2023 ....... 130 
Table 60: Trade union coverage by workforce categories and company size groups of non-represented 
sectoral trade unions, 2023 ................................................................................................................ 131 
Table 61:  Scope  of  membership  domains  of  sectoral  employer  organisations  not  affiliated  with 
Intergraf, 2023 .................................................................................................................................... 132 
Table 62: List of national trade unions identified as representing workers in the graphical sector .. 134 
Table 63: List of national employer organisations representing the companies in the graphical sector
 ............................................................................................................................................................ 137 
Table 64: Correspondents who contributed to this study .................................................................. 140 

 
 
 
 
List of figures 
Figure 1: Four different types of sector-relatedness .............................................................................. 6 
Figure 2: Number of Member States that consider these activities to be part of the graphical sector, 
2023 ........................................................................................................................................................ 9 
Figure 3: Employment in NACE sectors 18.1, 18.2 and 58, 2013–2022 (2013 = 100) .......................... 11 
Figure 4: Share of employment of NACE sectors 18.1, 58.1 and 58.2 in the graphical sector, 2022 ... 15 
Figure 5: Change in employment in absolute figures (thousands) and percentages in NACE 18.1, 2013–
2022 ...................................................................................................................................................... 16 
Figure 6: Change in employment in absolute figures (thousands) and percentages in NACE 58, 2013–
2022 ...................................................................................................................................................... 17 
Figure 7: Gender distribution of the workforce in the graphical sector (NACE 18) in the EU-27, 2013–
2024 ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 
Figure 8: Number of companies in the graphical sector in the EU-27 in NACE 18.1, 18.2 and 58, 2013–
2022 ...................................................................................................................................................... 27 
Figure 9: Number of trade unions and employer organisations in the graphical industry, 2023 ........ 39 
Figure 10: Activities and occupations covered by the trade unions, 2023 ........................................... 46 
Figure 11: Activities and occupations covered by the employer organisations, 2023 ......................... 57 
Figure 12: Number of graphical trade unions and employer organisations affiliated with UNI Europa 
and Intergraf, respectively, 2023 .......................................................................................................... 77 
Figure 13: Scoreboard of the representativeness of UNI Europa, 2023 ............................................... 83 
Figure 14: Scoreboard of the representativeness of Intergraf ............................................................. 97 

Country codes 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Cyprus 

Czechia 

Germany 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Greece 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

Spain 

Finland 

France 

Croatia 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Latvia 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Sweden 

Slovenia 

Slovakia 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Introduction 

The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the relevant national and supranational social 
actors – that is, the trade unions and employer organisations – in the graphical sector and to show how 
the  national  actors  relate  to  the  sector’s  European  interest  organisations  for  both  workers  and 
employers. 

The impetus for this study, and for similar studies in other sectors, arises from the aim of the European 
Commission  to  identify  the  representative  social  partner  organisations  to  be  consulted  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union  (TFEU)  and  to  be  eligible  for 
participation in European sectoral social dialogue committees (ESSDCs). 

The  report  is  divided  into  five  parts:  an  introduction;  Chapter 1,  which  gives  an  overview  of  the 
economic specificities and the employment trends in the graphical sector; Chapter 2, which sets out 
an analysis of the social partner organisations in the 27 EU Member States; Chapter 3, which analyses 
the  representativeness  of  the  relevant  European  organisations,  in  particular  their  membership 
composition and capacity to negotiate; and a conclusion. 

This section  presents  the  objectives of the study, along with a brief introduction to  European-level 
social dialogue in the graphical sector and a brief introduction to the chosen methodology. 

0.1.  Objectives of the study 

Representativeness studies are conducted for four reasons: 

• 

• 
• 

• 

the  European  Commission  aims  to  confirm  the  representativeness  of  the  social  partner 
organisations consulted under Article 154 of the TFEU; 
representativeness is a criterion to be eligible for setting up or participating in an ESSDC; 
representativeness  also  means  having  the  capacity  to  negotiate  agreements  that  can  be 
implemented by a Council decision, as provided for by Article 155 of the TFEU; 
this study can also offer guidance for future capacity-building initiatives. 

Representativeness  is  defined  by  the  European  Commission  decision  of  20 May  1998  on  the 
establishment of sectoral social dialogue committees promoting dialogue between the social partners 
at  European  level  (Commission  Decision  98/500/EC).  For  an  organisation  to  be  recognised  as  a 
representative EU social partner organisation, it must: 

• 
• 

relate to specific sectors or categories and be organised at the European level; 
represent organisations that are themselves an integral and recognised part of Member States’ 
social partner structures, that have the capacity to negotiate labour agreements and that are 
representative of several Member States; 

•  have adequate structures to ensure its effective participation in the work of an ESSDC. 

To accomplish its aims, this study first identifies the relevant national social partner organisations in 
the graphical sector, before analysing the structure of the sector’s relevant European organisations, in 
particular their membership composition. 

1 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

0.2.  Historical  background  of  the  graphical  industry  social  dialogue 
committee 

As mentioned in the previous representativeness study for the graphical industry, published in 2016, 
the ESSDC for the graphical industry was established in 2013, making it one of the youngest ESSDCs. 
The European organisations participating in this committee are UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging 
and the European Federation for Print and Digital Communication (Intergraf). Since the establishment 
of the graphical ESSDC, UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging and Intergraf have produced several joint 
texts within the framework of social dialogue (Table 1). 

Table 1: Joint texts of the European social partners participating in the graphical ESSDC 

Date 

Topic of the joint opinion or agreements 

20 February 2024 

Joint  statement  on  the  key  priorities  for  the  Packaging  and  Packaging  Waste 
Regulation 

2023 

February 2022 

Joint  statement  by  Intergraf,  the  Confederation  of  European  Paper  Industries 
(CEPI),  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging,  the  Federation  of  European 
Producers  of Envelopes  and Light  Packaging  and  industriAll  Europe –  ‘digital  by 
default’ or ‘digital only’ approaches in European legislation are not neutral 

Joint  statement –  Comments  to  the  ongoing  review  process  of  the  2006/42/EC 
Machinery Directive 

21 March 2020 

Joint statement on the COVID-19 crisis 

21 October 2019 

Print is vital for the future of reading – Intergraf and UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging joint statement 

17 September 2018 

Joint statement on skills and training in the graphical industry 

18 May 2015 

Joint letter on the better regulation agenda 

1 May 2015 

8 May 2013 

Joint statement – European Timber Regulation 

Rules of procedures – graphical industry 

Source: European Commission’s social dialogue texts database; checked in August 2025. 

0.3.  Definitions and methodology 

The methodology applied is linked to the criteria identified in Commission Decision 98/500/EC: sector-
relatedness, membership and organisational capacity. These criteria will be defined successively in this 
section. 

Sector-relatedness 
Sector-relatedness  means  the  demarcation  of  the  graphical  sector  in  agreement  with  the  social 
partners  and  the  European  Commission.  The  analysis  of  the  ways  that  trade  unions  and  employer 
organisations relate to the sector must include the extent to which their membership domains cover 
all types of workers in all types of companies in all types of activities in the sector. How the sector is 
defined is crucial for the assessment of sector-relatedness. 

Every sector is demarcated in terms of the general industrial classification of economic activities within 
the European Union (NACE) (Rev. 2) codes. All existing sectoral social dialogue committees have been 
demarcated  with  a  NACE  code,  which  defines  the  scope  of  economic  activities  covered  by  the 

2 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

committee. The NACE code to be applied in each sectoral representativeness study is confirmed by the 
European Commission after consultation with the social partners. 

In this study, the graphical industry is demarcated as NACE (Rev. 2) code 18.1 – printing and service 
activities  related  to  printing –  which  includes  the  activities  listed  in  Table 2.  Additionally,  the  same 
table lists other relevant activities included in the data collection exercise following the consultation 
of the European organisations participating in the ESSDC for the graphical industry, namely UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging and Intergraf. The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and 
Working Conditions (Eurofound) national correspondents in each of the 27 Member States were asked 
to clarify which of the activities in Table 2 are considered part of the graphical sector in their Member 
State. Further details on the activities considered part of the graphical industry in each Member State 
are available in Section 1.1. 

Table 2: Classification of activities in the graphical sector used in the current study 

NACE code 

Description 

18.11: 
Printing of 
newspapers 

18.12: Other 
printing 

18.13: Pre-
press and 
pre-media 
services 

Printing of other periodicals, appearing at least four times a week 

Printing of magazines and other periodicals, appearing less than four times a week; printing 
of books and brochures, music and music manuscripts, maps, atlases, posters, advertising 
catalogues, prospectuses and other printed advertising, postage stamps, taxation stamps, 
documents of title, cheques and other security papers, smart cards, albums, diaries, 
calendars and other commercial printed matter, personal stationery and other printed 
matter by letterpress, offset, photogravure, flexographic, screen printing and other printing 
presses, duplication machines, computer printers, embossers etc., including quick printing; 
printing directly onto textiles, plastic, glass, metal, wood and ceramics, printing on labels or 
tags (lithographic, gravure printing, flexographic printing, other) 

The material printed is typically copyrighted 

Large-format printing, although similar to printing of commercial materials (activities 
included in 18.12), can be considered a separate category because it uses very specific 
printing machines 

Composing, typesetting, phototypesetting, pre-press data input including scanning and 
optical character recognition, electronic make-up; preparation of data files for multi-media 
(printing on paper, CD-ROM, internet) applications; plate-making services including image 
setting and plate setting (for the printing processes letterpress and offset); cylinder 
preparation: engraving or etching of cylinders for gravure printing; plate processing: 
‘computer to plate’ CTP (also photopolymer plates); preparation of plates and dies for relief 
stamping or printing; preparation of: artistic works of technical character, such as 
preparation of lithographic stones and wood blocks; presentation media, e.g. overhead foils 
and other forms of presentation; sketches, layouts, dummies, etc.; production of proofs 

18.14: 
Binding and 
related 
services 

Trade binding, sample mounting and post press services in support of printing activities, 
e.g. trade binding and finishing of books, brochures, magazines, catalogues, etc., by folding, 
cutting and trimming, assembling, stitching, thread sewing, adhesive binding, cutting and 
cover laying, gluing, collating, basting, gold stamping; spiral binding and plastic wire 
binding; binding and finishing of printed paper or printed cardboard, by folding, stamping, 
drilling, punching, perforating, embossing, sticking, gluing, laminating; finishing services for 

3 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

CD-ROMs; mailing finishing services such as customisation, envelope preparation; other 
finishing activities such as die, sinking or stamping, Braille copying 

Other relevant activities for the sector 

Reproduction of recorded media is not traditionally a part of the graphical sector; however, 
it is sometimes included as a part of the sector. These activities include reproduction from 
master copies of gramophone records, compact discs and tapes with music or other sound 
recordings; reproduction from master copies of records, compact discs and tapes with 
motion pictures and other video recordings; reproduction from master copies of software 
and data on discs and tapes 

Printed electronics refers to activities such as the printing of batteries, flat switches, lights, 
sensors, displays, etc., and other conductive circuits. It is debated whether this is 
considered a printing activity or a manufacturing of electronics activity. The process is a 
printing process, but the ‘inks’ are conductive 

Activities of publishing books, newspapers, magazines and other periodicals, directories 
and mailing lists, and other works such as photos, engravings, postcards, timetables, forms, 
posters and reproductions of works of art 

Online publishing (although not precisely defined by this NACE category) 

Production of video games (although not precisely defined by this NACE category). 
According to UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, in some countries workers in the video 
game industry are being represented by the graphical trade unions (probably due to the 
similar skills / educational profile) 

18.20: 
Reproduction 
of recorded 
media 

No code 

58.1: 
Publishing of 
books, 
periodicals 
and other 
publishing 
activities 

Partially 58.2: 
Software 
publishing 

Partially 62.0: 
Computer 
programming, 
consultancy 
and related 
activities 

Note: Bold font used for activities included in the previous representativeness study for the graphical industry 
published in 2016. 

Source: Author’s compilation based on NACE (Rev. 2) codes. 

This study focuses on European and national organisations. European organisations are analysed using 
the top-down approach if they fulfil either or both of the following conditions: 

• 

• 

they are on the European Commission’s list of interest organisations to be consulted on behalf 
of the sector under Article 154 of the TFEU; 
they participate in sector-related European social dialogue. 

The European Commission may decide to include other EU sector-related organisations in the study, if 
relevant (e.g. if a sector-related organisation requests to be consulted, under Article 154 of the TFEU). 

A national organisation is considered to be a relevant sector-related interest association if it meets 
both of the following criteria: 

• 

the association’s domain relates to the sector; 

4 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

• 

the association is either: 

o  affiliated with a European-level organisation, which is analysed in the study within the 

top-down approach (independent of its involvement in collective bargaining); or 
regularly involved in sector-related collective bargaining. 

o 

Table 3 and Figure 1 show the membership domain patterns that can exist. The membership domains 
of trade unions and employer organisations can be exactly in line with the demarcation of the sector 
(i.e.  covering  all  activities  in  the  graphical  industry);  this  type  of  sector-relatedness  is  called 
‘congruence’. If the membership domain of an organisation goes beyond the graphical sector as it is 
defined here, it is categorised as ‘overlapping’. ‘Sectionalism’ is a type of sector-relatedness whereby 
an organisation covers part of the sector and nothing else, whereas organisations that fall into the 
category of ‘sectional overlap’ cover part of the sector and also have members in other sectors. 

Table 3: Membership domain patterns of an organisation 

Domain pattern 

Domain of organisation within the sector 

Domain  of  organisation  outside  the 
sector 

Does  the  domain  of  the  trade  union / 
employer  organisation  cover  potentially  all 
employees/companies in the sector? 

the 

Does 
trade  union /  employer 
organisation  also  potentially  represent 
the 
employees/companies 
sector? 

outside 

Congruence 

Overlap 

Sectionalism 

Sectional overlap 

Source: Eurofound. 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

5 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 1: Four different types of sector-relatedness 

Source: Eurofound. 

Membership 
Membership  is  another  important  aspect  of  representativeness.  This  study  looks  at  two  levels  of 
membership: first, the geographical coverage of the EU-level organisations (e.g. how many Member 
States  that  an  EU-level  trade  union  or  employer  organisation  has  affiliates  in)  and,  second,  the 
organisational density (i.e. the number of members who are employees as a percentage of the total 
number of employees in a given industry or Member State) of the national affiliates. Important aspects 
to be assessed are whether the EU-level players organise most of the, or at least the most significant, 
national-level  players  (significant  in  relation  to  their  membership  strength  in  the  sector  and  their 
involvement  in  collective  bargaining)  and  whether  there  are  any  major  gaps  in  their  membership 
domains. 

Membership of a social partner organisation requires payment of membership fees. However, some 
organisations  are  reluctant  to  inform  third  parties  about  such  payments.  Considering  the  limits  of 
transparency, this study does not always distinguish between different membership statuses. Where 
possible, indirect membership (e.g. membership through another organisation to which the employer 
organisation or trade union is affiliated) is considered in this report. 

Organisational capacity 
The organisational capacity of the European social partners is analysed in terms of their ability to act 
on behalf of  their  members and to conclude binding agreements  or commit to actions that  can be 
implemented  or  monitored  across  the  EU  through  the  support  of  their  affiliates.  To  assess  their 
capacity to negotiate, the actors and their objectives and decision-making structures set out in their 

6 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

statutes  are  considered,  as  are  the  outcomes  in  terms  of  the  texts  agreed.  The  processes  through 
which the organisations obtain mandates, support and approval from their member organisations in 
the negotiation process are also considered. 

The involvement of social partners’ members in national-level collective bargaining is also important, 
as it shows that they are able to obtain a mandate to negotiate on behalf of their members (at least at 
the national level, which could then also translate into a mandate to negotiate at the EU level). Such a 
mandate, whether implicit or explicit, allows negotiations to take place at the European level that could 
potentially  result  in  binding  agreements  or  the  drafting  of  European  autonomous  agreements 
(requiring  implementation  by  social  partners  at  the  national  level  in  line  with  their  practices  and 
traditions). The capacity to act autonomously in this way among those represented  in the graphical 
sector ESSDC contributes significantly to the ESSDC’s effectiveness. 

The  involvement  in  collective  bargaining  of  national  sector-related  trade  unions  and  employer 
organisations  is  also  a  factor  that  distinguishes  them  from  professional  associations  and  business 
associations, which defend their members’ interests only through unilateral lobbying activities and do 
not involve themselves in negotiations on working conditions through collective bargaining or social 
dialogue. Trade unions and employer organisations that do engage in collective bargaining on behalf 
of their members have a proven capacity to obtain a mandate from their members to negotiate and 
to  reach  compromises  and  agreements  with  organisations  representing  different  interests.  In  its 
analysis, this report aims to distinguish between these different types of organisations. 

Finally, representativeness also depends on the organisations’ structures and resources, their capacity 
to  encourage  the  active  participation  of  their  members  and  to  combine  the  different  interests  of 
member  organisations,  and  their  potential  to  act  autonomously  at  the  European  level.  Effective 
participation in the graphical ESSDC is assessed in terms of presence at the meetings during 2022, 2023 
and 2024. 

0.4.  Data collection and quality control measures 

Data collection 
Representativeness studies combine top-down and bottom-up approaches. The top-down approach 
includes all sector-related affiliates of  UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging and Intergraf, while the 
bottom-up  approach  looks  at  the  organisations  organising  employees  or  employers  and/or  those 
involved  in sector-related  collective  bargaining and  social  dialogue  in  the  Member  States  and  their 
membership of European-level organisations. 

Except where otherwise stated, this study draws on the Member-State-level studies provided by the 
Network of Eurofound Correspondents (listed in the Annex). Where precise data were not available, 
estimates were used. Thus, quantitative data (e.g. those data used to calculate density rates) may stem 
from any of the following sources: 

•  official statistics and representative survey studies; 
•  administrative data, such as membership figures provided by the organisations; 
•  estimates, expert opinions and assessments from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents 

or representatives of the organisations. 

7 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Other sources used in this report include the European Commission’s social dialogue texts database 
and the articles of association of the EU-level organisations. 

The information used in this study was collected by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents. The 
national correspondents are required to gather data on all of the relevant national-level organisations 
and  to  approach  them  by  telephone  or  email,  using  standardised  questionnaires.  While  the 
questionnaires are in English, correspondents can interview or contact the organisation in the relevant 
national language. The questionnaires are completed by the national correspondents. 

Quality assurance 
To ensure the quality of the information gathered, several verification procedures and feedback loops 
were included in the process of preparing this study. 

First, combining the top-down and bottom-up approaches, information on the affiliates of the relevant 
EU-level social partners and information on other sector-related associations was collected from the 
reports  prepared  by  the  Network  of  Eurofound  Correspondents  between  February  and  July  2023, 
which  was  subsequently  checked  by  the  author  of  the  report.  Where  necessary,  the  national 
correspondents were asked to revise the national reports during August–November 2023. Based on 
these collected data, an overview report was drafted by the author between January and November 
2024. 

A first, informal (pre-evaluation) consultation between the Directorate-General (DG) for Employment, 
Social Affairs and Inclusion and the European-level sectoral social partners identified in the report was 
carried out between January and April 2025. Based on the comments received, the draft report was 
finalised  and  submitted  for  formal  written  evaluation  by  the  Eurofound  Advisory  Committee  on 
Industrial  Relations,  the  European-level  sectoral  social  partners  identified  in  the  report  and  DG 
Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion between May and June 2025. Following this evaluation, final 
corrections were made and the report was edited and published on the Eurofound website. 

During this process, all of the relevant actors and organisations mentioned in the report were invited 
to  check  the  consistency  of  the  information  included  in  it,  thereby  ensuring  that  the  bottom-up 
approach  included  all  of  the  relevant  sector-related  organisations  from  each  Member  State.  As 
different  social  partner  organisations  were  able  to  view  the  information  reported  by  other 
organisations in the same Member State and, if necessary, comment on the credibility or accuracy of 
the information on other organisations representing a similar membership, this process involved an 
element of mutual control and recognition. 

These quality assurance measures and the evaluation and approval of the report by the Eurofound 
Advisory  Committee  on  Industrial  Relations –  which  consists  of  representatives  of  both  sides  of 
industry, governments and the European Commission – as well as the evaluation and approval of the 
report by the European-level sectoral social partners identified in the report, ensure the legitimacy of 
the findings of this study. 

8 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

1.  Economic  background 

and 

employment 

specificities in the graphical sector 

1.1.  Specificities of graphical sector activities in the Member States 

The sector has seen developments since the publication of the previous representativeness study for 
the  graphical  industry  in  2016.  Therefore,  before  describing  the  employment  and  the  business 
landscape of this sector, a more detailed view of the number of Member States that consider different 
activities to be part of the graphical industry is provided in Figure 2:. In addition to the narrower sector 
definition used in the previous representativeness study – including only printing and activities related 
to printing (NACE 18.1) – the reproduction of recorded media (NACE 18.2) is considered to be part of 
the sector in more than half of the Member States. Additionally, video game production (NACE 58.21) 
is considered to be part of the graphical industry only in Croatia, Malta and Portugal. For the purpose 
of this study, the graphical sector will be defined as comprising printing activities, activities related to 
printing (NACE 18.1) and reproduction of recorded media activities (NACE 18.2). 

Figure 2: Number of Member States that consider these activities to be part of the graphical sector, 
2023 

Number of Member States
15

10

20

25

30

0

5

 [18.11] Printing of magazines
[18.11] Printing of newspapers
 [18.12] Printing of catalogues, advertising and other commercial printing
 [18.12] Printing of books
 [18.12] Label printing
 [18.12] Large-format printing
 [18.12] Production of stationery products
 [18.12] 3D printing
 [18.12] Security printing
[18.12] Printing on other surfaces (plastic, textile, etc.)
 [18.12] Printing of catalogues, advertising and other commercial printing
[18.12] Other printing
 [18.12/82.92] Printing on packaging
 [18.12/17.24] Printing on wallpaper
[18.13] Pre-press and pre-media services (typesetting and electronic make-up)
[18.14] Paper and board converting (paper, board, corrugated, etc.)
[18.14] Binding of printed material (bookbinding and other products)
 [18.20] Reproduction of recorded media
 [58.1] Publishing of printed material
[58.19] Online publishing
[58.21] Production of video games
[17.21] Production of paper (including corrugated packaging) and other packaging
[25.99] Production of signage (print or digital) and luminous signs
[26.11] Printed electronics
[74.20] Photography

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. Compiled based on Table 54 in the Annex. 

A detailed overview of the activities that are considered part of the graphical industry in each Member 
State is provided in Table 54 in the Annex. 

9 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

1.2.  Employment in the graphical sector 

Based  on  a  wider  definition  of  the  graphical  sector,  the  following  analysis  of  the  employment  and 
companies  in the sector will  include activities under NACE 18.1 and NACE 18.2, and some  activities 
under NACE 58.1 and NACE 58.2, as much as possible. For those Member States in which parts of other 
sectors, besides NACE 18 and NACE 58, are also characterised as graphical sector activities, it is difficult 
to  determine  the  specific  activities  that  are  considered  part  of  the  graphical  sector.  As  a  separate 
representativeness report is produced for the paper sector, aggregate information on these activities 
is not considered in this report. Cross-country differences in the activities covered by the sector make 
comparisons of the size of this sector across Member States difficult. This is especially true for small 
economies. 

According to Eurostat’s structural business statistics (SBS) data, in 2022, around 500 000 people were 
employed in the graphical sector in the EU-27, following the narrow definition of the graphical sector 
that includes only printing and activities related to printing (NACE 18.1), which was used in the previous 
representativeness study published in 2016. This represents 0.32 % of the total employment of the 
almost  160 million  employed  people  in  the  EU-27.  Comparatively,  in  2016,  the  European  graphical 
industry employed 814 900 people, representing 0.4 % of the total EU-27 employment according to 
the previous graphical sector representativeness report. Employment in the sector, using the broader 
definition of printing and activities related to printing (NACE 18.1) and reproduction of recorded media 
activities (NACE 18.2), represented 0.32 % of total employment in the EU-27 in 2022 (1). The sector of 
publishing activities (NACE 58), on the other hand, is sizeable, with around 780 000 people (550 000 in 
NACE 58.1  and  230 000  in  NACE 58.2)  employed  in  the  EU-27.  Including  NACE 58  as  part  of  the 
graphical  sector  would  raise  the  EU-27  employment  figure  in  the  sector  to  1.3 million  people, 
representing around 0.8 % of the total EU-27 workforce. 

Turning  to  developments  in  employment  over  time,  employment  in  printing  activities  has  seen  a 
negative trend. In the EU-27, the decrease in the workforce employed in NACE 18.1 in 2022 compared 
with  2013  amounted  to  almost  18 %  and  that  in  NACE 18.2  amounted  to  44.1 %  (Figure 3) (2).  The 
situation is different for publishing activities, included as NACE 58 in Figure 3, as no separate data were 
available for NACE 58.1 and 58.2. While employment in publishing declined by 4 % between 2013 and 
2016,  an  increase  of  14 %  was  seen  between  2016  and  2022;  therefore,  compared  with  2013, 
employment in NACE 58 was 10 % higher in 2022. 

(1) 

Intergraf  industry  statistics  published  on  the  organisation’s  website  (last  accessed  6 September  2024) 
indicate that there are around 610 000 workers in the graphical sector in the geographical area of the EU-
27,  Norway,  Switzerland  and  the  United  Kingdom.  According  to  data  from  Eurostat’s  European  Union 
Labour  Force  Survey,  which  also  includes  countries  outside  the  EU-27,  employment  in  NACE 18  was  as 
follows: 99 500 in the United Kingdom in 2019, 11 700 in Switzerland in 2023 and 3 400 in Norway in 2016. 
(2)  The exact percentage of the decline could be affected by the break in the SBS series after 2020, but the 

downward trend was evident even before 2021. 

10 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 3: Employment in NACE sectors 18.1, 18.2 and 58, 2013–2022 (2013 = 100) 

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

NACE 18.1

NACE 18.2

NACE 58

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

To match the complex set of activities in the graphical sector, as shown in Figure 2, data for the broad 
set of activities were used at the most detailed level at which such data were available. Table 4 gives 
an overview of the absolute number of people employed in the two subsectors of NACE 18 and the 
two subsectors of NACE 58 in each Member State and for the EU-27 as a whole, based on Eurostat’s 
SBS database. While the SBS database has the advantage of recording data at a detailed level, such 
data are not available for all Member States and, in some instances, are not available for the EU-27. 
Where  data  for  the  EU-27  were  unavailable,  the  sum  of  the  data  for  Member  States  for  which 
information was available was used. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 4: Employment in NACE sectors 18.1, 18.2, 58.1 and 58.2, 2022 (thousands) 

Entire economy 

Printing and service activities related to 
printing (NACE 18.1) 

Reproduction of recorded media 
(NACE 18.2) 

Publishing of books, periodicals 
and other publishing activities 
(NACE 58.1) 

Software publishing 
(NACE 58.2) 

MS 

EU-27 
DE 
IT 
ES 
PL 
FR 
NL 
HU 
RO 
PT 
BE 
EL 
AT 
BG 
HR 
SE 
SK 
FI 
SI 
DK 
LT 
LV 
EE 
MT 
CZ 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(1) 
159 909 
39 069 
18 292 
15 635 
11 490 
20 137 
8 381 
3 369 
4 680 
4 361 
3 901 
3 404 
3 756 
2 237 
1 253 
3 600 
1 793 
1 730 
781 
2 143 
1 240 
685 
533 
232 
4 162 

f
o
s

m
r
e
t
n

i

%

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

7
2
-
U
E

(2) 
100.00 
24.43 
11.44 
9.78 
7.19 
12.59 
5.24 
2.11 
2.93 
2.73 
2.44 
2.13 
2.35 
1.40 
0.78 
2.25 
1.12 
1.08 
0.49 
1.34 
0.78 
0.43 
0.33 
0.15 
2.60 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(3) 
500.00 
125.58 
71.69 
53.44 
51.76 
50.82 
16.09 
15.44 
14.68 
13.52 
11.24 
9.70 
9.23 
8.82 
8.28 
7.59 
5.35 
5.29 
4.30 
4.21 
4.01 
3.80 
2.53 
1.81 
n/a 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(4) 
0.31 
0.32 
0.39 
0.34 
0.45 
0.25 
0.19 
0.46 
0.31 
0.31 
0.29 
0.28 
0.25 
0.39 
0.66 
0.21 
0.30 
0.31 
0.55 
0.20 
0.32 
0.56 
0.47 
0.78 
n/a 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

1
.
8
1
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(5) 
100.00 
25.12 
14.34 
10.69 
10.35 
10.16 
3.22 
3.09 
2.94 
2.70 
2.25 
1.94 
1.85 
1.76 
1.66 
1.52 
1.07 
1.06 
0.86 
0.84 
0.80 
0.76 
0.51 
0.36 
n/a 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

2
.
8
1
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(8) 
100.00 
23.32 
2.62 
20.66 
18.72 
8.58 
5.70 
2.05 
1.42 
0.56 
1.99 
2.13 
4.21 
0.25 
0.63 
2.14 
0.85 
1.70 
0.18 
1.77 
n/a 
0.12 
0.10 
0.29 
n/a 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(9) 
552.03 
234.92 
30.66 
35.21 
23.24 
71.43 
22.18 
8.09 
7.71 
6.82 
8.68 
9.97 
10.72 
4.29 
4.44 
20.08 
5.31 
11.85 
1.93 
14.87 
2.70 
2.02 
2.37 
0.39 
10.84 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(10) 
0.34 
0.60 
0.17 
0.23 
0.20 
0.35 
0.26 
0.24 
0.16 
0.16 
0.22 
0.29 
0.29 
0.19 
0.35 
0.56 
0.30 
0.69 
0.25 
0.69 
0.22 
0.29 
0.44 
0.17 
0.26 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

1
.
8
5
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(11) 
100.00 
42.51 
5.68 
6.52 
4.10 
12.23 
4.11 
1.50 
1.43 
1.26 
1.61 
1.81 
1.99 
0.79 
0.82 
3.72 
0.98 
2.19 
0.36 
2.75 
0.50 
0.37 
0.44 
0.07 
2.01 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(12) 
230.21 
20.54 
2.43 
16.97 
14.56 
86.94 
1.08 
4.94 
16.21 
7.08 
2.14 
1.59 
5.40 
1.17 
0.69 
20.26 
0.63 
7.08 
0.16 
7.93 
0.93 
0.14 
0.69 
0.27 
7.05 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(13) 
0.14 
0.05 
0.01 
0.11 
0.13 
0.43 
0.01 
0.15 
0.35 
0.16 
0.05 
0.05 
0.14 
0.05 
0.05 
0.56 
0.03 
0.41 
0.02 
0.37 
0.07 
0.02 
0.13 
0.12 
0.17 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

2
.
8
5
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(14) 
100.00 
8.34 
1.11 
7.72 
6.62 
38.55 
0.49 
2.25 
6.38 
3.22 
0.97 
0.72 
2.46 
0.53 
0.31 
9.22 
0.28 
3.22 
0.07 
3.61 
0.42 
0.06 
0.31 
0.12 
3.21 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(6) 
10.9 
2.53 
0.29 
2.25 
2.04 
0.93 
0.62 
0.22 
0.15 
0.06 
0.22 
0.23 
0.46 
0.03 
0.07 
0.23 
0.09 
0.19 
0.02 
0.19 
n/a 
0.01 
0.01 
0.03 
n/a 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(7) 
0.01 
0.01 
0.00 
0.01 
0.02 
0.00 
0.01 
0.01 
0.00 
0.00 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 
0.00 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 
0.00 
0.01 
n/a 
0.00 
0.00 
0.01 
n/a 

12 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Entire economy 

Printing and service activities related to 
printing (NACE 18.1) 

Reproduction of recorded media 
(NACE 18.2) 

Publishing of books, periodicals 
and other publishing activities 
(NACE 58.1) 

Software publishing 
(NACE 58.2) 

MS 

IE 
CY 
LU 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(1) 
2 279 
373 
393 

f
o
s

m
r
e
t
n

i

%

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

7
2
-
U
E

(2) 
1.43 
0.23 
0.25 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(3) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(4) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

1
.
8
1
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(5) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(6) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(7) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

2
.
8
1
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(8) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(9) 
n/a 
0.47 
0.84 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(10) 
n/a 
0.12 
0.21 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

1
.
8
5
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(11) 
n/a 
0.09 
0.16 

s
l
a
u
d
i
v
i
d
n

I

(12) 
n/a 
2.60 
0.73 

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

s
’
S
M

f
o
%

(13) 
n/a 
0.70 
0.19 

7
2
-
U
E
f
o
%

2
.
8
5
E
C
A
N

t
n
e
m
y
o
p
m
e

l

(14) 
n/a 
1.18 
0.33 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. Comparatively, in the previous graphical sector representativeness report (2016), the European graphical industry was 
defined as employing 814 900 people, representing 0.4 % of total employment. Member States are listed in order of the number of individuals in NACE 18.1 (column 3) for 
comparability with the previous representative study for this sector. Grey-shaded cells indicate estimated values based on the available information. The totals (both for 
absolute numbers and percentages) are calculated using estimations; thus the percentages may not reach / exceed 100 %.  

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

13 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

The  absolute  numbers  of  individuals  employed  in  printing  and  service  activities  related  to  printing 
(NACE 18.1) are shown in column 3 of Table 4. For NACE 18.1, data are unavailable for Cyprus, Czechia, 
Ireland and Luxembourg. The Network of Eurofound Correspondents reports that, in Czechia in 2021, 
employment in the graphical sector stood at 19 428 individuals, of whom 11 777 were in subsector 
18.12. In Cyprus in 2020, around 900 individuals were employed in the graphical sector. In Ireland in 
2020, 8 994 individuals were employed in the paper and paper products and printing and reproduction 
of recorded media sector. For Luxembourg, no information on employment in the sector was provided 
by  the  Eurofound  correspondent.  The  highest  numbers  of  individuals  employed  in  NACE 18.1  were 
reported  in  Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  Poland  and  France.  As  a  share  of  the  Member  State’s  total 
employment, the graphical sector as a whole is most important – in comparison with other Member 
States – in Sweden (10.4 %), Malta (10.0 %), Germany (9.8 %), Estonia (9.2 %) and Latvia (8.7 %). In the 
remaining Member States, the share of the sectoral workforce is below 8.5 %. In some of these it is 
even lower than 4 % (e.g. Bulgaria and Romania) while, in most, it is between 6 % and 8 %. Employment 
in NACE 18.1 in each Member State as a share of total employment in NACE 18.1 in the EU-27 as a 
whole (column 5) is similar to employment across the sector in each Member State as a share of total 
EU-27 employment (column 2). 

For reproduction of recorded media (NACE 18.2), data are unavailable for the EU-27 and for several 
Member States. However, adding together the data for the Member States for which information is 
available, we estimate that NACE 18.2 employs only around 11 000 individuals in the EU-27 (column 6), 
which represents 0.0068 % of EU-27 employment (column 7). In no Member State is employment in 
NACE 18.2 as a share of total employment higher than 0.02 %. In absolute figures, the largest number 
of individuals are employed in Germany, but Spain and Poland stand out, as their share of NACE 18.2 
employment  in  total  EU-27  NACE 18.2  employment  is  much  larger  than  their  share  of  total  EU-27 
employment. 

Data for the publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities (NACE 58.1) and software 
publishing (NACE 58.2) are unavailable for the EU-27 and for Ireland; however, adding together the 
data for the Member States for which information is available, the estimate is that NACE 58.1 employs 
around 550 000 people (column 9) in the EU-27, representing 0.34 % of this sector’s employment in 
total  EU-27  employment.  Using  the  same  method,  it  is  estimated  that  NACE 58.2  employs  around 
230 000 individuals (column 12) in the EU-27, representing 0.14 % of the sector’s employment in total 
EU-27 employment. In absolute figures, employment in NACE 58.1 is highest in Germany, representing 
42.5 % of all  EU-27  employment in the sector.  The  next largest  number of  people are  employed in 
France, with a share in EU-27 employment of 12.23 %, which is not that different from France’s 12.59 % 
share in overall EU-27 employment. In no Member State does NACE 58.1 account for more than 1 % 
of the Member State’s employment. Relatively high shares are recorded in  Germany and in  Nordic 
Member States (Denmark, Finland, Sweden). 

Finally, in absolute figures, employment in NACE 58.2 is highest in France, which has a share in EU-27 
employment of almost 40 %; this is over three times the share of France in overall EU-27 employment 
(13 %). In no Member State does NACE 58.2 account for more than 0.7 % of employment. The highest 
shares are recorded in Cyprus (0.7 %), Sweden (0.6 %), France (0.4 %) and Finland (0.4 %). 

Figure 4  shows  that  employment  in  NACE 58.1  activities  are  dominating  in  all  Member  States, 
recording  between  50 %  of  the  employment  in  the  sector  in  Bulgaria  and  Romania,  up  to  60 %  in 
Greece, Malta and Poland. 

14 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 4: Share of employment of NACE sectors 18.1, 58.1 and 58.2 in the graphical sector, 2022 

BG

RO

IT

SI

HR

ES

SE

AT

BE

EE

EU-27

HU

LV

PT

FR

DE

NL

DK

FI

SK

EL

MT

PL

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

58.1: Publishing of books, periodicals and other publishing activities

18.1: Printing and service activities related to printing

58.2: Software publishing

Note: Data are not available for Cyprus, Czechia, Ireland, Lithuania or Luxembourg. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

Looking at developments at the Member State level between 2013 and 2022, Figure 5 shows changes 
in employment in absolute numbers and in percentage terms in NACE 18.1 for all Member States. SBS 
data show that employment in NACE 18.1 declined in all Member States except Croatia, Malta, Latvia, 
Hungary,  Greece and Poland. In Malta, the  number  of  people employed in the sector increased by 
around 40 % between 2013 and 2022. In Belgium, employment in NACE 18.1 was particularly badly hit, 
recording  a  decline  of  almost  50 %.  The  Netherlands  recorded  a  decline  of  close  to  37 %,  followed 
closely by Spain with a decline of 34 %, and there was a decline of around 28 % in France. In the Nordic 
Member States, employment in NACE 18.1 also suffered a decline of around 10 %. The decline in jobs 
in Belgium is confirmed by the data collected by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents, which also 
indicate a decrease in employment for Cyprus and Denmark, two of the Member States for which SBS 
data are unavailable over this period. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 5: Change in employment in absolute figures (thousands) and percentages in NACE 18.1, 2013–
2022 

)
s
d
n
a
s
u
o
h
t
(

s
e
r
u
g
i
f
e
t
u
o
s
b
A

l

10

5

0

-5

-10

-15

-20

-25

-30

39.3 %

50 %

40 %

30 %

16.6 %

20 %

17.8 %

11.5 %

10 %

-10.6 %

-9.7 %

-10.6 %-9.2 %

-14.4 %-16.3 %

-2.5 %

-5.0 %

-2.0 %-1.9 %0.0 %

-16.5 %

-18.3 %

-27.6 %

-18.4 %

-36.9 %

-34.0 %

-49.6 %

4.7 %

0 %

-10 %

-20 %

-30 %

-40 %

-50 %

-60 %

DE FR IT NL SE ES BE FI AT PT RO SK EE BG LT

SI

IE HR MT LV HU EL PL

Absolute figures (thousands)

%

Note: Data for Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark and Luxembourg (2013–2022) are not available. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

A  comparison  between  the  current  picture  of  sector  activities  and  that  recorded  in  the  previous 
representativeness study for the sector (2016) shows that the challenges faced by the graphical sector 
were similar. According to data collected by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents, the businesses 
in most European countries have adopted the strategy of expanding their product lines in the face of 
the decreasing demand for printing services. 

Figure 6  illustrates  the  changes  between  2013  and  2022  in  the  number  of  workers  in  publishing 
activities (NACE 58) by Member State, showing the positive developments in this sector compared with 
NACE 18.  In  total,  between  2013  and  2022,  employment  in  the  EU-27  increased  by  some  70 000 
(9.7 %).  In  absolute  terms,  employment  increased  significantly  in  Germany,  France  and  Spain.  The 
picture of changes for NACE 58 appears to be a mirror image of what took place for NACE 18.1. For 
most  Member  States,  a  decrease  in  employment  in  printing  activities  (NACE 18.1)  has  been 
accompanied by an increase in employment in publishing activities (NACE 58). 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 6: Change in employment in absolute figures (thousands) and percentages in NACE 58, 2013–
2022 

)
s
d
n
a
s
u
o
h
t
(

s
e
r
u
g
i
f
e
t
u
o
s
b
A

l

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

-10

-20

60 %

50 %

40 %

30 %

20 %

10 %

0 %

-10 %

-20 %

-30 %

-40 %

EL NL PL IT SK BG HU SI LV BE LT HR EE MT LU FI DK CZ CY RO AT PT SE ES FR DE

Absolute figures (thousands), 2013

%

Note: Data for 2022 for Austria, Cyprus and Portugal are not available, and data for Ireland (2013 and 2022) are 
not available. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

According to SBS data, the share of self-employment in the sector is not substantial, although it varies 
by Member State. Table 5 presents the share of self-employed people by Member State in each of the 
printing and publishing subsectors (NACE 18.1, NACE 18.2, NACE 58.1 and NACE 58.2). Less than 15 % 
(13.3 %) of all employed people in printing activities (NACE 18.1) in the EU-27 are self-employed, which 
is lower than the average of 15.9 % for the entire EU-27 graphical sector. Only in Greece (28.26 %), 
Italy  (21.98 %)  and  Slovakia  (21.47 %)  is  there  a  significant  proportion  of  self-employed  people  in 
NACE 18.1.  Compared  with  the  previous  representativeness  study  (2016),  the  share  of  self-
employment in printing activities (NACE 18.1) has not changed. 

For the reproduction of recorded media activities (NACE 18.2), the percentage of self-employed people 
is high in a few Member States – Slovakia, Spain, Finland, Italy and the Netherlands – where over 40 % 
of the workforce is self-employed. As for publishing activities (NACE 58.1 and NACE 58.2), the share of 
self-employed people in the EU-27 is less than 10 % (8.8 % in NACE 58.1 and 6.0 % in NACE 58.2). For 
publishing of printed material (NACE 58.1), the percentage of self-employed people is less than 15 % 
in most Member States (Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, 
the  Netherlands,  Poland,  Portugal,  Slovenia  and  Spain). On  the  other  hand,  Slovakia  stands  out,  as 
around  half  of  the  workforce  in  this  subsector  is  self-employed.  In  online  publishing  activities 
(NACE 58.2) the percentage of self-employed people is below 10 % in 12 out of the 20 Member States 
for which data are available, with Spain recording a share of self-employed people over 20 %. The data 
collected by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents on the share of self-employed people, listed 
in  Table 55  in  the  Annex,  fill  in  the  data  gaps  for  the  Member  States  for  which  SBS  data  are  not 
published: Belgium (high share), Cyprus (low share), Czechia (low share), Estonia (low share), Ireland 

17 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

(low  share),  Luxembourg  (no  data  on  the  share)  and  Malta  (low  share).  The  same  table  contains 
information  on  other  features  of  the  workforce  in  the  graphical  sector,  such  as  skills  level  and 
categories of worker in the sector. Most of the workforce in the graphical sector appears to be made 
up of skilled blue-collar workers, with a low share of management staff. Several Member States report 
a lack of specialised staff for the sector, as the available workforce has yet to adapt to the new skills 
that the sector’s digitalisation requires. 

Table 5: Share of self-employed people in NACE 18.1, 18.2, 58.1 and 58.2, 2021 and 2022 

MS 

EL 

IT 

SK 

FR 

PL 

ES 

HU 

SI 

EU-27 

SE 

NL 

LT 

AT 

HR 

BG 

FI 

PT 

RO 

DK 

DE 

LV 

NACE 18.1 (2022) 

NACE 18.2 (2022) 

NACE 58.1 (2021) 

NACE 58.2 (2021) 

28.26 

21.98 

21.47 

17.11 

16.33 

14.67 

14.35 

14.26 

13.29 

12.46 

11.66 

10.13 

9.71 

9.57 

8.39 

6.98 

6.65 

6.23 

4.10 

3.85 

2.40 

28.04 

42.81 

81.52 

14.49 

8.75 

64.02 

32.74 

27.78 

n/a 

11.29 

41.87 

n/a 

3.77 

38.30 

20.69 

61.54 

33.33 

31.06 

2.58 

7.68 

22.22 

16.60 

10.44 

46.74 

10.47 

14.72 

14.37 

18.96 

11.95 

8.77 

17.67 

6.69 

10.86 

12.32 

6.74 

16.99 

2.45 

10.14 

15.85 

2.81 

2.43 

5.09 

14.28 

8.57 

2.47 

1.75 

17.87 

27.93 

17.56 

16.11 

6.04 

12.68 

6.53 

19.00 

6.41 

19.05 

8.91 

1.05 

2.69 

3.52 

0.87 

6.58 

5.77 

Note: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. The latest year for which data for NACE 58.1 and NACE 58.2 
are  available  is  2021.  Data  are  not  available  for  Belgium,  Cyprus,  Czechia,  Estonia,  Ireland,  Luxembourg  and 
Malta. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

Looking at the demographic composition of the graphical sector workforce shows that the sector is 
dominated by male workers (Figure 7), who constituted 64 % of workers in the sector in 2024. 

18 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 7: Gender distribution of the workforce in the graphical sector (NACE 18) in the EU-27, 2013–
2024 

)
s
d
n
a
s
u
o
h
t
(

l

s
e
e
y
o
p
m
e
f
o
r
e
b
m
u
N

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

Total

Men

Women

Source: Eurostat, Labour Force Survey. 

1.3.  Companies in the graphical sector and economic development 

In  2022,  according  to  Eurostat  SBS  data,  there  were  approximately  94 000  companies  in  printing 
activities (NACE 18.1) in the EU-27, which accounted for 0.29 % of all EU-27 companies (Table 6) (3). 
The  number  of  companies  is  highest  in  France,  Italy,  Spain  and  Germany.  Companies  in  these  four 
Member States account for over half (53.3 %) of all EU-27 printing companies. The Member States with 
the lowest number of companies in the printing subsector are Luxembourg, Malta, Estonia, Latvia and 
Denmark. Table 6 also shows the number of companies in printing activities as a share of each Member 
State’s total number of companies, which is less than 0.65 % in all Member States. 

In 2022, according to Eurostat SBS data, there were around 7 000 companies in the reproduction of 
recorded media subsector (NACE 18.2) in the EU-27, which accounts for 0.02 % of all EU-27 companies. 
The number of companies is highest in Czechia and Spain. Companies in these two  Member States 
together account for over half (55.5 %) of all EU-27 reproduction of recorded media companies. The 
Member  States  with  the  lowest  number  of  companies  in  this  subsector  are  Luxembourg  with  two 
companies and Estonia with four companies. Lithuania has no companies in this subsector. 

According to  Eurostat SBS  data, in 2022, there were  around 80 000 companies  in the publishing of 
printed material subsector (NACE 58.1) in the EU-27. Nearly a third of these  were in France. This is 
consistent with the fact that, as presented in Table 54 in the Annex, in France, newspaper printing is 
considered not part of NACE 18.1 but part of newspaper publishing. The lowest numbers of companies 
in this subsector were recorded in Luxembourg and Cyprus. In all Member States, the companies active 

(3)  The total does not include companies in Cyprus or Ireland, for which no data are available from the SBS 
database. In addition, the replies from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents do not include data for 
NACE 18.1 separately for these two Member States. For Cyprus, the number of companies in the graphical 
sector, which also includes parts of NACE 58, as suggested by Table 4, was 250 in 2020. For Ireland, the 
Network  of  Eurofound  Correspondents  reports  1 551  companies  in  the  paper  and  paper  products  and 
printing and reproduction of recorded media sector in 2021. 

19 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

in NACE 58.1 represent less than 0.5 % of all companies in the Member State, the lowest percentage 
being recorded in Italy, with 0.10 %, followed by Cyprus and Portugal, with 0.11 % each. 

Finally, the same data source shows that around 30 000 companies were active in online publishing 
activities (NACE 58.2) in 2022 in the EU-27, accounting for 0.09 % of all companies in the EU-27. The 
highest number of companies is found in France, followed by Spain. With the exceptions of Sweden, 
Luxembourg,  Estonia,  Denmark,  Cyprus  and  Spain,  companies  in  this  subsector  represent  less  than 
0.15 % of all companies in each Member State. 

From  the  above,  it  emerges  that,  on  average  in  the  EU-27,  printing  (NACE 18.1)  and  publishing 
(NACE 58) companies account for 0.8 % of all companies in the economy. Most  Member States are 
close  to  the  average.  Exceptions,  however  (with  shares  of  over  1 %),  are  Czechia  (1.5 %),  Sweden 
(1.4 %), Croatia (1.2 %), Slovenia (1.1 %) and Estonia (1.1 %). There are also exceptions with smaller 
shares (less than 0.5 %), namely Cyprus (0.3 %) and Portugal (0.4 %). 

20 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 6: Number of companies in the graphical sector, 2022 

NACE 18.1 (printing activities) 

NACE 18.2 (reproduction of recorded media)  NACE 58.1 (publishing of printed material) 

NACE 58.2 (online publishing) 

MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the 
sector 

EU-27 

93 786 

100.00 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

846 

3 027 

945 

n/a 

7 000 

9 487 

489 

368 

2 781 

12 340 

878 

15 273 

1 400 

2 958 

n/a 

0.90 

3.23 

1.01 

n/a 

7.46 

10.12 

0.52 

0.39 

2.97 

13.16 

0.94 

16.28 

1.49 

3.15 

n/a 

12 909 

13.76 

721 

58 

387 

209 

2 862 

8 957 

0.77 

0.06 

0.41 

0.22 

3.05 

9.55 

% of 
companies in 
the MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the sector 

% of 
companies 
in the MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the 
sector 

% of 
companies 
in the MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the 
sector 

% of 
companies 
in the MS 

0.29 

0.14 

0.35 

0.24 

n/a 

0.55 

0.29 

0.13 

0.27 

0.30 

0.37 

0.20 

0.32 

0.62 

0.30 

n/a 

0.29 

0.22 

0.14 

0.27 

0.37 

0.13 

0.34 

~ 7 000 

100.00 

19 

211 

9 

n/a 

2 275 

371 

13 

4 

74 

0.27 

3.01 

0.13 

n/a 

32.50 

5.30 

0.19 

0.06 

1.06 

1 605 

22.93 

385 

251 

31 

89 

n/a 

150 

0 

2 

14 

25 

539 

205 

5.50 

3.59 

0.44 

1.27 

n/a 

2.14 

0.00 

0.03 

0.20 

0.36 

7.70 

2.93 

0.02 

0.00 

0.02 

0.0023 

n/a 

0.18 

0.01 

0.00 

0.00 

0.01 

0.05 

0.09 

0.01 

0.01 

0.01 

n/a 

0.00 

0.00 

0.0047 

0.01 

0.04 

0.02 

0.01 

21 

~ 80 000 

100.00 

1 186 

1 323 

959 

93 

5 346 

5 533 

884 

386 

1 969 

5 981 

1 277 

1.48 

1.65 

1.20 

0.12 

6.68 

6.92 

1.11 

0.48 

2.46 

7.48 

1.60 

23 469 

29.34 

688 

2 139 

n/a 

4 633 

665 

79 

436 

105 

3 670 

4 080 

0.86 

2.67 

n/a 

5.79 

0.83 

0.10 

0.55 

0.13 

4.59 

5.10 

0.25 

0.20 

0.16 

0.24 

0.11 

0.42 

0.17 

0.23 

0.28 

0.21 

0.18 

0.29 

0.48 

0.30 

0.22 

n/a 

0.10 

0.20 

0.19 

0.30 

0.19 

0.17 

0.15 

~ 30 000 

100.00 

315 

761 

143 

179 

1 192 

1 533 

928 

431 

367 

5 571 

233 

6 709 

245 

1 142 

n/a 

392 

221 

141 

44 

67 

289 

2 319 

1.05 

2.54 

0.48 

0.60 

3.97 

5.11 

3.09 

1.44 

1.22 

18.57 

0.78 

22.36 

0.82 

3.81 

n/a 

1.31 

0.74 

0.47 

0.15 

0.22 

0.96 

7.73 

0.09 

0.05 

0.09 

0.04 

0.21 

0.09 

0.05 

0.24 

0.32 

0.04 

0.17 

0.05 

0.14 

0.11 

0.12 

n/a 

0.01 

0.07 

0.33 

0.03 

0.12 

0.01 

0.09 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

NACE 18.1 (printing activities) 

NACE 18.2 (reproduction of recorded media)  NACE 58.1 (publishing of printed material) 

NACE 58.2 (online publishing) 

MS 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the 
sector 

2 254 

2 829 

2 092 

1 112 

1 604 

2.40 

3.02 

2.23 

1.19 

1.71 

% of 
companies in 
the MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the sector 

% of 
companies 
in the MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the 
sector 

% of 
companies 
in the MS 

Number of 
companies 

% of 
companies 
in the 
sector 

% of 
companies 
in the MS 

0.17 

0.28 

0.25 

0.57 

0.26 

41 

81 

66 

10 

82 

0.59 

1.16 

0.94 

0.14 

1.17 

0.00 

0.01 

0.01 

0.01 

0.01 

1 477 

2 363 

3 978 

487 

2 915 

1.85 

2.95 

4.97 

0.61 

3.64 

0.11 

0.24 

0.47 

0.25 

0.48 

534 

1 316 

3 005 

53 

22 

1.78 

4.39 

10.02 

0.18 

0.07 

0.04 

0.13 

0.36 

0.03 

0.00 

Note: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. Grey-shaded cells indicate that the data used in the calculations are estimated using the published SBS data. The totals 
(both for absolute numbers and percentages) are calculated using estimations; thus the percentages may not reach/ exceed 100%.  

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

22 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

The number of companies in a sector can indicate the sector’s structure and demonstrate key factors 
such  as  the  level  of  competition.  A  more  complete  picture  of  a  sector’s  structure  requires  the 
distribution of companies by size, which is presented in Table 7. When all four subsectors (NACE 18.1, 
18.2,  58.1  and  58.2)  are  combined,  over  90 %  are  microcompanies  with  up  to  nine  employees  per 
company. Nearly all companies (98.5 %) in the reproduction of recorded media (NACE 18.2) have fewer 
than 10 employees. Less than 0.5 % of companies in all four subsectors combined are large companies 
with at least 250 employees, and less than 1.5 % have between 50 and 249 employees. Based on the 
information  on  each  of  the  four  subsectors,  the  conclusion  is  that  companies  with  fewer  than  20 
employees constitute around 96 % of graphical sector companies. According to the SBS data (as used 
in Table 7), companies in the graphical sector had approximately the same share of microcompanies 
as the economy as a whole in 2022: 94.13 % of companies in the EU-27 were microcompanies (0–9 
employees), 3.25 % were small companies (10–19 employees), 1.69 % were medium-sized companies 
(20–49 employees), 0.77 % were large companies (50–249 employees) and only 0.16 % were very large 
companies (250 or more employees). 

Table 7: Number of companies by company size class in the EU-27, 2022 

Sector 

Statistic 

Total 

Company size class 

0–9 

10–19 

20–49 

50–249 

250+ 

Absolute 
figures 

NACE 18.1: Printing 
and service activities 
related to printing 

95 169 

86 256 

4 765 

2 692 

1 296 

160 

% 

100.0 

90.6 

5.0 

2.8 

1.4 

0.2 

NACE 18.2: 
Reproduction of 
recorded media 

NACE 58.1: 
Publishing of books, 
periodicals and other 
publishing activities 

Absolute 
figures 

6 761 

6 660 

51 

30 

20 

n/a 

% 

100.0 

98.5 

0.8 

0.4 

0.3 

n/a 

Absolute 
figures 

74 337 

70 000 

2 029 

1 195 

810 

303 

% 

100.0 

94.2 

2.7 

1.6 

1.1 

0.4 

Absolute 
figures 

NACE 58.2: Software 
publishing 

27 907 

24 710 

1 335 

1 000 

726 

136 

% 

100.0 

88.5 

4.8 

3.6 

2.6 

0.5 

Total 
(NACE 18 + NACE 58) 

Absolute 
figures 

204 174 

187 626 

8 188 

4 917 

2 852 

% 

100.0 

91.9 

4.0 

2.4 

1.4 

599 

0.3 

Notes:  n/a,  data  not  available.  Grey-shaded  cells  are  estimates  based  on  information  available  for  individual 
Member  States.  Data  for  2022  for  NACE 18.2,  size  class  20–49,  and  for  NACE 58.2,  size  class  0–9,  were  not 
available, so data for 2021 were used. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

23 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 8 shows the distribution of employment by company size. Around a third of employees in the 
printing subsector (NACE 18.1) are employed in microcompanies (0–9 employees), almost a quarter 
are employed in large companies (50–249 employees) and around 16 % are employed in both medium-
sized (20–49 employees) and very large (250 or more employees) companies, with the lowest share 
(12.4 %) recorded in small companies (10–19 employees). The distribution of employment by company 
size  is  different  for  the  reproduction  of  recorded  media  subsector  (NACE 18.2),  with  over  40 %  of 
employees employed in microcompanies and around a third employed in very large companies. Over 
half of all employees in the publishing of printed material subsector (NACE 58.1) are employed by very 
large companies and only 17.3 % of the employees in this subsector work in microcompanies, which is 
similar to the distribution of employment in the online publishing activities (NACE 58.2). 

Table 8: Number of people employed by company size class, EU-27, 2020 

Sector 

Statistic 

Total 

Company size class 

0–9 

10–19 

20–49 

50–249 

250+ 

NACE 18.1: Printing 
and service activities 
related to printing 

NACE 18.2: 
Reproduction of 
recorded media 

NACE 58.1: 
Publishing of books, 
periodicals and other 
publishing activities 

NACE 58.2: Software 
publishing 

Total 
(NACE 18 + NACE 58) 

Absolute 
figures 

524 423 

161 652 

64 920 

84 167 

126 000 

87 684 

% 

100.0 

30.8 

12.4 

16.0 

24.0 

16.7 

Absolute 
figures 

15 294 

6 665 

722 

853 

2 050 

5 004 

% 

100.0 

43.6 

4.7 

5.6 

13.4 

32.7 

Absolute 
figures 

557 094 

96 200.0 

27 754.0 

36 714.0 

89 180.0 

307 246.0 

% 

100.0 

17.3 

5.0 

6.6 

16.0 

55.2 

Absolute 
figures 

242 419 

36 900 

18 561 

31 029 

71 776 

84 153 

% 

100.0 

15.2 

7.7 

12.8 

29.6 

34.7 

Absolute 
figures 

1 339 230 

301 417 

111 957 

152 763 

289 006 

484 087 

% 

100.0 

22.5 

8.4 

11.4 

21.6 

36.1 

Notes:  For  both  NACE 18.1  and  NACE 18.2,  the  total  number  of  employees  is  much  larger  than  that  used  in 
Table 4 due to the different reference years. The most recent data available for company size groups  are for 
2020. Grey-shaded cells are estimates based on information available for individual Member States. Data for 
2022 for NACE 18.2, size class 20–49, and for NACE 58.2, size class 0–9, were not available, so data for 2021 were 
used. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

The  information  collected  by  the  Network  of  Eurofound  Correspondents,  listed  in  Table 9, 
complements the distribution of employment in the different company sizes by providing a view on 
the  concentration  of  employment  in  the  three  largest  enterprises  in  the  graphical  sector  in  each 
Member State, as well as the average company workforce size in each Member State. The three largest 
companies, on average, represent 16.5 % of each Member State’s sectoral workforce. In some Member 

24 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

States, the three largest companies employ over a third of the sectoral workforce: in Malta the two 
largest  companies  employ  almost  half  of  the  graphical  sector’s  employment,  while  in  Slovenia  and 
Latvia, the three largest companies employ around a third. 

On average, the largest companies in the graphical sector across the EU-27 have 712 employees and 
represent a share of 8.4 % of the sectoral workforce. On average, the second-largest companies in the 
EU-27 have 406 employees and represent a share of 5.5 % of the sectoral workforce. All of the third-
largest companies in the sector, in all Member States except Slovakia and Slovenia, represent a share 
of  less  than  5 %  of  the  sectoral  workforce.  In  Slovakia  and  Slovenia,  the  third-largest  companies 
represent shares of 6.86 % and 5.53 %, respectively. On average, the third-largest companies in the 
EU-27  have  262  employees  and  represent  a  share  of  2.8 %.  To  summarise  the  extent  to  which 
employment is concentrated in only a few firms, Table 9 also shows the three-firm concentration ratio 
(CR3), which is the percentage of the sector’s employment that is concentrated in the three largest 
companies. The average CR3 in the EU-27 is 16.49 %. Using the CR3 index, employment appears to be 
most  concentrated  in  the  three-largest  companies  in  Malta  (51.99 %),  Slovenia  (38.81 %),  Latvia 
(31.62 %), Slovakia (25.43 %) and Cyprus (22.78 %). 

The average company size in the sector in the EU-27 is around nine employees, although this average 
varies  significantly  across  the  Member  States.  The  largest  companies,  on  average,  are  in  Austria 
(average of 46 employees) followed by Finland (average of 28 employees) and Lithuania (average of 
12 employees). This suggests that small companies play a significant role in this sector. This is one of 
the obstacles faced by trade unions and employer organisations in organising their members, as also 
highlighted in Table 56 in the Annex. 

Table 9: Sectoral workforce in the largest companies, average company size and concentration in terms 
of employment, 2023 

MS 

Number of 
sector-
related 
employees 
in the 
largest 
company 
in the 
sector 

% of the 
sectoral 
workforce 
in the 
largest 
company 

Number of 
sector-
related 
employees 
in the 
second-
largest 
company 
in the 
sector 

% of the 
sectoral 
workforce 
in the 
second-
largest 
company 

Number of 
sector-
related 
employees 
in the 
third-
largest 
company 
in the 
sector 

% of the 
sectoral 
workforce 
in the 
third-
largest 
company 

CR3 

Average 
company 
size 
(number of 
employees) 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

710 

507 

380 

130 

1 228 

n/a 

344 

237 

195 

2 832 

10.36 

7.76 

4.33 

14.44 

6.32 

n/a 

7.81 

9.48 

2.71 

3.61 

170 

263 

339 

40 

376 

n/a 

301 

177 

167 

836 

2.48 

4.03 

3.86 

4.44 

1.94 

n/a 

6.83 

7.08 

2.32 

1.07 

25 

82 

215 

265 

35 

243 

n/a 

98 

120 

100 

245 

1.20 

3.29 

3.02 

3.89 

1.25 

n/a 

2.22 

4.80 

1.39 

0.31 

14.04 

45.99 

15.08 

11.21 

22.78 

9.51 

n/a 

16.86 

21.36 

6.42 

4.99 

1.09 

9.27 

3.60 

1.58 

10.77 

5.23 

6.58 

6.97 

6.05 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Number of 
sector-
related 
employees 
in the 
largest 
company 
in the 
sector 

% of the 
sectoral 
workforce 
in the 
largest 
company 

Number of 
sector-
related 
employees 
in the 
second-
largest 
company 
in the 
sector 

% of the 
sectoral 
workforce 
in the 
second-
largest 
company 

Number of 
sector-
related 
employees 
in the 
third-
largest 
company 
in the 
sector 

% of the 
sectoral 
workforce 
in the 
third-
largest 
company 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

EU-27 average 

900 

2 000 

380 

677 

800 

1 000 

250 

n/a 

665 

500 

n/a 

n/a 

724 

426 

262 

800 

428 

712 

3.82 

5.03 

6.33 

4.31 

8.89 

1.33 

6.62 

n/a 

18.53 

28.89 

n/a 

n/a 

5.79 

3.30 

4.47 

18.68 

9.79 

8.4 

370 

960 

340 

453 

800 

950 

180 

n/a 

300 

400 

n/a 

n/a 

300 

357 

255 

625 

384 

406 

1.57 

2.42 

5.67 

2.89 

8.89 

1.27 

4.77 

n/a 

8.36 

23.11 

n/a 

n/a 

2.40 

2.77 

4.35 

14.60 

8.78 

5.5 

300 

950 

90 

403 

140 

850 

130 

n/a 

170 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

234 

303 

246 

237 

300 

262 

CR3 

Average 
company 
size 
(number of 
employees) 

6.67 

9.84 

13.50 

9.77 

19.35 

3.73 

27.69 

10.53 

7.50 

4.32 

6.08 

5.75 

14.83 

11.65 

1.27 

2.39 

1.50 

2.57 

1.56 

1.13 

3.44 

n/a 

n/a 

4.74 

31.62 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

1.87 

2.35 

4.20 

5.53 

6.86 

51.99 

n/a 

n/a 

10.06 

8.42 

13.03 

38.81 

25.43 

2.8 

16.49 

n/a 

8.41 

8.83 

6.13 

n/a 

5.43 

5.26 

2.18 

3.82 

2.25 

8.52 

Notes:  MS,  Member  State;  n/a,  data  not  available.  The  data  used  to  calculate  the  share  of  each  company’s 
workforce within the total sector workforce are those supplied by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents. 
CR3 represents the sum of the employment shares of the three largest companies. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Turning to developments over time,  Figure 8 shows the number of enterprises in printing activities 
(NACE 18.1),  the  reproduction  of  recorded  media  (NACE 18.2)  and  publishing  activities,  including 
publishing of printed materials and online publishing (NACE 58) between 2013 and 2022. Similar to the 
developments  in  employment,  described  above,  the  number  of  companies  in  printing  activities 
(NACE 18.1) has been decreasing, while the number of companies in publishing (NACE 58) has been 
increasing. In the case of the reproduction of recorded media activities (NACE 18.2), the number of 
people employed has declined, but the number of companies appears to be increasing. 

26 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 8: Number of companies in the graphical sector in the EU-27 in NACE 18.1, 18.2 and 58, 2013–
2022 

.

8
5
d
n
a
1
8
1
E
C
A
N
n

i

i

s
e
n
a
p
m
o
c

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
N

110 000

105 000

100 000

95 000

90 000

85 000

80 000

8 000

7 000

6 000

5 000

4 000

3 000

2 000

1 000

 0

.

2
8
1
E
C
A
N
n

i

i

s
e
n
a
p
m
o
c

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
N

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

NACE 18.1

NACE 58

NACE 18.2

Note: The total for the EU-27 is systematically defined across years in terms of Member State composition. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

Table 10  provides  a  Member-State-level  overview  of  the  change  in  the  number  of  companies  in 
printing  activities  (NACE 18.1)  between  2013  and  2022.  Despite  most  Member  States  showing  a 
decrease,  in  several  Member  States  (Estonia,  Greece,  Ireland,  Lithuania,  Poland,  Romania  and 
Slovakia), this subsector has recorded an increase in the number of companies. In Estonia, Lithuania, 
Romania and Slovakia, the number of companies has increased despite a decline in employment in the 
sector  (see  Figure 3).  As  regards  the  change  in  the  number  of  companies  in  the  reproduction  of 
recorded  media  (NACE 18.2)  between  2013  and  2022,  increases  were  seen  in  Belgium,  Czechia, 
Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, as Table 11 shows. 

Finally,  developments  in the number of  companies  in  publishing  activities,  both  printed  and online 
(NACE 58), between 2013 and 2022 were much more homogeneous across Member States (Table 12). 
In most Member States, the number of companies increased, with large percentage increases recorded 
in Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Spain and  moderate 
increases in Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Romania. 

Data collected by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents confirm the contrasting developments 
recorded  in  the  number  of  companies  and  employment  for  printing  activities  (NACE 18.1)  and 
publishing  activities,  including  publishing of  printed  materials  and online  publishing  (NACE 58).  The 
explanations provided by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents for the longer-term trends are a 
decline in newspaper and book printing and an increase in digital activities, including online publishing, 
large-format  printing,  label  printing  and  security  printing.  Ecological  concerns  were  also  listed  as  a 
reason for the decline in printed matter in several Member States. More short-term concerns arise 
from paper shortages and the high costs of energy following the  Russian war of aggression against 
Ukraine. 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

The  Intergraf  2024  economic  report (4)  shows  that  58 %  of  activity  in  the  graphical  sector  is  in 
packaging/labels,  while 
activities, 
advertising/catalogues account for 14 %, magazines/newspapers account for 8 % and books account 
for 4 %. 

commercial/other  printing 

15 %  of 

accounts 

for 

(4)  https://www.intergraf.eu/images/pdf/2024_Intergraf_Economic%20Report_Abstract.pdf. 

28 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 10: Number of enterprises in NACE 18.1, 2013–2022 

MS 

2013 

2014 

2015 

2016 

EU-27 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

106 946 
854 
3 480 
1 023 
7 598 
11 536 
806 
362 
2 336 
14 041 
918 
19 065 
1 490 
3 198 
1 005 
15 851 
537 
94 
475 
3 787 
8 629 
2 519 
1 915 
2 946 
1 179 
1 302 

108 304 
854 
4 158 
1 026 
7 546 
11 002 
771 
357 
2 920 
13 649 
887 
21 320 
1 399 
3 198 
1 014 
15 206 
605 
90 
471 
3 656 
8 254 
2 467 
1 973 
2 896 
1 183 
1 402 

101 866 
842 
4 032 
1 013 
7 528 
10 065 
715 
383 
2 756 
12 340 
863 
17 920 
1 300 
3 153 
1 007 
14 869 
625 
83 
463 
3 492 
8 423 
2 451 
1 998 
2 821 
1 189 
1 535 

101 560 
856 
4 090 
1 013 
7 571 
10 046 
685 
377 
2 651 
12 380 
814 
17 256 
1 248 
3 098 
1 032 
15 057 
661 
79 
469 
3 375 
8 820 
2 415 
1 928 
2 782 
1 182 
1 675 

2017 

97 860 
845 
4 148 
999 
7 438 
9 585 
648 
387 
2 534 
11 982 
784 
15 052 
1 208 
3 040 
1 079 
14 901 
700 
71 
451 
3 305 
8 611 
2 365 
2 012 
2 738 
1 165 
1 812 

2018 

98 275 
798 
3 111 
1 006 
7 594 
10 364 
595 
366 
2 557 
12 353 
741 
14 537 
1 197 
2 994 
1 076 
14 318 
696 
69 
451 
3 221 
10 264 
2 364 
2 210 
2 402 
1 164 
1 827 

2019 

98 730 
776 
3 692 
983 
7 452 
10 559 
564 
369 
2 582 
12 587 
719 
14 674 
1 368 
2 948 
1 072 
13 731 
698 
66 
438 
3 108 
10 137 
2 375 
2 430 
2 373 
1 144 
1 885 

2020 

97 655 
765 
3 905 
960 
7 349 
11 099 
533 
362 
2 568 
12 355 
663 
14 702 
1 331 
2 856 
1 068 
13 327 
709 
61 
427 
3 024 
9 650 
2 254 
2 522 
2 333 
1 127 
1 705 

2021 

2022 

95 094 
871 
3 466 
959 
7 247 
9 818 
500 
376 
2 662 
12 485 
892 
14 758 
1 376 
2 883 
n/a 
13 140 
746 
57 
414 
2 885 
9 439 
2 260 
2 785 
2 349 
1 107 
1 619 

93 577 
846 
3 027 
945 
7 000 
9 487 
489 
368 
2 781 
12 340 
878 
15 273 
1 400 
2 958 
n/a 
12 909 
721 
58 
387 
2 862 
8 957 
2 254 
2 829 
2 092 
1 112 
1 604 

% change between 
2013 and 2022 
– 12.50 
– 0.94 
– 13.02 
– 7.62 
– 7.87 
– 17.76 
– 39.33 
1.66 
19.05 
– 12.11 
– 4.36 
– 19.89 
– 6.04 
– 7.50 
6.27 
– 18.56 
34.26 
– 38.30 
– 18.53 
– 24.43 
3.80 
– 10.52 
47.73 
– 28.99 
– 5.68 
23.20 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. The data in bold are estimates generated by interpolating the two adjacent values. For Ireland, the change in the final 
column is between 2013 and 2020, as data after 2020 are not available. No data were published for Cyprus throughout this period, and data for Malta were published only 
for some years in this period. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

29 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 11: Number of enterprises in NACE 18.2, 2013–2022 

MS 

EU-27 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

2013 

4 304 
20 
140 
12 
959 
317 
21 
6 
81 
342 
146 
333 
59 
133 
155 
280 
5 
2 
18 
0 
489 
366 
40 
85 
138 
19 
138 

2014 

4 548 
23 
76 
16 
1 127 
438 
21 
4 
86 
330 
128 
455 
55 
135 
159 
263 
3 
2 
19 
0 
471 
342 
42 
85 
136 
18 
114 

2015 

5 028 
22 
43 
16 
1 245 
277 
17 
3 
73 
1 139 
123 
313 
46 
123 
170 
240 
3 
2 
19 
2 
473 
309 
49 
77 
124 
14 
106 

2016 

5 283 
22 
74 
19 
1 521 
268 
21 
1 
64 
1 076 
135 
325 
43 
114 
159 
229 
3 
1 
18 
3 
479 
324 
38 
76 
113 
13 
144 

2017 

5 310 
16 
105 
16 
1 698 
248 
19 
0 
58 
1 049 
132 
264 
39 
106 
195 
211 
3 
1 
18 
4 
470 
296 
38 
75 
110 
14 
125 

2018 

5 809 
16 
137 
19 
2 016 
382 
17 
1 
62 
1 139 
118 
244 
37 
100 
201 
209 
3 
2 
21 
5 
467 
293 
32 
71 
96 
14 
107 

2019 

6 135 
15 
197 
13 
2 157 
427 
18 
2 
64 
1 228 
127 
267 
36 
106 
206 
159 
1 
2 
20 
7 
493 
282 
37 
59 
91 
13 
108 

2020 

 5 294 
18 
131 
11 
2 209 
474 
18 
4 
67 
1 253 
124 
242 
32 
102 
n/a 
144 
1 
0 
15 
8 
517 
277 
33 
57 
83 
12 
92 

2021 

6 251 
18 
171 
10 
2 244 
371 
16 
4 
67 
1 434 
344 
243 
31 
93 
n/a 
126 
0 
0 
14 
18 
524 
236 
37 
79 
75 
12 
84 

2022 

~ 7 000 
19 
211 
9 
2 275 
371 
13 
4 
74 
1 605 
385 
251 
31 
89 
n/a 
150 
0 
2 
14 
25 
539 
205 
41 
81 
66 
10 
82 

% change between 
2013 and 2022 
62.64 
– 5.00 
50.71 
– 25.00 
137.23 
17.03 
– 38.10 
– 33.33 
– 8.64 
369.30 
163.70 
– 24.62 
– 47.46 
– 33.08 
32.90 
– 46.43 
– 100.00 
0.00 
– 22.22 
n/a 
10.22 
– 43.99 
2.50 
– 4.71 
– 52.17 
– 47.37 
– 40.58 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. The data in bold are estimates generated by interpolating the two adjacent values. For Ireland, the change in the final 
column is between 2013 and 2019, as data after 2019 are not available. No data were published for Cyprus throughout this period. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

30 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 12: Number of companies in NACE 58, 2013–2022 

MS 

2013 

EU-27 
AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

85 225 
1 153 
1 757 
1 179 
178 
5 928 
7 645 
1 491 
333 
3 418 
8 218 
1 051 
15 547 
1 053 
3 913 
5 375 
542 
153 
465 
53 
3 912 
6 400 
1 675 
2 908 
6 798 
581 
3 499 

2014 

87 209 
1 150 
1 474 
1 180 
176 
5 877 
8 596 
1 557 
370 
2 763 
8 664 
1 027 
17 074 
976 
3 867 
5 139 
539 
161 
458 
60 
3 916 
6 420 
1 684 
2 991 
6 925 
568 
3 597 

2015 

86 529 
1 132 
1 359 
1 182 
163 
5 818 
8 610 
1 599 
402 
2 474 
9 444 
1 024 
16 657 
953 
3 725 
4 968 
565 
187 
460 
61 
3 933 
6 369 
1 673 
2 925 
6 901 
569 
3 376 

2016 

90 877 
1 112 
1 476 
1 170 
151 
6 030 
9 053 
1 707 
389 
2 386 
10 804 
974 
18 790 
928 
3 642 
5 013 
671 
206 
474 
82 
3 896 
6 451 
1 719 
2 878 
7 029 
585 
3 261 

2017 

88 735 
1 153 
1 466 
1 139 
156 
6 263 
9 133 
1 770 
433 
2 235 
10 735 
969 
16 395 
885 
3 517 
4 892 
783 
218 
469 
83 
3 953 
6 615 
1 706 
2 913 
7 043 
591 
3 220 

2018 

87 972 
1 083 
1 723 
1 125 
165 
6 329 
7 925 
1 841 
512 
2 253 
11 421 
945 
16 200 
867 
3 429 
4 824 
788 
217 
480 
89 
3 979 
7 154 
1 741 
2 914 
6 204 
588 
3 176 

2019 

90 316 
1 134 
1 975 
1 130 
172 
6 345 
7 687 
1 817 
622 
2 259 
10 851 
956 
19 037 
923 
3 341 
4 707 
783 
221 
457 
88 
3 953 
7 030 
1 787 
2 872 
6 433 
570 
3 166 

2020 

89 828 
1 144 
1 792 
1 102 
175 
6 397 
7 078 
1 823 
611 
2 234 
10 238 
944 
20 272 
892 
3 190 
4 588 
787 
221 
437 
98 
3 947 
6 811 
1 793 
2 893 
6 715 
564 
3 082 

2021 

2022 

97 191 
1 505 
2 048 
1 111 
202 
6 478 
7 212 
1 874 
757 
2 283 
11 527 
1 505 
23 251 
939 
3 312 
4 776 
837 
233 
452 
151 
3 858 
6 764 
1 892 
3 494 
7 236 
539 
2 955 

104 272 
1 501 
2 084 
1 102 
272 
6 538 
7 066 
1 812 
817 
2 336 
11 551 
1 510 
30 178 
933 
3 281 
5 025 
886 
220 
480 
172 
3 959 
6 399 
2 011 
3 679 
6 983 
540 
2 937 

% change between 
2013 and 2022  
24.45 
30.18 
18.61 
– 6.53 
52.81 
10.29 
– 7.57 
21.53 
145.35 
– 31.66 
40.56 
43.67 
94.11 
– 11.40 
– 16.15 
– 6.51 
63.47 
43.79 
3.23 
224.53 
1.20 
– 0.02 
20.06 
26.51 
2.72 
– 7.06 
– 16.06 

Notes: MS, Member State. The data in bold are estimates based on the available individual Member State data. For Ireland, no data were published until 2020. 

Source: Eurostat, SBS database. 

31 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

1.4. 

Industrial relations in the graphical sector 

The  workforce  in  the  graphical  sector  is  unionised  in  24  of  the  27  Member  States,  with  no  unions 
recorded in Bulgaria, Estonia or Lithuania. As Table 13 shows, there are generally one or two trade 
unions  per  Member  State  in  this  sector,  with  three  or  more  unions  being  recorded  in  six  Member 
States: Belgium, Finland, France, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. For the three Member States with no 
trade  unions  organising  the  graphical  workforce,  the  main  reason  is  the  small  size  of  companies, 
according to the information collected by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents (see Table 56 in 
the Annex). 

Of the 24 Member States with a trade union, union density can be calculated only for 12, given that no 
union  membership  data  were  provided  for  7  Member  States  (France,  Germany,  Italy,  Latvia, 
Luxembourg,  the  Netherlands  and  Sweden),  the  membership  data  cover  more  than  the  graphical 
sector  in  4  Member  States  (Denmark,  Greece,  Spain  and  Sweden)  and  data  on  the  number  of 
employees in the sector are not available for Poland. For 4 of the 12 Member States where trade union 
membership can be estimated, union density is below 5 % (2.8 % in Czechia, 4.9 % in Hungary, 4.1 % 
in Romania and 2.7 % in Slovakia). The main reasons for this small rate are the small size of companies 
(as reported in Czechia, Hungary and Romania) and the absence of advantages of having a strong union 
(e.g. collective bargaining at the sectoral level) as reported in Slovakia (see Table 56 in the Annex). 

For three Member States (Croatia, Cyprus and Portugal), union density is above 5 % but below 15 %. 
The decline in the sector’s activity (Cyprus), the decrease in company size (Croatia) and the absence of 
sectoral collective bargaining (Portugal) make  unionisation unattractive in these Member States. In 
Austria and Slovenia, union density is close to 30 %. In Slovenia, the small size of companies makes 
organising workers more difficult. In Belgium, Finland and Malta, union density exceeds 75 %. In all 
three Member States, the unionisation of blue-collar workers is high; Finland is trying to attract white-
collar  workers.  Other  Member  States  for  which  no  trade  union  density  is  available  report  that  the 
absence of collective bargaining appears to make organising difficult (Greece), that there is free riding 
by  employees  as  collective  agreements  get  extended  (the  Netherlands)  and  that  employees  find 
working conditions good and do not see the need to belong to a trade union (Latvia). 

In several Member States, unions use some form of communication to advertise the advantages of 
being  a  trade  union  member  (see  Table 57  in  the  Annex).  The  benefits  resulting  from  a  collective 
agreement  are  generally  put  forward.  However,  trade  unions  also  use  other  means  to  attract 
members, such as consumer discounts. In three Member States (France, Hungary and Spain), unions 
use training activities to attract members. 

32 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 13: Organisational density of trade unions in the graphical sector 

MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

Number of sector 
employees, 2019 

Number of unions covered by 
the data / total (%) 

Number of trade union members in the sector 

Density based on trade union data (%) 

6 853 

6 532 

8 774 

900 

19 428 

110 914 

4 406 

2 500 

7 195 

78 438 

23 540 

39 723 

6 000 

15 696 

8 994 

75 050 

3 776 

n/a 

3 589 

1 731 

1/1 (100) 

2/5 (40) 

0/0 (0) 

2/2 (100) 

1/1 (100) 

1/1 (100) 

2/2 (100) 

0/0 (0) 

1/1 (100) 

4/8 (50) 

3/3 (100) 

0/5 (0) 

1/1 (100) 

1/1 (100) 

0/2 (0) 

0/3 (0) 

0/0 (0) 

0/2 (0) 

0/2 (0) 

1/1 (100) 

2 000 

5 240 

0 

132 

550 

n/a 

13 900 (HK Privat, with 12 150 members, also has 
members outside the graphical sector) 

0 

4 350 (also covers the paper sector) 

251 823 (also covers sectors other than the 
graphical sector) 

17 990 

0 

800 

774 

0 

0 
0 

0 

0 

1 400 

33 

29.2 

80.2 

0 

14.7 

2.8 

n/a 
Cannot be calculated, as employment and 
trade union membership do not refer to 
the same sector 
0 
Cannot be calculated, as employment and 
trade union membership do not refer to 
the same sector 
Cannot be calculated, as employment and 
trade union membership do not refer to 
the same sector 
76.4 

n/a 

13.3 

4.9 

0 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

80.9 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Number of sector 
employees, 2019 

Number of unions covered by 
the data / total (%) 

Number of trade union members in the sector 

Density based on trade union data (%) 

19 400 

n/a 

12 500 

12 900 

5 856 

4 282 

4 372 

0/3 (0) 

1/1 (100) 

4/4 (100) 

1/1 (100) 

6/6 (100) 

2/2 (100) 

1/1 (100) 

0 

3 000 

1 102 

535 

21 040 (also covers the paper sector) 

1 260 

120 

n/a 
Data on the number of sector employees 
are not available 
8.8 

4.1 

n/a 

29.4 

2.7 

EU-27 

483 349 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. Estimates for union density are calculated in those instances in which membership data are available for all unions active 
in the Member State and where both union membership and employment refer to the graphical sector exclusively. For Denmark, the membership data for HK Privat are not 
exclusively for the graphical sector but also include data on related sectors (e.g. the paper sector). The trade union 3F in Denmark has 1 750 members employed in the 
graphical sector. In Greece, OMBTX has 4 350 members, some of whom work in the paper sector. In Spain, the membership figure refers to four of the six unions active in 
the sector. For two of these (FI-USO and LAB), membership covers other sectors besides the graphical sector. In Sweden, Pappers (13 000), one of the six unions active in the 
sector, has members from outside the graphical sector and, thus, an estimate of union density is not calculated. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

34 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

The representation  of  companies  by  employer  organisations  is  similar  to  that  of  unions,  with  most 
Member  States  having  one  or  two  employer  organisations  in  the  graphical  sector  (Table 14).  The 
distribution of employer organisations across Member States is much more homogeneous than the 
distribution of trade unions. There is only one Member State with no such organisation (Greece) and 
there are only three Member States (Austria, Italy and Spain) with three employer organisations. Nine 
of the remaining 23 Member States have two employer organisations, while 14 have one. 

Employer organisation density in terms of the number of companies that are members of the employer 
organisations as a percentage of the total number of companies in the sector (calculated based on the 
data  collected  through  the  Network  of  Eurofound  Correspondents)  shows  more  variation  across 
Member States. Eleven Member States out of the 26 with an employer organisation have a density of 
5 % or lower. Four of the 26 Member States with an employer organisation have a density of over 5 % 
but lower than 10 %. Six Member States (Finland, France, Luxembourg, Malta, Spain and Sweden) have 
an employer organisation density of over 20 %. 

Employer organisation density in terms of the workforce is calculated using the data provided by the 
Network  of  Eurofound  Correspondents  on  the  number  of  people  employed  in  companies  that  are 
employer organisation members. This density is presented in the final column of Table 14. For 11 of 
the 19 Member States for which this information is available,  the employer organisation density in 
terms of the workforce is over 40 %. Surprisingly, the density is not high in the Member States in which 
the  CR3  index  presented  in  Table 9  is  also  high,  suggesting  that  membership  in  the  employer 
organisations is broader than just in the largest three firms in the sector. 

Table 14:  Organisational  density  of  employer  organisations/  business  associations  in  the  graphical 
sector 

MS 

Number of 
companies 
in the 
sector, 2021 

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 
EE 
EL 
ES 
FI 
FR 
HR 
HU 
IE 

IT 
LT 

149 
5 998 
947 
250 
12 304 
10 295 
843 
380 
1 032 
12 958 
850 
3 772 
800 
3 637 
1 480 

13 050 
324 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 
(5) covered by 
the data / total 
(%) 
2/3 (66.67) 
2/2 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
0/1 
2/2 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
0/0 
3/3 (100) 
2/2 (100) 
2/2 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
1/1 (100) 

3/3 (100) 
1/1 (100) 

Number of 
companies covered 
by the employer 
organisations 

Density in terms of the 
number of graphical 
companies belonging 
to the employer 
organisations (%) 

Density in terms of the 
graphical workforce 
employed in employer 
organisation member 
companies (%) (6) 

250 
~ 300 
92 
10 
39 
n/a 
168 
30 
0 
3 230 
175 
841 
10 
68 
n/a 

1 077 
16 

n/a 
5.00 
9.71 
4.00 
0.32 
n/a 
19.93 
7.89 
0.00 
24.93 
20.59 
22.30 
1.25 
1.87 
n/a 

8.25 
4.94 

~ 50 
n/a 
10.00 
16.67 
20.85 
n/a 
63.55 
42.40 
0.00 
44.62 
70.00 
49.56 
18.00 
63.39 
n/a 

51.24 
52.97 

(5)    Both business associations, focusing on the business and commercial aspects of the industry, as well as 

employer organisations focused on social matters, were included in the density calculation. 

(6)  Density calculated based on data provided by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents. 

35 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Number of 
companies 
in the 
sector, 2021 

LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 
PT 
RO 

SE 
SI 
SK 
EU-27 

64 
427 
196 
3 165 
16 924 
2 300 
2 454 

2 692 
1 122 
1 942 
100 355 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 
(5) covered by 
the data / total 
(%) 
1/1 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
2/2 (100) 
2/2 (100) 
2/2 (100) 
1/1 (100) 
1/1 (100) 

2/2 (100) 
2/2 (100) 
1/1 (100) 

Number of 
companies covered 
by the employer 
organisations 

Density in terms of the 
number of graphical 
companies belonging 
to the employer 
organisations (%) 

Density in terms of the 
graphical workforce 
employed in employer 
organisation member 
companies (%) (6) 

23 
28 
62 
18 
180 
242 
58 

1 000 
14 
30 

35.94 
6.56 
31.63 
0.57 
1.06 
10.52 
2.36 

37.15 
1.25 
1.54 

n/a 
n/a 
83.77 
53.46 
n/a 
11.2 
17.05 

n/a 
8.00 
27.45 

Note: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Looking at factors that hinder the organisation of companies in employer organisations, there are 20 
Member States that report some factor that hinders the organisation of graphical sector companies in 
employer organisations (see Table 58 in the Annex). In most cases (13 Member States), the small size 
of companies (including the large number of self-employed people in the sector, in some instances) is 
reported  as  to  blame.  Other  reasons  that  hinder  the  organisation  of  companies  in  employer 
organisations are that companies might be expecting little from an employer organisation (Estonia), 
the  decline  in  the  sector  (Cyprus)  and  limited  collective  bargaining  in  the  sector  (Portugal).  Small 
companies  are  deemed  to  be  more  difficult  to  organise  than  larger  companies,  both  for  financial 
reasons and because of a lack of personnel capacity. At the same time, in Romania, membership in an 
employer  organisation  is  reported  to  be  treated  with  suspicion,  as  firms  fear  they  will  lose  their 
competitive advantage in a sector with intense competition. 

Finally, Table 15 provides an overview of the collective bargaining coverage in the graphical sector. In 
eight  Member  States  (Bulgaria,  Czechia,  Estonia,  Greece,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Romania  and  Slovakia), 
there  is  either  no  collective  bargaining  (Bulgaria,  Estonia,  Latvia  and  Lithuania)  or  the  collective 
bargaining  coverage –  either  single-  or  multi-employer  bargaining –  is  10 %  or  less.  In  14  Member 
States, there is no multi-employer bargaining. These are, in general, either Member States in which 
there is no union (Bulgaria, Estonia and Lithuania) or Member States in which trade union density is 
very low (Croatia, Czechia, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Romania and Slovakia), as indicated in Table 13. 
There are also instances, such as Malta, where trade union density is very high but, despite that, there 
is no multi-employer bargaining. In 12 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, 
France,  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal,  Spain,  Slovenia  and  Sweden),  there  is  stand-alone  multi-
employer bargaining. In five Member States (Austria, France, Luxembourg, Romania and Spain) there 
is an extension mechanism that permits collective agreements to be extended to all workers in the 
sector. 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 15: Collective bargaining coverage and extension mechanism 

Workforce in the 
largest company 
with SEB as a % of 
sectoral workforce 

Does a mechanism 
exist that makes 
collective 
bargaining 
agreements 
generally binding? 

Is an extension mechanism 
implemented in the 
graphical sector (covering 
all workers)? 

Are there 
criteria to take 
part in an 
extension 
mechanism? 

Are there 
criteria to 
take part in 
SEB? 

Is there 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is there 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

No information  

No information 

80 (estimate) 

No information 

% of sector workforce covered by 
collective bargaining 

SEB + MEB 

MEB 

10–15 

96–100 

0 

> 16.6 

10–15 

96–100 

0 

> 16.6 

10 (SEB only) 

0 

> 10 

80–85 

0 

1.40 

100 

59.2 
100 
30–35 

0 

0 

100 

59.20 
100 
0 

18–21 
43 
~ 100 
0 
Impossible to 
estimate 
0 

70 

No information 

0 
0 
~ 100 
0 
Impossible to 
estimate 
0 

0 

83 

MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 
FR 
HR 

HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

No SEB 

7.76 

No SEB 

No SEB 

6.32 

No information 

2.71 

3.61 

No SEB 
5.03 
6.33 

4.31 
8.89 
No information 
No SEB 

No data 

No SEB 

28.89 

No information 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
No 
No 
No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 
Not relevant – there is no 
sectoral agreement in the 
sector 

No 

No 

No 

Not relevant – there is no 
sectoral agreement in the 
sector 

Yes 

No 
Yes 
No 

No 
No 
No 
No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

37 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Not relevant 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 
Yes 
No 

Yes 
No 
No 
No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 
Yes 
No 

Yes 
No 
No 
No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes  

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
No 
No 

Yes 
No data 
Yes  

No 
No data 
Yes  

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

% of sector workforce covered by 
collective bargaining 

SEB + MEB 

No information 

~ 58–100 
< 4 (SEB only) 
80–90 
50 
10 

MEB 

0 

~ 55 
0 
80–90 
50 
0 

MS 

PL 

PT 
RO 
SE 
SI 
SK 

Workforce in the 
largest company 
with SEB as a % of 
sectoral workforce 

No information 

Does a mechanism 
exist that makes 
collective 
bargaining 
agreements 
generally binding? 
No 

5.79 
3.3 
No SEB 
18.68 
9.79 

Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No 

Is an extension mechanism 
implemented in the 
graphical sector (covering 
all workers)? 

Are there 
criteria to take 
part in an 
extension 
mechanism? 

Are there 
criteria to 
take part in 
SEB? 

Is there 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Is there 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

No 

No 
Yes 
No 
No 
No 

No 

No 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No data 

No 

No 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No 

No 

No 

No 
Yes  
No 
No 
No data 

No 
No 
No 
No 
No data 

Notes: MEB, multi-employer bargaining; MS, Member State; SEB, single-employer bargaining. In Austria, there is informal, not institutionalised, bilateral dialogue. In Belgium, 
there is no automatic mechanism, but general practice. In Ireland, the percentage covered by collective bargaining refers to Ireland as a whole. In Greece, legislation permits 
the extension of collective agreements in general, subject to a threshold of the employees covered, but there is no sectoral collective agreement in the graphical sector. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

38 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

2.  National level of representation 

This  chapter  presents  an  overview  of  the  national-level  trade  unions  and  employer  organisations 
active in the graphical sector, as summarised in Figure 9. The Network of Eurofound Correspondents 
identified 59 sector-related trade unions in the graphical sector in 24 Member States. In three Member 
States  (Bulgaria,  Estonia  and  Lithuania),  there  is  no  trade  union  in  the  graphical  sector.  Thus,  the 
average number of trade unions in the Member States with a trade union in the graphical sector is 
2.5. In certain Member States, the number of trade unions active in the graphical sector is high: eight 
in Spain, six in Sweden, five in Belgium and France and four in Portugal. However, 10 Member States 
have a single trade union in the graphical sector. The Network of Eurofound Correspondents identified 
48  sector-related  employer  organisations  or  business  associations  in  the  graphical  sector  in  26 
Member States. As previously mentioned, only in Greece is there no organisation representing the 
employers  in the graphical sector. Thus, the average number of  employer organisations / business 
associations in the Member States with such an organisation in the graphical sector is 1.8. In certain 
Member States, the number of employer organisations / business associations is high: five in Austria, 
Poland  and  Spain  and  three  in  Italy.  However,  in  14  Member  States,  there  is  only  one  employer 
organisation / business association. A list of all national trade unions is available in Table 20, while 
Table 62 in the Annex provides the full names in the original language and in English for trade unions. 
Similarly, the employer organisations / business associations are listed in Table 25, and Table 63 in the 
Annex provides the full names in the original language and  in  English for employer organisations / 
business associations. 

Figure 9: Number of trade unions and employer organisations in the graphical industry, 2023 

Number of employer organisations / business 
associations in the graphical sector in the MS 

Number of trade unions / professional 
associations in the graphical sector in the MS 

1 

5 

0 

2 

1 

1 

2 

0 

1 

8 

3 

5 

1 

MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY (7) 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

5 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

0 

5 

2 

2 

1 

(7) 

In Cyprus, the Cyprus Association of Publishers of Newspapers and Magazines, which is a signatory of a 
collective bargaining agreement in the publishing sector, was not included in the study, as it did not provide 
any input to the Eurofound correspondent. 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Number of employer organisations / business 
associations in the graphical sector in the MS 

Number of trade unions / professional 
associations in the graphical sector in the MS 

1 

2 

3 

0 

2 

2 

1 

3 

1 

4 

1 

6 

2 

1 

MS 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

5 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

59 

EU-27 

48 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

The  number  of  sector-related  trade  unions  and  employer  organisations  has  increased  somewhat 
compared with the 2016 graphical sector representativeness report (which presents information for 
2015): 59 trade unions in 2023 compared with 54 in 2015 and 48 employer organisations / business 
associations in 2023 compared with 42 in 2015 (Table 16 and Table 17). In the three Member States 
reporting  no  trade  union  in  the  2016  report  (Bulgaria,  Estonia  and  Slovakia),  the  situation  has  not 
changed for the first two, while Slovakia now has a trade union. The increase in the overall number of 
trade unions is due to the increase in the number of unions in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia, 
Spain and Sweden. 

Some  of  these  increases  are  explained  by  the  more  accessible  public  information  available  on  the 
national-level organisations, which allowed the Network of Eurofound Correspondents to identify the 
relevant  active  organisations.  In  other  cases,  new  organisations  have  emerged.  In  other  Member 
States, namely France, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Malta and Poland, the number of trade unions active 
in the graphical sector decreased by one. In Italy the trade union UGL Carta e Stampa (General Labour 
Union for Paper and Printing), which was included in the previous study for the sector, has lost its 
members in the sector, as is the case for NSZZ ‘Solidarnosc’ in Poland. In France, the FASAP-FO union 
currently only represents journalists, and thus was also deemed not sector-related. In Lithuania, the 
decline means that no union is now involved in the graphical sector: LKDPF, which was active in the 
graphical  sector  in  2015,  no  longer  has  members  in  the  graphical  sector;  instead  its  members  are 
employees of libraries and museums. 

40 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 16:  Comparative  overview  of  the  number  of  national  trade  unions  organising workers  in  the 
graphical sector in each Member State, 2015 and 2023 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

2023 

2015 

2023 

2015 

1 

1 

IE 

2 

2 

5 

3 

IT 

3 

4 

0 

0 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

0 

0 

1 

2 

8 

4 

LT 

LU 

LV  MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

0 

1 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

3 

3 

1 

2 

4 

4 

1 

1 

6 

4 

FI 

3 

2 

FR 

HR 

HU 

5 

6 

SI 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

SK 

EU-27 

1 

0 

59 

54 

Note: Red font indicates differences in the number of organisations between 2015 and 2023. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2015 and 2023. 

The number of employer organisations identified in the sector in 2015 and 2023 increased from 42 to 
48. However, the distribution of employer organisations across Member States has changed. While 
Croatia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia had no employer organisations in the sector in 2015, 
in 2023, all of them recorded at least one. Greece, however, with one employer organisation recorded 
in the 2016 report, now has no employer organisations in the sector, as the organisation included in 
the previous study lost its members in the graphical sector. 

Table 17:  Comparative  overview  of  the  number  of  national  employer  organisations  with  member 
companies in the graphical sector in each Member State, 2015 and 2023 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

2023 

2015 

2023 

2015 

5 

3 

IE 

1 

1 

2 

2 

IT 

3 

8 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

0 

1 

5 

4 

LT 

LU 

LV  MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

1 

0 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

1 

2 

2 

5 

0 

1 

1 

1 

0 

2 

2 

FI 

2 

1 

FR 

HR 

HU 

2 

3 

SI 

2 

2 

1 

0 

1 

1 

SK 

EU-27 

1 

0 

48 

42 

Note: Red font indicates differences in the number of organisations between 2015 and 2023. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2015 and 2023. 

2.1.  National trade union membership domain and strength 

This  section  presents  and  discusses  the  picture  of  the  trade  unions  in  the  graphical  sector  in  the 
individual Member States. Turning first to the activities in which the graphical sector trade unions have 
members, Table 18, Table 19 and Figure 10 show the coverage of national trade unions in terms of 
activities and occupational categories. In all 24 of the Member States that have a trade union in the 
graphical sector, trade unions exist in the subsectors printing of newspapers and printing of magazines 
(Table 18). Conversely, in  quite a few  Member States, trade  unions in the graphical sector are not 
involved in printing on less commonly used media (e.g. wallpaper and other surfaces). 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 18: Scope of membership domains of sectoral trade unions, 2023 

s
r
e
p
a
p
s
w
e
n
f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

s
e
n
i
z
a
g
a
m

f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

s
k
o
o
b
f
o
g
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i
t
n
i
r
P

i

a
d
e
m
-
e
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p
d
n
a
s
s
e
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-
e
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P

s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s

g
n
i
g
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k
c
a
p
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
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r
P

s
e
u
g
o
a
t
a
c

l

f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

l

a
i
c
r
e
m
m
o
c

r
e
h
t
o
d
n
a

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p

r
e
p
a
p

l
l

a
w
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

g
n
i
t
n
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r
p
r
e
h
t
O

l

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t
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m

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s

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i
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P

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e
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f
o
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P

s
t
c
u
d
o
r
p

g
n
i
t
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r
p
t
a
m
r
o
f
-
e
g
r
a
L

g
n
i
t
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i
r
p
y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

s
l
e
b
a
L

d
e
d
r
o
c
e
r

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
R

i

a
d
e
m

d
r
a
o
b
d
n
a
r
e
p
a
P

g
n
i
t
r
e
v
n
o
c

l

s
c
i
n
o
r
t
c
e
e
d
e
t
n
i
r
P

d
e
t
n
i
r
p
f
o
g
n
d
n
B

i

i

Number of trade unions 
active in the sector 

Number of trade unions 
not active in the sector 

Number  of  Member 
States  in  which  trade 
unions 
this 
activity 

cover 

47 

44 

47 

40 

40 

41 

40 

38 

24 

33 

32 

33 

29 

33 

28 

25 

34 

6 

9 

6 

13 

13 

12 

13 

12 

26 

17 

20 

19 

25 

22 

27 

28 

19 

24 

24 

24 

24 

23 

24 

23 

24 

19 

21 

22 

22 

20 

21 

18 

20 

21 

Member States in which 
no  trade  union  covers 
this activity 

BG, 
EE, LT 

BG, 
EE, LT 

BG, 
EE, LT 

BG, 
EE, LT 

BG, 
CY (*), 
EE, LT 

BG, 
EE, LT 

BG (*), 
CZ, DK, 
EE 

BG, 
EE, 
LT (*) 

BG, 
CY, 
CZ, 
EE (*), 
FI, 
FR (*), 
LT (*), 
PL (*) 

BG, 
CY (*), 
CZ, 
EE, 
LT (*), 
PL 

BG, 
CZ, 
EE, 
FI, 
LT 

BG, 
CY, 
CZ, 
EE, 
LT 

BG (*), 
CY (*), 
CZ, EE, 
FI (*), 
LT, 
PL (*) 

BG, 
CY, 
CZ, EE, 
LT (*), 
PL 

BG (*), 
CY (*), 
CZ, EE, 
EL (*), 
FI, 
FR (*), 
LT (*), 
PL 

BG, 
CY, 
CZ, 
EE, FI, 
LT, PL 

BG, 
CZ, 
EE (*), 
FI (*), 
LT (*), 
PL (*) 

(*) Member States in which the activity in question is not considered part of the graphical sector. A complete list of the activities that are considered part of the graphical 
sector in each Member State is available in Table 54 in the Annex. 

Notes: For two unions in the Netherlands, no information on the coverage of subsectors is available. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

42 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Most trade unions cover workers from more than one activity. Of the 51 trade unions active in the 
sector for which data on covered activities are available, 15 (28 %) organise workers in all 17 graphical 
sector  activities  listed  in  Table 18  (Figure 10a).  Seventeen  unions  (32 %)  cover  11–16  activities,  11 
unions (21 %) cover 6–10 activities and 10 unions (19 %) cover 1–5 activities. 

Turning to the features of the trade unions active in the sector, Table 19 presents information on the 
size of the companies in which most union members are present, their geographical dispersion, the 
types of workers the unions organise and other activities besides the graphical sector in which the 
trade unions are present. There is information available for 39 of the 59 trade unions on whether most 
trade union members are active in large companies or small companies or if trade unions are equally 
representative in large and small companies. The three categories are mutually exclusive. Most trade 
unions (26 out of 39; 67 %) are equally present in large and small companies. As most companies in 
the sector are small (see  Chapter 1), the distribution of trade  unions across firms of different sizes 
suggests that a large part of the sector is not unionised. 

As regards the regional presence of trade unions, information is available for 56 out of the 59 trade 
unions  on  their  geographical  presence:  52  trade  unions  (88 %)  organise  members  in  the  entire 
Member State. Out of the 51 trade unions for which data on existence of regional substructures are 
available, less than half (25) have such substructures. 

Information on the occupational groups that the sectoral trade unions organise was available for 54 
unions (Table 19) in 22 Member States. As regards all three of the unions active in the Netherlands 
and the one in Slovakia, none has provided data on the occupational groups of their members. Blue-
collar workers are covered by more trade unions than the other three occupational groups covered 
here.  Of  all  of  the  trade  unions  in  the  22  Member  States  for  which  data  are  available  on  the 
occupational groups covered, 49 (91 %) organise blue-collar workers. There are five trade unions that 
do not organise blue-collar workers: one in Belgium, one in Finland and three in Sweden. White-collar 
workers  are  covered  by  44  unions  in  21  Member  States.  Twenty-seven  trade  unions  cover 
management staff in 11 Member States (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, 
Luxembourg,  Portugal,  Slovenia  and  Sweden).  Finally,  only  10  trade  unions  in  six  Member  States 
(Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Italy and Portugal) cover self-employed workers. 

Only  seven  trade  unions  (13 %)  organise  workers  in  all  four  occupational  categories  (blue-collar 
workers, white-collar workers, management staff and self-employed workers; see Figure 10b). Three 
of these are in Portugal (Fiequimetal, SIMA and Sinttav), two are in Finland (SJL and Τeollisuusliitto), 
one is in Austria (GPA) and one is in Denmark (HK Privat). On the other hand, nine trade unions (17 %) 
organise  workers  from  only  a  single  occupation.  Of  these  unions,  five  are  in  Sweden,  which 
traditionally has segregated trade unions (three for blue-collar workers, one for white-collar workers 
and one for management staff), two are in Ireland (both organising only blue-collar workers) and there 
is one each in Belgium and Denmark (both organising blue-collar workers). The low number of trade 
unions  that  organise  all  four  occupations  is  explained  by  the  low  representation  of  self-employed 
workers  in  the  sector  (10  unions).  The  number  of  trade  unions  that  organise  blue-collar  workers, 
white-collar workers and managerial staff is 16. In terms of other activities in which the trade unions 
active in the graphical sector also have members, 30 unions in 18 Member States also organise the 
packaging sector (see Table 19). 

43 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 19: Trade union coverage by workforce categories, company size groups, geographical coverage 
and additional sectors of activity in the graphical sector 

Criterion 

Classification 

Number 
of trade 
unions 

Number of MSs in which 
the trade unions in the 
previous column are 
located 

Company size 
(39) (8) 

Geographical 
coverage 

Type of 
workers the 
trade union is 
organising 
(54) (11) 

Other sectors 
in which trade 
unions have 
members 
(51) (12) 

Large 

Small 
Equally 
representative for 
large and small  

Entire Member 
State (56) (9) 

Regional 
substructure 
(51) (10) 

Blue collar 

White collar 
Management 
Self-employed 

Paper 

Audiovisual 

Commerce 

Logistics 

Transport 

Postal and courier 

Graphic design 
advertising 

Photographers 

Production of 
signage and 
luminous signs 

Video game 
production 

Production of 
packaging (including 
corrugated) 

10 

3 

26 

52 

25 

49 

44 
27 
10 

29 

25 

19 

22 

19 

22 

27 

17 

17 

15 

30 

8 

3 

12 

23 

21 

22 

21 
11 
6 

17 

15 

13 

14 

12 

14 

15 

11 

11 

9 

18 

Number of trade unions for which 
information is available 

39  trade  unions  located  in  20  MSs. 
(The  following  MSs  have  missing 
information  for  all  trade  unions:  BE, 
IE, NL and SK. The following MSs have 
no trade unions: BG, EE and LT.) 

56  trade  unions  located  in  23  MSs. 
following  MS  has  missing 
(The 
information  for  all  trade  unions:  SK. 
The  following  MSs  have  no  trade 
unions: BG, EE and LT.) 
51  trade  unions  located  in  21  MSs. 
(The  following  MSs  have  missing 
information  for  all  trade  unions:  IE, 
RO  and  SK.  The  following  MSs  have 
no trade unions: BG, EE and LT.) 
54  trade  unions  in  22  MSs.  (The 
following  MSs 
have  missing 
information  for  all  trade  unions:  NL 
and  SK.  The  following  MSs  have  no 
trade unions: BG, EE and LT.) 

All trade unions in 24 MSs (no 
information is available for those in 
IE, NL and RO). 

(8)  The 20 unions for which information is missing are in Belgium (five unions), Ireland (two unions), Italy (one 
union),  Latvia  (one  union),  the  Netherlands  (three  unions),  Portugal  (one  union),  Slovakia  (one  union), 
Spain (five unions) and Sweden (one union). 

(9)  The three unions for which information is missing are in Latvia, the Netherlands and Slovakia. 
(10)  The eight unions for which information is missing are in Belgium (one union), France (one union), Ireland 
(two  unions),  Latvia  (one  union),  the  Netherlands  (one  union),  Romania  (one  union)  and  Slovakia  (one 
union). 

(11)  The five unions for which information is missing are in Latvia (one union), the Netherlands (three unions) 

and Slovakia (one union). 

(12)  The six unions for which information is missing are in Ireland (two unions), the Netherlands (three unions) 

and Slovakia (one union). 

44 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Criterion 

Classification 

Number 
of trade 
unions 

Number of MSs in which 
the trade unions in the 
previous column are 
located 

Number of trade unions for which 
information is available 

Production of other 
packaging 

23 

16 

Notes: MS, Member State. The company-size classification is the only one for which different categories are 
mutually exclusive. The number in brackets in the ‘Criterion’ column is the number of trade unions for which 
this information is not missing. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

45 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 10: Activities and occupations covered by the trade unions, 2023 

(a)  Scope of trade union coverage in terms of activities 

(b)  Scope of trade union coverage in terms of occupations 

i

s
n
o
n
u
e
d
a
r
t

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
N

18

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

1–5

6–10

11–16

Full coverage
(17 activities)

No data

Number of activities 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

i

s
n
o
n
u
e
d
a
r
t

f
o
r
e
b
m
u
N

25

20

15

10

5

0

46 

1

2

3

Full coverage
(four
occupations)

Blue collar,
white collar
and
managerial

No data

Number of occupations

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 20  provides  an  overview  of  the  membership  strength  of  the  59  trade  unions.  It  includes 
information on the number of members – with a qualification of the type of data – and an indication 
of the trend in membership over the last two or three years. The information on membership strength 
is missing for 24 trade unions and, for 12 trade unions, this information is estimated, thus leaving 23 
trade unions for which we have actual figures. Even in instances when a specific number was provided, 
the figures supplied often contain members of the union from other industrial sectors (i.e. the paper 
sector). The information on the membership trend is more informative. Such information is available 
for 32 of the 59 trade unions. For 15 trade unions, membership is reported to be decreasing; for 11 
trade unions, membership is stable; and, for six trade unions, membership is increasing. The trend is 
not the same for all unions in a Member State; those unions for which membership is increasing are, 
in most cases, located in Member States that have more than one union, and the increasing trend is 
observed for only one of the trade unions. 

Table 20: Membership strength of the trade unions, 2023 

MS 

Trade union 

AT 
BE 

CY 

GPA 
ACV-CSC BIE 
ABVV-FGTB BBTK-SETCa 
ACLVB-CGSLB 
ACV-CSC Puls 
ACV-CSC CNE 
ΣΕΒΕΤΤΥΚ 
OBIEK-SEK 
ΤΒ 
Ver.di 

EL 
ES 

CZ 
DE 
DK  HK Privat 
3F 
OMTBX 
FSC-CCOO 
CCOO-Industria 
UGT-SP 
UGT-FICA 
UGT-FeSMC 
ELA – Industria eta 
Eraikuntza 
FI-USO 

Number of employees 
in the sector who are 
members of the trade 
union 
2 000 
2 740 
2 500 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
62 
70 
550 
n/a 
10 400 (13) 
1 750 
4 350 (14) 
80 000 (15) 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
823 

126 000 (16) 

Type/source of information 
on the number of members 
Estimate 
Exact number 

Membership trend 
in the last two or 
three years 

n/r 
X 
X 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Χ 
X 
Χ 
n/a 
n/r 
Χ 
n/r 
Χ 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
X 

X 

X 
n/r 
n/r 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 
n/a 
Χ 
n/r 
Χ 
n/r 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/r 

n/r 

Decreasing 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Decreasing 
n/a 
Decreasing 
Stable 
Stable 
n/a 
Stable 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Increasing 

n/a 

(13)  This estimate includes members in other sectors (both private and public) besides graphical, namely paper, 
audiovisual,  commerce,  logistics,  transport,  postal  and  courier,  creative  agencies,  advertising,  graphic 
designers, photographers, production of signage (print or digital) and luminous signs, production of video 
games,  production  of  paper  packaging  (including  corrugated  packaging),  production  of  other  packaging 
(other than paper and corrugated), administration, retail, ICT and services. 
(14)  This figure is that for the graphical sector combined with the paper sector. 
(15)  This estimate includes members from other sectors besides graphical, namely paper, audiovisual, logistics, 
transport,  postal  and  courier  sector,  creative  agencies,  advertising,  graphic  designers,  photographers 
(except communication media), production of signage (print or digital) and luminous signs, production of 
video  games,  production  of  paper  packaging  (including  corrugated  packaging)  and  production  of  other 
packaging (other than paper and corrugated). 

(16)  This  includes  members  from  other  sectors  besides  graphical,  namely  paper  and  audiovisual.  More 

information has not been provided. 

47 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

FI 

FR 

LAB 
Τeollisuusliitto 
PRO 
SJL 
Filpac CGT 
Fédération FO Livre 
F3C-CFDT 
FC-CFTC 
IP-CFE-CGC 
SGIM 
HR 
HU  NYDSZ 
SIPTU 
IE 
Unite 
SLC-CGIL 
Fistel-CISL 
Uilcom-UIL 
LCGB-Services 
OGB-L – imprimerie, 
médias, culture, FLTL 
LKDAF 
LPNA 
MT  GWU 
NL 

LU 

LV 

IT 

PL 
PT 

FNV Media en Cultuur 
De Unie 
CNV 
ZZP 
Fiequimetal 
Sindetelco 
Sinttav 
SIMA 
RO  USTR 
SE 

GS 
Unionen 
Ledarna 
Pappers 
SI 
SEKO 
SGDS 
Pergam 
SOZPP 

SI 

SK 

Number of employees 
in the sector who are 
members of the trade 
union 
45 000 (17) 
13 500 
990 
3 500 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
800 
774 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

n/a 
50 
1 400 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
3 000 
800 
200 
72 
30 
535 
6 109 
1 290 
641 
13 000 (18)  
50 
200 
400 
860 
120 

Type/source of information 
on the number of members 
Estimate 
Exact number 

Membership trend 
in the last two or 
three years 

n/r 
n/r 
Χ 
n/r 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Χ 
Χ 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

n/a 
Χ 
n/r 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 
Χ 
n/r 
X 
X 
X 
X 
Χ 
Χ 
n/r 
X 
Χ 
Χ 

X 
X 
n/r 
Χ 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/r 
n/r 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

n/a 
n/r 
Χ 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Χ 
Χ 
Χ 
n/r 
Χ 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 
X 
n/r 
n/r 
n/r 

n/a 
Increasing 
Decreasing 
Decreasing 
n/a 
Stable 
Decreasing 
Increasing 
n/a 
Decreasing  
Increasing 
n/a 
n/a 
Stable 
Decreasing 
n/a 
Decreasing 
Decreasing 

n/a 
Decreasing 
Stable 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Increasing 
Decreasing 
n/a 
Stable 
Increasing 
Stable 
Decreasing 
Decreasing 
Stable 
Stable 
Stable 
Decreasing 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available; n/r, not relevant. Italic font indicates unions that are active 
only in part of the Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

(17)  This estimate includes members from other sectors besides graphical, namely paper, audiovisual, logistics, 

transport, and postal and courier. 

(18)  Most members are from the paper, not the graphical, sector. 

48 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

2.2. 

Involvement of national trade unions in collective bargaining 

This section considers the involvement of the 59 trade unions in collective bargaining, as summarised 
in Table 21. Trade unions can be involved in signing agreements at either the enterprise level (single-
employer bargaining (SEB)) or the sectoral level (multi-employer bargaining (MEB)). Information on 
whether any type of bargaining takes place is available for 52 unions. 

Table 21: Overview of graphical sector trade unions’ involvement in collective bargaining in the EU-
27, 2023 

Involvement in collective bargaining 

Member States 

Number of trade 
unions 

All unions engage only in SEB 

CZ, HR, HU, IE, LV (19), MT, PL, RO, SK 

All unions engage only in MEB 

AT, CY, FI, SE 

All  unions  engage 
MEB (20) 

in  both  SEB  and 

Some unions engage in SEB, while other 
unions engage in MEB 

No collective bargaining 

No data on involvement in either SEB or 
MEB 

BE, DE, ES, FR, IT, SI 

DK, ES, LU, PT 

EL, LV (13) 

Four unions in ES, one union in NL 

No data on involvement in SEB 

One union in NL, one union in SE 

10 

12 

20 

14 

2 

5 

2 

Note: The numbers in last column are not mutually exclusive. For the two trade unions for which information is 
available regarding the existence of MEB but not on whether SEB also takes place (De Unie in NL and Pappers in 
SE), these have been allocated (but not counted) with the majority of the unions in each Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Looking at this in more detail, in approximately half of the Member States, all trade unions follow the 
same type of collective bargaining: in  eight Member States, there is only SEB (not including Latvia, 
which includes one union negotiating at the employer level and one non-representative union), while 
in four Member States, unions engage only in MEB (Table 22). In all  Member States where unions 
engage  in  only  SEB  except  for  Ireland,  there  is  only  one  union  in  the  Member  State.  In  the  three 
Member States where unions engage only in MEB, except for Austria, there is more than one union. 
In five Member States, all unions engage in both SEB and MEB while, in four Member States, some 
unions engage in MEB and others engage in SEB. No collective bargaining takes place in Greece. 

Regarding the number of trade unions engaged in each type of bargaining, 39 engage in MEB and 35 
engage in SEB. Twenty-one unions engage in both MEB and SEB. Only a few Member States have a 
framework  for  social  dialogue  to  be  conducted  on  a  systematic  basis:  only  in  four  Member  States 
(Denmark, Finland, Italy and Spain) is there a tripartite social dialogue body, while 10 Member States 
(Austria,  Belgium,  Croatia,  Czechia,  Finland,  France,  Hungary,  Italy,  the  Netherlands  and  Romania) 

(19) 

In Latvia, one of the unions engages in SEB, while the other union is not recognised as representative for 
collective bargaining and does not bargain and, therefore, is classified, together with Greece, as having no 
collective bargaining. 

(20)  This row refers to the unions for which information is not missing. 

49 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

have a  bipartite dialogue  body.  In  19  Member  States,  at  least one of  the trade unions  is  part  of  a 
confederation at the national level. As a result, 45 trade unions are part of a confederation at the 
national level. In Member States with more than one trade union, these do not, in most instances, 
belong to the same confederation at the national level. The  five Member States in which no trade 
union is part of a confederation, or no data on such an affiliation were provided, are Czechia, Ireland, 
Malta, the Netherlands and Slovakia. 

50 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 22: List of graphical trade unions’ role in the national industrial relations landscape 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of workers 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining in 
the sector 

Trade union 
involvement 
in collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social dialogue? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

Consulted by the 
government on 
sector-related 
matters? 

Affiliated with a national 
confederation and, if so, 
which one? 

Number  of  unions  involved /  unions  for  which  information  is 
available 

39/54  35/52 

23/50 

9/50 

23/50 

26/46 

AT 

GPA 

BE 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EL 

ES 

ACV-CSC BIE 
ABVV-FGTB BBTK-
SETCa 
ACLVB-CGSLB 
ACV-CSC Puls 

ACV-CSC CNE 

ΣΕΒΕΤΤΥΚ 
OBIEK-SEK 

TB 

Ver.di 
HK Privat 
3F 
ΟΜΤΒΧ 

CCOO-Industria 

UGT-SP 
UGT-FICA 
UGT-FeSMC 
FSC-CCOO 
ELA – Industria eta 
Eraikuntza 

FI-USO 

LAB 

FI 

Τeollisuusliitto 
PRO 

MR 

LR 

LR 

LR 
LR 

LR 

MR 
MR 

MR 

MR 
MR 
MR 
MR and LR 
LR (only for the metal 
graphical sector) 
n/a 
LR 
n/a 
LR 

LR 

LR (only for the metal 
graphical sector) 

LR 

MR 
MR 

10–15 

96–100 

96–100 

96–100 
96–100 

~ 100 

> 16.6 
> 16.6 

10 

n/a 
E: 80–85 
E: 80–85 
1.40 

n/a 

n/a 
100 
n/a 
100 

100 

n/a 

100 

59.20 
59.20 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 
No 

Yes 

No 
No 
No 
No 

n/a 

n/a 
No 
n/a 
No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 

n/a 

n/a 
Yes 
n/a 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 
No 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 

n/a 

n/a 
Yes 
n/a 
Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 
No 

51 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

No 
Yes 
Yes 
No 

n/a 

n/a 
Yes 
n/a 
No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

Yes 
No 
No 
No 

n/a 

n/a 
Yes 
n/a 
Yes 

No 

n/a 

No 

Yes 
No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 
No 

No 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 

n/a 

n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
No 

No 

n/a 

No 

Yes 
Yes 

45/51 

ÖGB 

ACV-CSC 

ABVV-FGTB 

ACLVB-CGSLB 
ACV-CSC 

ACV-CSC 

PEO 
SEK 

No 

DGB 
FH 
FH 
GSEE 

n/a 

UGT 
UGT 
UGT 
CCOO 
ELA (active only in the 
Basque Country) 

n/a 

LAB (active only in the 
Basque Country) 
SAK 
STTK 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of workers 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining in 
the sector 

Trade union 
involvement 
in collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social dialogue? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

Consulted by the 
government on 
sector-related 
matters? 

Affiliated with a national 
confederation and, if so, 
which one? 

SJL 

Filpac CGT 

Fédération FO Livre 

FR  

HR 

HU 

IE 

F3C-CFDT 

FC-CFTC 
IP-CFE-CGC 
SGIM 

NYDSZ 

SIPTU 

Unite 

SLC-CGIL 

IT 

Fistel-CISL 

Uilcom-UIL 

LCGB-Services 

OGB-L – imprimerie, 
médias, culture, FLTL 
LKDAF 

LPNA 

GWU 

FNV Media en 
Cultuur 

De Unie 

CNV 

ZZP 

Fiequimetal 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

MR 

LR 

LR 

LR 

LR 
LR 
LR 

LR 

n/a 

n/a 

MR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

LR 

Not representative 

MR 

LR 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

LR 

MR 

59.20 

100 

100 

100 

100 
100 
30–35 

18 

~ 43 

~ 43 

~ 100 

~ 100 

~ 100 

n/a 

n/a 

0 

0 

70 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

~ 58 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No  

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

No 

No 

52 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 
No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 
No 
No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

n/a 

No 

CGT 

CGT-FO 

CFDT 

CFTC 
CGT 
 ITUC 

MASZSZ 

n/a 

n/a 

CGIL 

CISL 

UIL 

LCGB 

OGB-L 

FTUCL 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

OPZZ 

CGTP 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of workers 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining in 
the sector 

Trade union 
involvement 
in collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social dialogue? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

Consulted by the 
government on 
sector-related 
matters? 

Affiliated with a national 
confederation and, if so, 
which one? 

Sindetelco 

Sinttav 

SIMA 

USTR 

GS 

Unionen 

Ledarna 

Pappers 

SI 

SEKO 

SGDS 

Pergam 

SOZPP 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

MR 

MR 

MR 

Not representative 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

LR 

n/a 

~ 58 

~ 58 

~ 58 

< 4 

80–90 

80–90 

80–90 

80–90 

80–90 

80–90 

50 

50 

10 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

UGT 

CGTP 

No 

BNS 

LO 

TCO 

No 

LO 

TCO 

LO 

Pergam 
Pergam is itself a national 
confederation 
n/a 

Notes: LR, legal requirement based on national legislation; MR, mutual recognition from trade unions; MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. The trade unions shaded 
in green correspond to members of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

53 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

2.3.  National  employer  organisation  membership  domain  and 
membership strength 

This section presents and discusses the picture of employer organisations and business associations 
in the graphical sector in the 27 Member States. In the rest of this section, unless a distinction between 
an  employer  organisation  and  a  business  association  needs  to  be  made,  the  term  employer 
organisation  will  be  used  to  include  business  associations  too.  The  representation  of  employer 
organisations and business associations in the graphical sector by activity and type of employment is 
shown in Table 23 and Figure 11. 

The highest number of employer organisations (33 out of the 48) is found in printing of magazines and 
in  pre-press  and  pre-media  services.  The  sectors  with  the  next  highest  number  of  employer 
organisations are the printing of newspapers, the printing of books and the binding of printed material 
(32  out  of  the  48).  At  the  opposite  end  of  the  spectrum,  the  activities  with  the  lowest  number  of 
employer  organisations  are  the  reproduction  of  recorded  media  (7  out  of  the  48  employer 
organisations) and printed electronics (10 out of the 48 employer organisations). The picture emerging 
from Table 23 is similar to that for the trade unions presented in Table 18. However, in some activities 
in certain Member States, trade unions are present in the graphical sector but employer organisations 
are not, and vice versa. Focusing on the activities with the largest number of trade unions or employer 
organisations,  the  two  tables  suggest  that  in  France,  Poland  and  Slovenia,  there  is  no  employer 
organisation representing companies active in the printing of newspapers, while there is a union in 
the sector. Similarly in Slovenia, there is no employer organisation in the printing of books but there 
is a union. 

Most  employer  organisations  cover  workers  from  more  than  one  activity.  However,  employer 
organisations  have  a  narrower  scope  than  that  of  trade  unions  (Figure  11).  Of  the  45  employer 
organisations  active  in  the  graphical  sector  with  data  on  the  activities  covered,  three  (7 %)  have 
members in all 17 graphical sector activities listed in Table 23 (as can be seen in Figure 11a). Twenty 
employer organisations (45 %) cover 11–16 activities, 10 employer organisations (23 %) cover 6–10 
activities and 12 employer organisations (27 %) cover 1–5 activities. 

Turning to the features of the employer organisations active in the sector, as presented in Table 24, 
all of the employer organisations identified in this study for which data are available (42) have member 
companies employing 10–49 people in 24 Member States. Thirteen organisations from seven Member 
States  represent  self-employed  workers  in  the  sector,  while  more  than  three  quarters  of  the 
organisations are equally representative of very small and large companies in the sector. 

Data on, or estimations of, membership strength and trends are available for 30 of the 48 employer 
organisations, with 15 of those 30 reporting a stable membership in the past 2 to 3 years, 5 reporting 
increases (1 in France, 1 in Spain and all 3 Polish employer organisations) and 10 reporting decreasing 
membership (Table 25). 

54 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 23: Scope of membership domains of sectoral employer organisations, 2023 

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d
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f
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d
n
B

i

i

Number of 
employer 
organisations 
active in each 
sector 
Number of 
employer 
organisations 
not active in 
each sector 
Number of 
Member States 
with at least 
one employer 
organisation 

32 

32 

33 

31 

33 

32 

30 

30 

17 

23 

23 

24 

18 

25 

10 

7 

19 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

4 

5 

3 

3 

3 

3 

3 

4 

4 

3 

5 

4 

22 + IE 

24 + IE 

22 + IE 

23 + IE 

22 + IE 

24 + IE 

22 + IE 

23 + IE 

14 + IE 

18 + IE 

21 + IE 

21 + IE 

16 + IE 

20 + IE 

9 + IE 

6 + IE 

16 + IE 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

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Member States 
in which there 
is no employer 
organisation 
covering this 
activity 

FR (*), 
PL, SI, 
EL 

SI, EL 

AT, FI, 
SI, EL 

HR, SI, 
EL  

CY (*), 
HR, SI, 
EL 

SI, EL 

BG (*), 
EE, IT, 
EL 

IT, PL, 
EL 

AT (*), 
CY, 
EE (*), 
FI, 
FR (*), 
HR, IT, 
LU, 
MT, 
PL (*), 
SK, EL 

AT (*), 
CY (*), 
ES, FI, 
HR, IT, 
SK (*), 
EL 

CY (*), 
CZ, IT, 
EL 

CY, FI, 
HR, IT, 
EL 

y
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e
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o
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P

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d
o
r
p

BG (*), 
CY (*), 
DK (*), 
EE, 
FR (*), 
HR, LV, 
SI (*), 
SK (*), 
EL 

g
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a
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f
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CY, 
DK (*), 
HR, 
SI (*), 
SK, EL 

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b
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P

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BE, DE, 
EE (*), 
HR, 
LU, 
NL (*), 
RO, 
SI (*), 
SK (*), 
EL 

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AT (*), 
BE, 
CY (*), 
CZ (*), 
DK (*), 
EE, FI, 
HR, 
HU (*), 
LU, LV, 
NL (*), 
PL, 
RO (*), 
SI (*), 
SK (*), 
EL 

f
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AT (*), 
BE, 
BG (*), 
CY (*), 
CZ, DE, 
DK (*), 
EE, FI, 
FR (*), 
HR, 
HU (*), 
IT, LU, 
NL (*), 
PL, RO, 
SI, 
SK (*), 
EL 

(*) Member States in which the activity in question is not considered part of the graphical sector. A complete list of the activities that are considered part of the graphical 
sector in each Member State is available in Table 54 in the Annex. 

Notes: No data are available on the sector coverage of the Irish Printing Federation. Bold font is used for Greece, as no employer organisation was identified as active in the 
sector. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 11: Activities and occupations covered by the employer organisations, 2023 

(a)  Scope of employer organisation coverage in terms of activities 

(b)  Scope of employer organisation coverage in terms of company size 

s
n
o
i
t
a
s
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f
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N

l

25

20

15

10

5

0

20

12

10

3

3

1–5

6–10

11–16

Full coverage
(17 activities)

No data

Number of activities

s
n
o
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t
a
s
i
n
a
g
r
o
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o
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f
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N

l

16

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

4

2

0

1

15

11

11

7

3

4

5

No data

Number of occupations

Note: No data on the sector coverage and size of company members are available for the Irish Printing Federation. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

57 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 24:  Employer  organisation  coverage  by  company  size,  geographical  coverage  and  additional 
sectors of activity 

Criterion 

Classification 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 

Number of MSs in 
which the employer 
organisations in the 
previous column are 
located 

Number of employer organisations 
for which information is available 

Company size 
(42) (21) 

Geographical 
coverage 

Self-employed 

1–9 employees 

10–49 
employees 

50–249 
employees 

250+ employees 

Entire Member 
State (43) (*) 

Regional 
substructure 
(37) (22) 

250+ employees 

10–249 

Company size 
with largest % 
of members 
(28) (23) 

0–9 

13 

34 

42 

37 

31 

42 

12 

7 

20 

6 

7 

19 

24 

23 

19 

25 

23 

28 

Other sectors 
in which 
employer 
organisations 
have 
members 
(32)  

Paper 

14 

12 (*) 

Audiovisual 

Commerce 

Logistics 

Transport 

Postal and 
courier 

8 

7 

7 

7 

6 

6 (*) 

6 (*) 

6 (*) 

6 (*) 

5 (*) 

42  employer  organisations  located  in 
24  MSs.  (The  following  MS  have 
all 
missing 
organisations:  IE  and  IT.  There  is  no 
employer organisation in EL.) 

information 

for 

43  employer  organisations  located  in 
24  MSs.  (The  following  MSs  have 
missing 
for  employer 
organisations: ES, IE, IT and PL. There is 
no employer organisation in EL.) 

information 

37  employer  organisations  located  in 
23  MSs.  (The  following  MS  have 
missing  information  for  all  employer 
organisations: IE, IT and SE. There is no 
employer organisation in EL.) 

28  employer  organisations  located  in 
20  MSs  (The  following  MSs  have 
missing  information  for  all  employer 
organisations: DE, IE, IT, LV, LU and PT. 
following  MSs  have  missing 
The 
information 
employer 
some 
organisations:  AT,  BE,  ES,  NL  and  PL. 
There  is  no  employer  organisation  in 
EL.) 

for 

All 32 employer organisations located 
in 14 MSs. 

(21)  The five employer organisations for which information is missing are in Italy (3 out of 3) and Poland (2 out 

of 5). 

(22)  The 10 employer organisations for which information is missing are in Italy (3 out of 3), Poland (3 out of 5), 

Spain (2 out of 5) and Sweden (2 out of 2). 

(23)  The 19 employer organisations for which information is missing are in Austria (3 out of 5), Belgium (1 out 
of 2), Germany (1 out of 1), Italy (3 out of 3), Latvia (1 out of 1), Luxembourg (1 out of 1), the Netherlands 
(1 out of 2), Poland (3 out of 5), Portugal (1 out of 1) and Spain (4 out of 5). 

58 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Criterion 

Classification 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 

Number of MSs in 
which the employer 
organisations in the 
previous column are 
located 

Number of employer organisations 
for which information is available 

Graphic design 
advertising 

Photographers 

Production of 
signage and 
luminous signs 

Video game 
production 

Production of 
packaging 
(including 
corrugated) 
Production of 
other packaging 

17 

7 

10 

4 

13 

10 

14 (*) 

7 (*) 

9 (*) 

4 (*) 

13 (*) 

10 (*) 

(*) There are no data for five Member States (Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Ireland and Latvia). 

Notes: MS, Member State. The categories within each group are not mutually exclusive. The number in brackets 
in the ‘Criterion’ column is the number of trade unions for which this information is not missing. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

59 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 25: Membership strength of national employer organisations in the graphical sector 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Number of member companies 
in the graphical sector 

Sectoral workforce of members  

Trend in membership in the last 
two or three years 

Rank of employer 
organisation at the national 
level (24) 

VZÖ 

Propak 

BIK 

VDMT 

FVD 

Febelgra 

BNM 

UPIB (business association) 

CMPA 

SPP 

bvdm 

Grakom 

DMA 

ETPL (business association) 

Feigraf 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

ES 

~ 50 

Only a few 

9 315 

200, including companies 
outside the graphical sector 

1 296 (25) 

Between 250 and 330 

8 

92 

10 

39 

130 

15–20 

30 

3 000 

n/a 

n/a 

Very small (only artisan 
bookbinders) 

50 %, including the workforce of 
members outside the graphical 
sector 

> 6 000 

n/a 

n/a 

10 % 

~ 150 

1 500 

1 522 blue collar 

2 585 white collar 

n/a 

1 060 

35 000 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

Decreased 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

Decreased 

Stable 

Decreased 

Decreased 

Stable 

Slightly decreased 

3 

3 

3 

2 

1 

n/a 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

(24)  1, largest employer organisation; 2, second-largest employer organisation; 3, neither the first nor the second-largest employer organisation. 
(25)  This is the number of active business licences. 

60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Number of member companies 
in the graphical sector 

Sectoral workforce of members  

Trend in membership in the last 
two or three years 

Rank of employer 
organisation at the national 
level (24) 

AFCO 

AME 

ADEGI 

FGEE 

Medialiitto 

GT (business association) 

GMI 

UNIIC 

HUP – UGN 

Fedprint 

Irish Printing Federation 

Assografici 

AIE 

ANES 

LISPA 

AMIL 

LPUA 

MEA 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

200 

30 

1 051 

788 (26) 

50 

125 

217 

624 

10 

68 

n/a 

627 

300 

150 

16 

26 

28 

30 

(26)  These are editors and companies in editorial production. 
(27)  This employer organisation is the only one regarding editorial activity. 

n/a 

n/a 

60 005 in total (cross-sectoral) 

12 760 

60–65 % (employer organisation 
estimate) 

75–80 %  

3 686 (2021) 

About 16 000 

15–20 %  

9 950 

n/a 

38 452 

n/a 

n/a 

2 000 (including printing) 

n/a 

n/a 

An estimate of around 1 450 
people 

61 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Increased 

Stable 

Decreased 

n/a 

Increased 

Stable 

Stable 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

n/a 

Stable 

Stable 

2 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a (27) 

1 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

1 

1 

1 

n/a 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Number of member companies 
in the graphical sector 

Sectoral workforce of members  

Trend in membership in the last 
two or three years 

Rank of employer 
organisation at the national 
level (24) 

SME Chamber 

KVGO 

Vereniging Repro Nederland 

Flekso (business association) 

PIO (business association) 

PASDP (business association) 

Polish Chamber of Printing 
(business association) 

Polish Papermakers Association 

Apigraf 

ATT (business association) 

GF 

Almega 

GZS-MZ 

ZDS 

ZPnS.sk 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

32 

552 

18 

~ 100 

~ 80 

~ 80 

n/a 

n/a 

283 

58 

350 

600 

n/a 

10 131 

240 

n/a 

n/a 

> 1 000 

n/a 

n/a 

Approximately 6 400 

2 200 

Stable 

Decreased 

Stable 

Increased 

Increased 

Increased 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

Decreased 

10 000 employees 

Slightly decreased 

36 000 employees (including non-
graphical workers) 

Decreased 

10 % of small and medium-sized 
companies 

At least 10 % of all companies 

30 

5 % 

10 % 

1 200 

Stable 

Stable 

n/a 

Note: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. Entries shaded in blue are members of Intergraf. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

3 

1 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

n/a 

1 

62 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Involvement  of  national  employer  organisations  in  collective 

2.4. 
bargaining 

For 44 of the 48 employer organisations, data on involvement in MEB at the sector level are available 
(see Table 27). This information is summarised in Table 26. Of these 44 employer organisations, 27 
(61.36 %) in 14 Member States are involved in collective bargaining negotiations at the sector level. 
The  11  Member  States  in  which  no  sectoral  bargaining  was  reported  are  Greece  (which  has  no 
employer  organisation)  and  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Czechia,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania,  Malta,  Poland, 
Romania and Slovakia. There is information for 39 of the 48 employer organisations on whether they 
support  their  members  in  SEB  at  the  enterprise  level.  Only  three  employer  organisations  (one  in 
Germany, one in Hungary and one of the two in Malta) report involvement in SEB. While the employer 
organisation in Germany is involved in both SEB and MEB, the organisations in Hungary and Malta 
support their members only in company-level bargaining. 

Table 26: Overview of graphical employer organisations’ involvement in collective bargaining in the 
EU-27, 2023 

Involvement in collective bargaining 

Member States (28) 

involved 

in  collective 

Employer  organisations 
bargaining (MEB) 
Employer  organisations  not  involved  in  collective 
bargaining (MEB) 
Employer  organisations  supporting  their  members 
in SEB only 
No data on employer organisations’ involvement in 
collective bargaining 
Total 

14 (AT, BE, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, 
IT, LU, NL, PT, SE, SI) 
10 (BG, CZ, EE, HR, LT, LV, MT, PL, 
RO, SK) 

3 (DE, HU, MT) 

3 (ES, IE, PL) 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 

27 

15 

3 

4 

48 

Note: Greece does not appear in this table, as it does not have an employer organisation. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Of the 26 Member States with an employer organisation, in 16, at least one employer organisation is 
involved  in  collective  bargaining,  either  MEB  (sectoral  bargaining)  or  SEB.  Of  the  remaining  nine 
Member States in which no collective bargaining takes place, in five (Croatia, Czechia, Latvia, Lithuania 
and Slovakia) there is an employer organisation but it is not involved in collective bargaining. In the 
remaining  four  Member  States  (Bulgaria,  Estonia,  Poland  and  Romania),  there  is  only  a  business 
association, which explains the absence of bargaining. No data on involvement in collective bargaining 
or  the  role  in  the  national  industrial  relations  landscape  were  provided  for  the  Irish  Printing 
Federation, which declined to participate in this study. 

Table 27  also  presents  information  on  whether  the  employer  organisations  are  involved  in  social 
dialogue,  are  consulted  by  the  government  and  are  affiliated  with  a  national  confederation. 
Governments  in  20  Member  States  consult  27  organisations  on  sector  matters.  Bipartite  dialogue 
takes  place  in  nine  Member  States  (Belgium,  Czechia,  Finland,  France,  Hungary,  the  Netherlands, 

(28)  As not all employer organisations in a Member State follow the same type of bargaining, the sum of the 

number of Member States exceeds 27. 

63 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Romania, Spain and Sweden) involving 12 organisations. In four Member States (Denmark, Finland, 
Slovakia and Spain), tripartite dialogue involves six organisations. Twenty-nine organisations are part 
of a confederation at the national level. 

64 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 27: List of graphical employer organisations’ role in national industrial relations’ landscape 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of sectoral 
workforce covered 
by collective 
bargaining 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 
SEB 
3 

MEB 
27 

Involved in 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 
12 

Involved in 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 
6 

Number of organisations 

Number of MSs 

VZÖ 

Propak 

BIK 

VDMT 

FVD 

Febelgra 

BNM 

UPIB (business association) 

CMPA 

SPP 

bvdm 

Grakom 

DMA 
ETPL (business association) 

Feigraf 

AFCO 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

ES 

MR 

MR 

MR 

Not 
representative (29) 
n/a 

LR 

LR 

LR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

LR 

10 

< 5 

< 5 

0 

n/a (30) 

96–100 

96–100 

0 

~ 17 

10 

n/a 

80–85 (estimate) 

< 30 
0 

100 

99 

14 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

Yes 

Yes 

3 
No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 
No 

n/a 

n/a 

9 
No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

No 

4 
No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

Yes 

No 

Consulted by 
the 
government? 

27 

20 
No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation and, if 
so, which one(s)? 
29 

22 
No 

WKO 

WKO 

No 

WKO 

VBO 

No 

KRIB 

OEB 

UZS ČR 

BDA and UDH 

DA  

DA 
n/a 

No 

n/a 

(29)  VDMT used to be considered representative (until 2016) and was involved in collective bargaining, but has not been involved since. 
(30)  For  many  years,  VDMT  had  the  right  to  conclude  collective  agreements  for  the  graphical  sector  (see  above),  as  the  Austrian  Labour  Constitution  gives  voluntary 
associations the right to conclude collective agreements over mandatory associations. However, the VDMT withdrew its collective bargaining capacity in 2017 and thus 
caused the ‘printers’ collective agreement’ to expire. Following this, the collective bargaining capacity for printers was reverted to the FVD. However, no new collective 
agreement has been concluded since. 

65 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Basis of 
representativeness 

AME 

ADEGI 

FGEE 

Medialiitto 

GT (business association) 

GMI 

UNIIC 
HUP – UGN 

Fedprint 

Irish Printing Federation 

Assografici 

AIE 

ANES 

LISPA 

AMIL 

LPUA 

MEA 

SME Chamber 

KVGO 

LR 

n/a 

LR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

LR 
LR 

LR 

n/a 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

Both 

LR 

n/a 

Both 

Vereniging Repro Nederland 
Flekso (business association) 

Both 
Not representative  

PIO (business association) 

Not representative 

PASDP (business association) 

Not representative 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

(31)  100 % of the metallographic sector. 
(32)  100 % of the editing sector. 

% of sectoral 
workforce covered 
by collective 
bargaining 
n/a (31) 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 
SEB 
No 

MEB 
Yes 

Involved in 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 
No 

Involved in 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 
No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a (32) 

65 

0 

100 

100 
30–35 

15 

n/a 

~ 100 

~ 100 

~ 100 

0 

n/a 

0 

70 

n/a 

50 (estimate) 

< 1 (estimate) 
0 

0 

0 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

No 

66 

Consulted by 
the 
government? 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation and, if 
so, which one(s)? 
Confemetal 

n/a 

No 

EK 

via Finnmedia 

CPME 

MEDEF, CPME, U2P 
CEA 

MGYOSZ 

IBEC 

Confindustria 

Confindustria 

No 

LPK 

FDA 

LDDK 

No 

No 

VNO-NCW and AWVN 

No 
No 

No 

No 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Basis of 
representativeness 

Polish Chamber of Printing (business 
association) 
Polish Papermakers Association 

Apigraf 

n/a 

n/a 

MR 

ATT (business association) 

Not representative 

GF 

Almega 

GZS-MZ 
ZDS 

ZPnS.sk 

MR 

MR 

LR 
MR 

MR 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

% of sectoral 
workforce covered 
by collective 
bargaining 
0 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 
SEB 
n/a 

MEB 
n/a 

Involved in 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 
n/a 

Involved in 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 
n/a 

0 

~ 58–100 (33) 

0 

80–90 

50 
50 

9 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 

No 

n/a 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 
No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 

Yes 

Consulted by 
the 
government? 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 
No 

Yes 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation and, if 
so, which one(s)? 
n/a 

n/a 

CIP 

 FIGPA 

Svenskt Näringsliv 

Svenskt Näringsliv 

GZS 
No 

No 

Notes: MS, Member State; LRs, legal requirement base on national legislation; MR, mutual recognition from employer organisations; n/a, data not available. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

(33)  The Eurofound correspondent indicated 58 %, during the review of the preliminary findings, but Intergraf corrected the share to 100 % based on the legal extension of 

the collective bargaining agreements. 

67 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

2.5.  National collective bargaining and social dialogue patterns 

This section summarises the extent of collective bargaining, the type of collective bargaining and the 
involvement of national trade unions and employer organisations in collective bargaining in all of the 
Member  States  (Table 28).  No  collective  bargaining  takes  place  in  four  Member  States  (Bulgaria, 
Estonia,  Greece  and  Lithuania).  In  the  remaining  23  Member  States,  17  unions  and  26  employer 
organisations engage only in MEB, 14 unions and three employer organisations (in Germany, Hungary 
and Malta) engage only in SEB and 20 unions and one employer organisation (in Germany) engage in 
both  SEB  and  MEB.  Two  trade  unions  and  10  employer  organisations  do  not  bargain.  No  data  are 
available for the Irish Printing Federation. 

Table 28: Collective bargaining in the graphical sector by involvement of social partner organisations, 
2023 

Type of collective bargaining 

Number of trade unions 

Number of employer organisations 

No collective bargaining 

Only SEB 

Only MEB 

SEB and MEB 

Missing  information  on  whether 
SEB or MEB 

2 

13 

17 

22 

5 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

10 

3 

27(34) 

1 

4 

Looking at the situation in each Member State, in 11 Member States, both SEB and MEB take place in 
the  graphical  sector.  Table 29  presents  aggregate  data  on  collective  bargaining  coverage  at  the 
national level by type of bargaining. As expected, collective bargaining coverage is highest in Member 
States  with  both  SEB  and  MEB,  whereas,  in  Member  States  with  only  SEB,  collective  bargaining 
coverage is lower. 

Table 29: Type of collective bargaining in the graphical sector by Member State, 2023 

Type of collective bargaining 
No collective bargaining 
Only SEB 
Only MEB 
SEB and MEB 

Member States 

BG, EE, EL, LT 
CZ, HR, HU, IE, LV, MT, PL, RO, SK 
AT, CY, FI 
BE, DE, DK, ES, FR, IT, LU, PT, NL, SE, SI 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

The collective bargaining  coverage in  Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy,  Spain  and Sweden  is higher 
than 80 %, given that sectoral agreements exist in all of these Member States (Table 30). More than 
half of the graphical workforce is also covered by collective agreements in Finland, Malta, Portugal 
and Slovenia. In Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Hungary and Ireland, between 10 % and 49 % of the 
people working in the graphical sector are covered, while, in Romania and Slovakia, less than 10 % are 

(34)  This includes Portugal, even though since 2009 no MEB has taken place. 

68 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

covered. There are no clear data on the share of the workforce covered by collective bargaining for 
Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands or Poland. 

Table 30: Coverage of collective bargaining in the graphical sector by Member State, 2023 

Type of 
collective 
bargaining 
No collective 
bargaining 
Only SEB 
Only MEB 

SEB and MEB 

Collective bargaining coverage 

> 90 % 

80–90 % 

50–79 % 

10–49 % 

< 10 % 

0 % 

MT 
FI 

CZ, HR, HU, IE 
AT, CY 

RO, SK 

BG, EE, 
EL, LT 
LV 

BE, ES, 
FR, IT 

DK, SE 

PT, SI 

Coverage % 
not available 

PL 

DE, LU, NL 

Note: In Latvia, one of the unions engages in SEB, while the other union is not recognised as representative for 
collective  bargaining  and  does  not  bargain  and  therefore  is  classified,  together  with  Greece,  as  having  no 
collective bargaining. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

2.6.  Participation  in  sectoral  policies  and  national  sectoral  social 
dialogue 

Table 31 summarises the information presented in  Table 22 and Table 27 on whether trade unions 
and employer organisations are consulted on sector-related issues by the government. Governments 
appear  to  consult  mostly  employer  organisations  rather  than  unions.  In  nine  Member  States,  the 
government consults both employer organisations and trade unions on sector-related matters, while, 
in three Member States (Hungary, Romania and Slovenia), no employer organisations or trade unions 
are  consulted.  Finally,  for  two  Member  States  (Italy  and  Luxembourg),  there  is  no  information  on 
whether an employer organisation is consulted and, in another two (the Netherlands and Slovakia), 
there is no information on whether a trade union is consulted. 

Table 31: Consultation of employer organisations and trade unions by Member State, 2023 

Trade unions 
consulted 

No trade union 
consulted 

Employer organisations 
consulted 

9 MSs: BE, DE, DK, 
FI, FR, LV, MT, PL, SE 

6 MSs: AT, CY, CZ, 
ES, HR, PT 

No data on 
trade union 
consultation 

2 MSs: NL, SK 

No sectoral 
trade unions 

3 MSs: BG, 
EE, LT 

No employer organisation 
consulted 
No data on employer 
organisation consultation 
No employer 
organisations 

Note: MS, Member State. 

3 MSs: HU, RO, SI 

1 MS: IT 

1 MS: LU 

1 MS: IE 

1 MS: EL 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Table 32  presents  the  tripartite  and/or  bipartite  permanent  social  dialogue  bodies  dealing  with 
graphical sector-related issues. Such bodies exist in only nine Member States, and there are tripartite 
bodies in only four (Denmark, Finland, Ireland and Spain). The main areas of activity are consultation 

69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

on  negotiations,  health  and  safety,  and  training.  In  most  instances,  these  bodies  were  established 
following an agreement and are not statutory. 

70 

 
 
 
MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 32: Social dialogue bodies in the graphical sector: features and activities, 2023 

Is there a social dialogue 
permanent body and, if so, 
what is its name? 

No 

Is there 
bipartite or 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

No 

JC130 and JC200 

Bipartite 

Domain(s) of activity 

Origin: agreement 
or statutory 

Participating trade union(s) 

Participating employer 
organisation(s) 

None 

Joint committee on sector-related 
matters 

None 

Agreement 

None 

None 

ACV-CSC BIE, ACLVB-CGSLB, ABVV-
FGTB BBTK SETCa and ACV-CSC CNE 

Febelgra and BNM 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

BrancheFællesskaber for 
Arbejdsmiljø – Industri (BFA-I) 

Tripartite 

Working environment 

Statutory 

Dansk Metal, 3F Industri, HK Privat, 
Dansk El-Forbund, 
Fødevareforbundet NNF, Teknisk 
Landsforbund and CO-industri 

Grafisk Uddannelsesudvalg 

Tripartite 

Vocational training 

Statutory 

HK Privat 

None 

None 

None 

None 

DI (Dansk Industri), 
Grakom, DMA, Dansk 
Mode og Textil and 
Lederne 
Grakom, The Danish 
Chamber of Commerce and 
DMA 
None 

None 

No 

No 

Fundae 

Työterveyskeskus TTK 
Mediatyö2030-project 
Commission paritaire 
permanente de négociation et 
d’interprétation des 
imprimeries de labeur (CPPNI) 
Commission paritaire 
nationale de l’emploi et de la 
formation professionnelle 

No 

No 

Tripartite 

Tripartite 
Bipartite 

None 

None 

Employee training for the graphical 
sector 
Occupational safety 
Training/education 

None 

None 

No information 
available 
Statutory 
Agreement 

None 

None 

UGT and CCOO 

Feigraf, AFCO and FGEE 

Τeollisuusliitto, PRO and SJL 
Τeollisuusliitto, PRO and SJL 

Medialiitto 
Medialiitto 

Bipartite 

Collective agreements’ interpretation 

Both 

Filpac CGT, F3C-CFDT, FC-CFTC, 
Fédération FO Livre and IP-CFE-CGC 

UNIC and GMI 

Bipartite 

Vocational training 

Agreement 

Filpac CGT, F3C CFDT, FC-CFTC, 
Fédération FO Livre and IP CFE-CGC 

UNIC and GMI 

71 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Is there a social dialogue 
permanent body and, if so, 
what is its name? 

Is there 
bipartite or 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Domain(s) of activity 

Origin: agreement 
or statutory 

Participating trade union(s) 

Participating employer 
organisation(s) 

Social council for graphic 
sector 

Bipartite 

Wages, working conditions, health and 
security issues 

Agreement 

Nyomdaipari Ágazati 
Párbeszéd Bizottság 

Bipartite 

Printing 

Agreement 

SGIM 

NYDSZ 

Print and Packaging Forum 

Tripartite 

Printing and packaging 

Agreement 

Irish Print Group (part of SIPTU) 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

Council for Consultation in 
the Graphic Media Industry 
(ROGB) 

Bipartite 

Consultation on collective agreements 

Agreement 

FNV Media en Cultuur, CNV and De 
Unie 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

No data 

Fedprint 

Irish Printing Federation 
(Ibec) 
None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

KVGO 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

None 

MS 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

72 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

2.7.  Fragmentation and pluralism 

This section provides an overview of the reasons for organisational fragmentation and pluralism in the 
graphical sector, and this is summarised for trade unions in Table 33. In some Member States, trade 
unions  and  employer  organisations  cover  different  parts  of  the  sector,  thus  making  bargaining 
between the two parts more difficult. In other Member States, however, trade unions and employer 
organisations  represent  the  same  parts  of  the  sector,  so  there  is  an  overlap  in  the  membership 
domain.  In  the  graphical  sector,  there  is  an  average  of  2.5  trade  unions  per  Member  State.  In  10 
Member  States,  there is  a  single trade  union.  In  the  14  Member  States  with  more  than one trade 
union, the explanation for the fragmentation reported in most instances is that each union organises 
different  types  of  workers.  The  second  most  mentioned  reason  is  that  trade  unions  have  similar 
membership domains but differ in terms of ideology. 

Table 33: Reasons for fragmentation and pluralism of trade unions in the graphical sector, 2023 

MS 

AT 
BE 
CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

ΗR 

HU 
IE 
IT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

Organise 
different types 
of workers 
(blue/white 
collar, 
management 
and/or self-
employed) 

X 

X 

X 

X 

Organise 
workers in 
different parts 
of the Member 
State 

Organise 
members in 
different parts 
of the sector 

Similar 
membership 
domains, but 
differ in terms 
of ideology 

Other reasons 

A single trade union for the sector 
X 

A single trade union for the sector 

A single trade union for the sector 

A single trade union for the sector 

Χ 

A single trade union for the sector 

A single trade union for the sector 
X 

X 
X 

X 

X 

X 

The two trade unions cooperate, and it is almost as if no fragmentation exists 

X 

X 

X 

A single trade union for the sector 

X 

A single trade union for the sector 

X 
A single trade union for the sector 

X 

X 

73 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Organise 
different types 
of workers 
(blue/white 
collar, 
management 
and/or self-
employed) 

Organise 
workers in 
different parts 
of the Member 
State 

Organise 
members in 
different parts 
of the sector 

Similar 
membership 
domains, but 
differ in terms 
of ideology 

Other reasons 

A single trade union for the sector 

7 

1 

5 

6 

X 

1 

MS 

SI 

SK 

Total 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

In terms of employer organisations, in the graphical sector, the average is 1.8 employer organisations 
per  Member  State.  In  13  Member  States,  there  is  a  single  employer  organisation  or  business 
association  in  the  graphical  sector.  The  reasons  for  the  fragmentation  and  pluralism  of  employer 
organisations in the graphical sector are presented in  

74 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 34. The most reported reason for the fragmentation is that each union organises different parts 
of  the  graphical  sector.  The  second  most  reported  reason  is  that  employer  organisations  organise 
different types of companies. Only in Italy are ideological differences brought up as an explanation of 
employer organisation fragmentation. 

75 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 34: Reasons for fragmentation and pluralism of employer organisations in the graphical sector, 
2023 

Organise different 
types of companies 
(microcompanies, 
small and medium-
sized companies, 
large companies)  

Organise 
companies in 
different 
parts of the 
graphical 
sector 

X 
X 

Some organisations represent 
the employers in collective 
bargaining matters and other 
organisations (business 
associations) represent the 
trade and business interests of 
the same employers 
X 

Similar 
membership 
domains, 
but differ 
ideologically 

Other 
reasons 

X (35) 

MS 

AT 
BE 

ΒG 

CY (36) 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

ΕΕ 

ΕS 
FI 
FR 
HR 

HU 
IE 
ΙΤ 
LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Total 

X 

X 

X 

X 

X 

5 

A single business association for the sector 

X 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

X 

A single business association for the sector 

X 

X 

X (37) 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

A single employer organisation for the sector 
A single employer organisation for the sector 

A single business association for the sector 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

X 

X 

X 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

X 

A single employer organisation for the sector 

8 

2 

1 

2 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

(35)  There  is  fragmentation  in  terms  of  the  types  of  employer  organisation  membership  (voluntary  versus 
mandatory)  and  in  terms  of  small-scale  trade /  artisan  companies  in  bookbinding  versus  industrial 
bookbinding (which is considered to be part of the paper processing industry in Austria). 
In Cyprus, the rest of the tables refer to only a single employer organisation, as information was provided 
for only one of the two employer organisations. There is also a business association active in the sector. 

(36) 

(37)  There is fragmentation due to the implementation of different collective agreements. 

76 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

3.  European level of representation 

As  indicated  in  Section 0.2,  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging  is  the  European  organisation 
representing graphical sector workers, while Intergraf represents the employers in this sector. This 
chapter  provides  a  closer  look  at  the  European  representation  of  the  national-level  organisations 
identified  in  this  study.  Sections 3.1  and  3.4  detail  the  situation  and  role  of  the  trade  unions  and 
employer organisations affiliated with the representative European social partner organisations and 
thus participating in the graphical ESSDC. Sections 3.2 and 3.5 present the features of national trade 
unions  and  employer  organisations  not  represented  in  the  ESSDC.  Sections 3.3  and  3.6  list  the 
European  organisations  that  have  some  representativeness  in  the  graphical  sector.  Section 3.8 
describes the mandating and decision-making capacities of the two representative European social 
partner  organisations  participating  in  the  graphical  ESSDC,  while  Section 3.9  looks  at  the  effective 
participation  of the national members  of these two organisations in the meetings of the graphical 
ESSDC over the past three years. Figure 12 gives an overview of the membership of the 35 trade unions 
affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging and the 17 employer organisations affiliated with 
Intergraf. 

Figure 12: Number of graphical trade unions and employer organisations affiliated with UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging and Intergraf, respectively, 2023 

Number of trade unions affiliated with UNI 
Europa 

1 (1) 

4 (5) 

0 (0) 

1 (2) 

0 (1) 

1 (1) 

2 (2) 

0 (0) 

0 (1) 

4 (8) 

2 (3) 

2 (5) 

1 (1) 

1 (1) 

2 (2) 

3 (3) 

0 (0) 

2 (2) 

1 (2) 

0 (1) 

MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

Number of employer organisations affiliated with 
Intergraf 

(5) 1 

(2) 1 

(1) 1 

(1) 0 

(1) 0 

(1) 1 

(2) 1 

(1) 1 

(0) 0 

(5) 0 

(2) 1 

(2) 1 

(1) 0 

(1) 1 

(1) 0 

(3) 1 

(1) 1 

(1) 1 

(1) 1 

MT 

(2) 0 

77 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

1 (3) 

1 (1) 

2 (4) 

0 (1) 

3 (6) 

1 (2) 

0 (1) 

NL 

PL 

PT 

(2) 1 

(5) 0 

(1) 1 

RO 

(1) 1 

SE 

SI 

SK 

(2) 1 

(2) 0 

(1) 0 

35 (59) 

EU-27 

(48) 17 

Notes: MS, Member State. The numbers in brackets indicate the number of all of the national sectoral trade 
unions / employer organisations identified. Bold font indicates the Member States in which all of the sectoral 
trade  unions /  employer  organisations  are  affiliated  with  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging /  Intergraf, 
respectively. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Table 35 lists all of the national trade unions identified in this study, detailing their affiliations with the 
representative  European  social  partner,  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging,  and  with  any  other 
European organisations. 

Table 35: Trade unions’ affiliation with European organisations for their graphical sector members, 
2023 

MS 

Trade union 

AT  GPA 

ΒΕ 

ACV-CSC CNE 
ACV-CSC BIE 
ABVV-FGTB BBTK-
SETCa 

ACLVB-CGSLB 

ACV-CSC Puls 

CY 

ΣΕΒΕΤΤΥΚ 

OBIEK-SEK 

TB 

CZ 
DE  Ver.di 

DK 

HK Privat 
3F 
EL  OMTBX 

ES 

FSC-CCOO 
ELA – Industria eta 
Eraikuntza  

Affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging and involved in management 
bodies / working groups? 

Yes, affiliated and involved in working 
groups. Not involved in management bodies 
No 
Yes, both 

Yes, both 

Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
No 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
No 
Yes, both 
Yes, both 
Yes, both 
No 
Yes, both 

Affiliated with other 
European organisations for 
the graphical sector and, if 
so, which one(s)? (38) 

industriAll Europe (39) 

industriAll Europe 
industriAll Europe 
industriAll Europe, ETF, 
EFFAT and EPSU 

No 

industriAll Europe 

No 

industriAll Europe 

No 
No 
ICTS 
No 
No 
No 

Yes, both 

industriAll Europe 

(38)  As indicated by the trade union during the data collection stage. 
(39)  The affiliation with industriAll Europe for the graphical members was questioned by UNI Europa Graphical 

and Packaging during the review of the preliminary findings. 

78 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

UGT-FICA 

UGT-FeSMC (40) 
UGT-SP 

LAB 
FI-USO 
CCOO-Industria 
Teollisuusliitto 
PRO 

SJL 
Filpac CGT 
Fédération FO Livre 
F3C-CFDT 

FI 

FR 

FC-CFTC 
IP-CFE-CGC 
SGIM 
HR 
HU  NYDSZ 
SIPTU 

IE 

Unite 
SLC-CGIL 

IT 

Fistel-CISL 

Uilcom-UIL 

LCGB-Services 

LU 

LV 

OGB-L – imprimerie, 
médias, culture, FLTL 
LKDAF 

LPNA 
MT  GWU 

FNV Media en Cultuur 

NL 

De Unie 
CNV 

Affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging and involved in management 
bodies / working groups? 

Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
Yes, affiliated 
Not affiliated, according to UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging 
No 
No 
No 
Yes, both 
Yes, affiliated. Not involved in management 
bodies or working groups 
No 
Yes, affiliated and involved in both 
No 
Yes, affiliated. Not yet involved in 
management bodies or working groups 
No 
No 
Yes, both 
Yes, both 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
Yes, affiliated (41) and involved in both 
Yes, both 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in working groups 
and in management bodies as a substitute 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies but not involved in working groups 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies but not involved in working groups 
Yes, affiliated. Not involved in management 
bodies or working groups 
No 
No 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
No 
No information 

Affiliated with other 
European organisations for 
the graphical sector and, if 
so, which one(s)? (38) 

No information 

No information 

No information 

No 
No 
No 
No 

No 

No 
industriAll Europe 
No 

No 

No 
No 
No 
No information 

No 

No 
industriAll Europe (42) 
indirectly via the CGIL 
confederation 
No 

No 

industriAll Europe 

industriAll Europe 

No 

No 
industriAll Europe  
No information 

No information 
No information 

(40)  UGT-FeSMC was not reported to be a member of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging by the Eurofound 
correspondent; however, this was later reported during the data quality checks by UNI Europa Graphical 
and Packaging. 

(41)  Unite centralises its international participation in the UNI Europa bodies through its offices in London. 
(42)  The affiliation with industriAll Europe for the graphical members was questioned by UNI Europa Graphical 

and Packaging during the review of the preliminary findings. 

79 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

ZPP 

PL 

Fiequimetal 
Sindetelco 

PT 

Sinttav 

SIMA 
RO  USTR 

GS 

Unionen 

SE 

Ledarna 
Pappers 
SI 

SEKO 
SGDS 
Pergam 
SOZPP 

SI 

SK 

Affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging and involved in management 
bodies / working groups? 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies; no information on involvement in 
working groups 
No 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies; not involved in 
working groups 
Yes, affiliated and involved in working 
groups and management bodies 
No 
No 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
Yes, affiliated. Not involved in management 
bodies; no information on involvement in 
working groups 
No 
No 
Yes, declared members from 2024 onwards. 
Unclear whether members are active solely 
in graphical industry, or in graphical and 
packaging 
No 
No 
Yes, both 
No 

Affiliated with other 
European organisations for 
the graphical sector and, if 
so, which one(s)? (38) 

No 

No 
Nο 

Nο 

industriAll Europe 
No 

 NGU (43) 

industriAll Europe 

No 
No 

No information 

No 
No 
No 
No 

Notes:  MS,  Member  State.  Blue-shaded  cells  indicate  trade  unions  affiliated  with  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and 
Packaging. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Table 36  lists  all  of  the  national  employer  organisations  identified  in  this  study,  detailing  their 
affiliation with the representative European social partner, Intergraf, and with any other European 
organisations. 

Table 36: Affiliation of each employer organisation with Intergraf or other European organisations, 
2023 

Employer 
organisation 

Affiliated with Intergraf for the 
graphical sector? 

VZÖ 

No 

MS 

AT 

Propak 

Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 

Affiliated with another European 
organisation for the graphical sector 
and, if so, which one(s)? 
European Newspaper Publishers’ 
Association (ENPA), EMMA and WAN-
IFRA 
No information 

(43)  The NGU (Nordic Graphical Union) is a supranational organisation covering Denmark (both HK Privat and 
3F), Finland (Teollisuusliitto), Iceland, Norway and Sweden (GS). There is no competition between the NGU 
and UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging. The representatives of these unions in UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging governing bodies are appointed by the NGU as a joint representation of the Nordic countries. 

80 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Employer 
organisation 

Affiliated with Intergraf for the 
graphical sector? 

Affiliated with another European 
organisation for the graphical sector 
and, if so, which one(s)? 

BIK 
VDMT 

FVD 

Febelgra 

BNM 

UPIB (business 
association) 
CMPA 

SPP 

bvdm 

Grakom 

DMA 

ETPL 

Feigraf 
AFCO 

AME 

ADEGI 
FGEE 
Medialiitto 
GT (business 
association) 
GMI 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

ES 

FI 

FR 

UNIIC 

HR  HUP – UGN 
Fedprint 

HU 

IE 

Irish Printing 
Federation 
Assografici 

IT 

AIE 

ANES 

LISPA 

AMIL 

LT 

LU 

No 
No 

No 

Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups 
No 

Yes, both 

No 

No 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
No 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
No 
No 

No 

No information 
No 

No information 

FESPA 

FESPA and EMMA 

No 

No 

No 

FESPA 

FESPA and European Graphic / Media 
Industry Network (EGIN) 
No 

No information 

No 
CEPI, CITPA, FEFCO, International 
Corrugated Case Association (ICCA), Fibre 
Box Association, Corrugated Packaging 
Alliance, Independent Packaging 
Association (AICC) and International 
Council of Forest & Paper Associations 
(ICFPA) 
Metal Packaging Association 

No information 
No 
No 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
No 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies; no information on involvement in 
working groups 
No 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
No information 

No information 
FEP 
WAN-IFRA 
No 

No information 

FINAT 

No 

CEPI 

No information 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies; no information on involvement in 
working groups 
No information 

FEP, ECMA, CITPA, FEFCO, Eurosac, 
European Core and Tube Association 
(ECTA), FINAT and FTA Europe 
International Publisher Association (IPA) 

No information 

Yes, affiliated. Not involved in 
management bodies or working groups 
Yes, affiliated. No data on involvement in 
management bodies or working groups  

Federation of Periodical Press (FIPP) and 
International Federation of Audit 
Bureaux of Certification (IFABC) 
No 

No 

81 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Employer 
organisation 

Affiliated with Intergraf for the 
graphical sector? 

MS 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

LPUA 

MEA 
SME Chamber 
KVGO 

Vereniging Repro 
Nederland 
Flekso (business 
association) 
PIO (business 
association) 
PASDP (business 
association) 
Polish Chamber of 
Printing (business 
association) 
Polish 
Papermakers 
Association 
Apigraf 

ATT 

GF 

Almega 
GZS-MZ 
ZDS 
ZPnS.sk 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
No 
No 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Affiliated with another European 
organisation for the graphical sector 
and, if so, which one(s)? 

ClimateCalc 

No 
No 
FESPA and (via Intergraf) WPCF 

No 

FTA Europe 

European Packaging Institutes 
Consortium (EPIC) 
FESPA 

FESPA 

No information 

No information 

Yes, affiliated. Involved in management 
bodies and working groups 
Yes, affiliated. Not yet involved in 
management bodies or working groups 
at the date of data collection (newer 
member: joined in 2022) 
Yes, affiliated. Involved in the steering 
committee 

No 
No 
No 
No 

CITPA and FESPA 

FESPA through the Romanian Association 
of Serigraphy, Pad and Digital Printing 
(Arsitd) 

FESPA, WPCF through Intergraf, Grafkom, 
Nordic Printing Association (NOPA), 
FEFCO and ECMA 
No 
No 
No 
No 

Notes: CEPI, Confederation of European Paper Industries; CITPA, International Confederation of Paper and Board 
Converters  in  Europe;  ECMA,  European  Carton  Makers  Association;  EMMA,  European  Magazine  Media 
Association;  FEFCO,  European  Federation  of  Corrugated  Board  Manufacturers;  FEP,  Federation  of  European 
Publishers;  FESPA,  Screen  Printing,  Digital  Printing  and  Textiles  Printing  Association;  FINAT,  International 
Federation of Manufacturers and Converters of Self Adhesive and Heat Seal Materials on Paper and Substrate; 
FTA, Flexographic Technical Association; MS, Member State; WAN-IFRA, World Association of News Publishers; 
WPCF, World Print and Communication Forum. Blue-shaded cells indicate employer organisations affiliated with 
Intergraf. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

3.1.  Representativeness of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging in the 
graphical sector 

Of the 59 sectoral trade unions identified in Chapter 2, 35 are affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical 
and Packaging (59 %) and 23 are not affiliated; for 1 union (CNV in the Netherlands), no clear data on 
affiliation were provided. Based on the available data, the collective workforce of the 35 UNI Europa 

82 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Graphical  and  Packaging  affiliates  constitutes  around  a  quarter  (26 %) (44)  of  the  total  sectoral 
workforce  in  the  graphical  sector  (comprising  printing  activities  and  activities  related  to  printing 
(NACE 18.1) and the reproduction of recorded media activities (NACE 18.2)). 

UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging has at least one affiliated sectoral trade union in 19 Member 
States.  The five  Member  States  with no  affiliated sectoral trade  union  are  Czechia,  Greece,  Malta, 
Romania  and  Slovakia.  In  three  Member  States  (Bulgaria,  Estonia  and  Lithuania),  as  mentioned  in 
Chapter 2,  no  trade  union  was  identified  for  the  graphical  sector.  Of  the  52  sectoral  trade  unions 
engaged in sector-related collective bargaining (either MEB or SEB), 33 are UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging members (63 %) in 18 Member States (Figure 13). 

Figure 13: Scoreboard of the representativeness of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, 2023 

59 % of trade unions with 
members  in  the  sector 
are  affiliated  with  UNI 
Europa  Graphical  and 
Packaging 

UNI Europa 
Graphical and 
Packaging has at 
least one affiliated 
graphical union in 
19 Member States 

1

24

35

Affiliated

Not affiliated

Data unavailable

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

LV 

FI  MT 

FR 

HR 

NL 

PL 

HU 

PT 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

involved 

63 % of the trade unions that 
are 
in  collective 
bargaining  for  the  graphical 
sector  are  affiliated  with  UNI 
Europa 
and 
Packaging 

Graphical 

21

31

Engaged in
collective
bargaining
Not engaged in
collective
bargaining

UNI Europa Graphical 
and Packaging has at 
least one affiliated 
graphical union involved 
in collective bargaining 
in 18 Member States  

AT 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Notes: Green-shaded cells indicate Member States in which at least one graphical trade union is affiliated with 
UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging; purple-shaded cells indicate Member States in which at least one graphical 
trade union is involved in collective bargaining; grey-shaded cells indicate Member States in which no graphical 
trade union was identified. Detailed information is available in Table 39 and Table 41. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

The distribution of the UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging trade unions across the different activities 
in  the  sector  is  presented  in  Table 37.  It  is  noteworthy  that  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging 
represents at least 60 % of the trade  unions, regardless of the graphical subsector.  Considering all 
trade unions in the sector, most are found in the printing of newspapers, the printing of books and 
binding  of  printed  material.  Looking  at  the  trade  unions  that  organise  workers  in  the  printing  of 

(44)  This percentage was calculated based on the available membership data. Given the high share of national-
level trade unions that did not provide data or that provided estimations that included other sectors (as 
listed in Table 39), this calculation should be treated with caution. 

83 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

wallpapers and the reproduction of recorded media (i.e. the subsectors least covered by trade unions), 
UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging members make up 67 % and 76 % of the workforce, respectively. 

84 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 37: Scope of membership domains of sectoral trade unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging (GP), 2023 

s
k
o
o
b
f
o
g
n
i
t
n
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r
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s
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a
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o
g
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O

l

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a
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a
m

30 

27 

28 

64 

61 

60 

26 

65 

28 

29 

26 

24 

70 

71 

65 

63 

18 

17 

17 

16 

17 

18 

17 

17 

n
o
g
n
i
t
n
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r
P

r
e
p
a
p

l
l

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w

16 

67 

10 

r
e
h
t
o
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

s
e
c
a
f
r
u
s

22 

67 

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

y
r
e
n
o
i
t
a
t
s

s
t
c
u
d
o
r
p

t
a
m
r
o
f
e
g
r
a
L

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p

s
l
e
b
a
L

21 

23 

66 

70 

14 

14 

1 

21 

72 

14 

23 

70 

14 

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
R

i

a
d
e
m
d
e
d
r
o
c
e
r

19 

76 

11 

d
r
a
o
b
d
n
a
r
e
p
a
P

g
n
i
t
r
e
v
n
o
c

23 

68 

15 

s
c
i
n
o
r
t
c
e
e

l

d
e
t
n
i
r
P

21 

75 

12 

LV 

LU, 
LV 

LV, 
NL (*) 

LU, LV, 
NL (*) 

CY (*), 
LV 

LV 

DK, 
LV 

LV, SI 

CY, FI, FR (*), 
HU, IT, LV, 
NL (*), 
PL (*), SI 

CY (*), 
IT, LV, 
PL, SI 

CY (*), 
IT,  LV, 
NL, SI 

CY, 
LV, SI 

CY (*), 
FI (*), LV, 
PL (*), 
SI (*) 

CY, LV, 
NL (*), 
PL, 
SI (*) 

CY (*), FI, 
HU (*), LV, 
NL (*), PL, 
SI (*) 

CY (*), FI, 
FR (*), 
HU (*), LV, 
NL (*), PL, SI 

LV, 
NL (*), 
PL (*), 
SI (*) 

Number of trade unions 
affiliated  with 
UNI 
Europa GP 
%  of  all  trade  unions  in 
the sector 
Number  of  Member 
States  with  at  least  one 
trade  union  affiliated 
with UNI Europa GP 
Member States in which 
no trade unions covering 
this activity are affiliated 
with UNI Europa GP 

(*) Member States in which the activity in question is not considered part of the graphical sector. A complete list of the activities that are considered part of the graphical 
sector in each Member State is available in Table 54 in the Annex. 

Note: No trade unions are organising the workers in the sector in Bulgaria, Estonia or Lithuania. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

85 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Affiliation with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging is equally prevalent among the trade unions representing blue-collar and white-collar workers and does 
not differ by the size of the companies (Table 38). 

Table 38: Trade union coverage by workforce categories and company size groups of sectoral trade unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging 
(GP), 2023 

Company size 

e
g
r
a

l
y
l
l

a
u
q
E

l
l

a
m

s
d
n
a

e
g
r
a
L

l
l

a
m
S

Total 

Geographical 
coverage 

r
e
b
m
e
M
e
r
i
t
n
E

e
t
a
t
S

e
r
u
t
c
u
r
t
s
b
u
s

l

a
n
o
i
g
e
R

Type of workers 

Other sectors in which the trade unions also have members 

r
a

l
l

o
c
e
u
B

l

r
a

l
l

o
c
e
t
i
h
W

t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
M

l

d
e
y
o
p
m
e
-
f
l
e
S

l

a
u
s
i
v
o
d
u
A

i

e
c
r
e
m
m
o
C

s
c
i
t
s
i
g
o
L

t
r
o
p
s
n
a
r
T

r
e
p
a
P

d
n
a
e
g
a
n
g
i
s

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

s
n
g
i
s

s
u
o
n
m
u

i

l

n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
m
a
g
o
e
d
V

i

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p
f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

)
d
e
t
a
g
u
r
r
o
c
g
n
d
u
l
c
n
i
(

i

r
e
h
t
o
f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p

r
e
i
r
u
o
c
d
n
a

l

a
t
s
o
P

n
g
i
s
e
d
c
i
h
p
a
r
G

g
n
i
s
i
t
r
e
v
d
a

s
r
e
h
p
a
r
g
o
t
o
h
P

35 

5 

2 

18 

30 

14 

30 

25 

15 

6 

1 

15 

12 

13 

10 

14 

16 

10 

12 

12 

18 

14 

Number 
of UNI 
Europa 
(GP) 
trade 
unions 
% of all 
trade 
unions 
Number 
of 
Member 
States 

59 

50 

67 

39 

58 

56 

61 

57 

50 

60 

19 

5 

2 

12 

19 

10 

17 

16 

9 

6 

Note: Data on coverage of different size groups are not available for 10 unions. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

60 

63 

59 

53 

64 

59 

59 

71 

80 

60 

61 

14 

9 

10 

8 

11 

13 

10 

8 

8 

14 

12 

3 

1 

86 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

With the available data, estimating the workforce covered by UNI Europa  Graphical and Packaging 
members  can  be  challenging.  There  is  a  higher  percentage  of  unions  with  declining  membership 
among UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging members than among all unions in the sector (Table 39). 

Table 39: Membership strength of trade unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, 
2023 

MS 

Trade union 

Number of graphical employees 
affiliated with the trade union 

AT 

GPA 

BE 

CY 

DE 

DK 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

ACV-CSC BIE 
ABVV-FGTB 
BBTK-SETCa 
ACLVB-CGSLB 

ACV-CSC Puls 

OBIEK-SEK 

Ver.di 
HK Privat 
3F 

FSC-CCOO 
ELA – Industria 
eta Eraikuntza 
UGT-FeSMC 
UFT-FICA 
Τeollisuusliitto 
PRO 

Filpac CGT 

F3C-CFDT 

SGIM 

NYDSZ 

Unite 

SIPTU 

SLC-CGIL 

IT 

Fistel-CISL 

Uilcom-UIL 

2 000 

2 740 

2 500 

n/a 

n/a 

70 

n/a 
10 400 (45) 
1 750 

80 000 (46) 

823 

n/a 
n/a 
13 500 
990 

n/a 

n/a 

800 

774 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Type/source of 
information on the 
number of members 

Exact 
number 

Estimate 

Trend in 
membership in 
last two or three 
years 

X 

Decreasing 

X 

X 

X 

Χ 

Χ 

X 

Χ 

Χ 

Χ 

Χ 

X 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Decreasing 

Decreasing 
Stable 
Stable 

Stable 

Increasing 

n/a 
n/a 
Increasing 
Decreasing 

n/a 

Decreasing 

Decreasing 

Increasing 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

Decreasing 

n/a 

(45)  This estimate includes members in other sectors (both private and public) besides graphical, namely paper, 
audiovisual,  commerce,  logistics,  transport,  postal  and  courier,  creative  agencies,  advertising,  graphic 
designers, photographers, production of signage (print or digital) and luminous signs, production of video 
games,  production  of  paper packaging  (including  corrugated  packaging),  production  of  other  packaging 
(other than paper and corrugated), administration, retail, ICT and services. 

(46)  This estimate includes members from other sectors besides graphical, namely paper, audiovisual, logistics, 
transport,  postal  and  courier,  creative  agencies,  advertising,  graphic  designers,  photographers  (except 
communication media), production of signage (print or digital) and luminous signs, production of video 
games, production of paper packaging (including corrugated packaging) and production of other packaging 
(other than paper and corrugated). 

87 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

Number of graphical employees 
affiliated with the trade union 

LCGB-Services 
OGB-L – 
imprimerie, 
médias, culture, 
FLTL 
LKDAF 
FNV Media en 
Cultuur 
ZZP 

Sindetelco 

Sinttav 

GS 

Unionen 

SI 

Pergam 

LU 

LV 

NL 

PL 

PT 

SE 

SI 

n/a 

n/a 

50 

n/a 

3 000 

200 

72 

6 109 

1 290 

50 

860 

Type/source of 
information on the 
number of members 

Exact 
number 

Estimate 

Trend in 
membership in 
last two or three 
years 

Decreasing 

Decreasing 

Decreasing 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Increasing 

Stable 

Increasing 

Decreasing 

Stable 

Χ 

Χ 

Χ 

Χ 

X 

X 

X 

Χ 

Notes:  MS,  Member  State;  n/a,  data  not  available.  No  affiliation  information  was  provided  for  CNV  in  the 
Netherlands. UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging indicated that the Spanish union UGT-FeSMC is a member, 
but this was not confirmed by the trade union, which declined to participate in the study. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Close to half of all UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging members in the sector are involved in both 
SEB at the company level and MEB at the sector level; lower percentages of UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging members in the sector are engaged in SEB only or MEB only (Table 40). 

Table 40: Overview of the involvement in collective bargaining of the trade unions affiliated with UNI 
Europa Graphical and Packaging in the EU-27, 2023 

Type of collective bargaining 

Member 
State(s) 

Number 
of trade 
unions 

Unions engage only in SEB 
Unions engage only in MEB 
Unions engage in both SEB  and 
MEB 
Some  unions  engage  in  SEB, 
other unions engage in MEB 
No collective bargaining 
All types of collective bargaining 

HR, HU, IE, PL 
AT, CY, FI, SE 
BE, DE, ES, FR, 
IT, NL, SI 

DK, LU, PT 

LV 

5 
7 

16 

6 

1 
35 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

% of all UNI 
Europa Graphical 
and Packaging 
graphical sector 
members 
14 
20 

46 

17 

3 
100 

% of all the trade 
unions in the 
sector 

50 
58 

76 

43 

50 
63 

As regards whether UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging members are consulted by the government, 
participate  in  bipartite  or  tripartite  dialogue  or  are  involved  in  paritarian  organisations,  the 

88 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

percentages are higher for UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging members than for all unions in the 
sector as Table 41 shows. The vast majority (30) of the UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging affiliates 
are recognised as representative social partner organisations based on national criteria, while more 
than half (18) are consulted by the government on sector-related matters.  Half of the UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging members (16) are involved in paritarian initiatives and almost half (14) are 
involved  in  bipartite  social  dialogue.  A  quarter  (eight)  of  the  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging 
members are involved in tripartite social dialogue for the graphical sector, which is a higher share than 
that recorded for all of the sectoral unions identified (18 %) in Table 22.

89 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 41: Role of the graphical trade unions affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging in the national industrial relations landscape, 2023 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of representativeness 

% of workers 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining in 
the sector 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social dialogue 
bodies? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

Consulted 
by the 
government 
on sector-
related 
matters? 

Affiliated with a national 
confederation and, if so, 
which one(s)? 

Number 
of  trade 
unions 
Number 
of MSs 

35 

19 

AT 

GPA 

ACV-CSC BIE 
ABVV-FGTB 
BBTK-SETCa 
ACLVB-CGSLB 
ACV-CSC Puls 
OBIEK-SEK 

Ver.di 

HK Privat 

3F 

FSC-CCOO 
ELA – 
Industria eta 
Eraikuntza 
UGT-FICA 
UGT-FeSMC 

Τeollisuusliitto 

PRO 
Filpac CGT 

F3C-CFDT 

SGIM 

BE 

CY 

DE 

DK 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

LR = 15, MR = 15, n/a = 5 

LR = 8, MR = 8, n/a = 3 

MR 

LR 

LR 

LR 
LR 
MR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

LR 

LR 
n/a 

MR 

MR 
LR 

LR 

LR 

26 

23 

14 

14 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
n/a 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
n/a 

No 

No 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

10–15 

96–100 

96–100 

96–100 
96–100 
> 16.6 

n/a 

E: 80–85 

E: 80–85 

100 

100 

100 
n/a 

59.20 

59.20 
100 

100 

30–35 

No 

Yes 

90 

14 

7 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 
n/a 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

8 

4 

No 

No 

No 

No 
No 
No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 
n/a 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

16 

8 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 
n/a 

Yes 

No 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

18 

8 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 
n/a 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

30 

16 

ÖGB 

ACV-CSC 

ABVV-FGTB 

ACLVB-CGSLB 
ACV-CSC 
SEK 

DGB 

FH 

FH 

CCOO 

ELA (active only in the 
Basque Country) 

UGT 
UGT 

SAK 

STTK 
CGT 

CFDT 

 ITUC 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of representativeness 

% of workers 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining in 
the sector 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social dialogue 
bodies? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

HU 

IE 

NYDSZ 
SIPTU 
Unite 
SLC-CGIL 

IT 

Fistel-CISL 

Uilcom-UIL 
LCGB-Services 
OGB-L – 
imprimerie, 
médias, 
culture, FLTL 
LKDAF 
FNV Media en 
Cultuur 
ZZP 

Sindetelco 

Sinttav 
GS 
Unionen 
SI 

Pergam 

LU 

LV 

NL 

PL 

PT 

SE 

SI 

LR 
n/a 
n/a 
MR 

MR 

MR 
LR 

LR 

n/a 

n/a 

LR 

MR 

MR 
MR 
MR 
MR 

LR 

15 
~ 43 
~ 43 
~ 100 

~ 100 

~ 100 
n/a 

No 
No 
No 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
Yes 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

0 

n/a 

n/a 

~ 58 

~ 58 
80–90 
80–90 
80-90 

50 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 
No 
No 
No 

Yes 

Yes 
n/a 
n/a 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 
No 
No 
No 

No 

No 
n/a 
n/a 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 
No 
No 
No 

No 

No 
n/a 
n/a 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 
Yes 
Yes 
No 

No 

Consulted 
by the 
government 
on sector-
related 
matters? 
No 
n/a 
n/a 
Yes 

Yes 

Yes 
No 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

n/a 

No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

No 

Affiliated with a national 
confederation and, if so, 
which one(s)? 

MASZSZ 

CGIL 

CISL 

UIL 
LCGB 

OGB-L 

FTUCL 

n/a 

n/a 

UGT 

CGTP 
LO 
TCO 
TCO 
Pergam is a national 
confederation 

Notes: LR, legal requirement; MR, mutual recognition; MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

91 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

3.2.  Sectoral  trade  unions  not  represented  in  the  social  dialogue 
committee for the graphical sector 

Of the 59 sectoral trade unions identified in Chapter 2, 24 are not affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical 
and Packaging or have no clear data on affiliation and thus are not represented in the ESSDC for the 
graphical industry. These unions will be referred to as ‘non-represented’ in the graphical ESSDC in the 
report. Table 42 lists these non-represented unions, including CNV in the Netherlands, for which no 
clear data on affiliation were provided. Based on the available data, the collective workforce of these 
24  non-represented  unions  constitutes  a  little  over  a  third  (35 %) (47)  of  the  total  graphical  sector 
(comprising printing activities and activities related to printing (NACE 18.1) and the reproduction of 
recorded media activities (NACE 18.2)) workforce in the EU-27 in 2022. 

Table 42:  Membership  strength  of  trade  unions  not  affiliated  with  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and 
Packaging, 2023 

MS 

Trade union 

ΒΕ 
CY 
CZ 
EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

LV 
MT 

NL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

ACV-CSC CNE 
ΣΕΒΕΤΤΥΚ 
ΤΒ 
OMTBX 
FI-USO 
CCOO-Industria 
LAB 
UGT-SP (51) 
SJL 
Fédération FO Livre 
FC-CFTC 
IP-CFE-CGC 
LPNA 
GWU 
De Unie 
CNV 
Fiequimetal 
SIMA 
USTR 
Ledarna 

Pappers 

Number of members 
in the sector trade 
union 

n/a 
62 
550 
4 350 (48) 
126 000 (49) 
n/a 
45 000 (50) 
n/a 
3 500 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
50 
1 400 
n/a 
n/a 
800 
30 
535 
641 
13 000 (most in paper, 
not graphical) 

Type/source of 
information on number 
of members 

Estimate 

n/a 

Χ 

n/a 
X 
n/a 
Χ 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 

Χ 
n/a 
n/a 
Χ 
Χ 

Exact 
number 
n/a 
Χ 
Χ 

X 
n/a 

n/a 

n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Χ 

n/a 
n/a 

X 
X 

Χ 

Trend in 
membership in 
last two or three 
years 

n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Decreasing 
Stable 
Increasing 
n/a 
Decreasing 
Stable 
n/a 
n/a 
n/a 
Decreasing 
n/a 
Stable 

Decreasing 

(47)  This percentage was calculated based on the available membership data. Given the high share of national-
level trade unions that did not provide data or that provided estimations that included other sectors (as 
listed in Table 42), this calculation should be treated with caution. 

(48)  This figure is that for the graphical sector combined with the paper sector. 
(49)  This  includes  members  from  other  sectors  besides  graphical,  namely  paper  and  audiovisual.  More 

information has not been provided. 

(50)  This estimate includes members from other sectors besides graphical, namely paper, audiovisual, logistics, 

transport, and postal and courier. 

(51)  UGT-SP is not affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, but there is cooperation. 

92 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

Number of members 
in the sector trade 
union 

SI 
SK 

SEKO 
SGDS 
SOZPP 

200 
400 
120 

Type/source of 
information on number 
of members 

Estimate 

X 

Exact 
number 

X 
Χ 

Trend in 
membership in 
last two or three 
years 

Stable 
Stable 
Decreasing 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. Trade unions in italics are active in only part(s) of the Member 
State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Looking at the activities in which the non-represented unions have members, the situation is similar 
to the general picture of the graphical unions described in Chapter 2, with the printing of newspapers 
and  the  printing of  magazines  subsectors  being  the  best  represented  (Table 59  in  the  Annex).  The 
situation is also similar to the general picture in terms of the size of companies in which most members 
of the non-represented unions are working, and their geographical dispersion (Table 60 in the Annex). 

Table 43 presents the type of collective bargaining in which non-represented unions engage and the 
role they play in the national industrial relations landscape. Only the Greek UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging affiliate is not engaged in any collective bargaining, while for four other unions from the 
Netherlands  and Spain there  are no data on involvement in collective bargaining.  Six  trade unions 
engage only in MEB and another six trade unions engage only in SEB. Finally, six trade unions engage 
in both SEB and MEB.

93 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 43: Role of non-represented graphical trade unions in the national industrial relations landscape, 2023 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of sectoral 
workforce 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social 
dialogue bodies? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

Consulted by the 
government on 
sector-related 
matters? 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation 
and, if so, which 
one? 

Number of 
trade unions 

Number of 
MSs 

BE 

CY 

CZ 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

24 

15 

ACV-CSC CNE 

ΣΕΒΕΤΤΥΚ 

TB 

ΟΜΤΒΧ 

FI-USO 

CCOO-Industria 

LAB 

UGT-SP (52) 

SJL 

Fédération FO Livre 

LR = 10, MR = 10, 
n/a = 4, n/r = 1 

LR 

MR 

MR 

Both 

LR (only for the 
metal graphical 
sector) 

LR (only for the 
metal graphical 
sector) 

11 

12 

8 

10 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

7 

5 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

1 

1 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

> 16.6 

10 

1.40 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

6 

4 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

LR 

n/a 

MR 

LR 

100 (of the 
Basque Country) 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

59.20 

100 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

No 

Yes 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

8 

6 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

13 

9 

ACV-CSC 

PEO 

No 

GSEE 

n/a 

n/a 

LAB (covering 
only the Basque 
Country) 

UGT 

No 

CGT-FO 

(52)  UGT-SP is not affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging, but there is cooperation. 

94 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Trade union 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of sectoral 
workforce 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social 
dialogue bodies? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Involved in 
paritarian 
organisations? 

Consulted by the 
government on 
sector-related 
matters? 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation 
and, if so, which 
one? 

FC-CFTC 

IP-CFE-CGC 

LPNA 

GWU 

De Unie 

CNV 

Fiequimetal 

SIMA 

USTR 

Ledarna 

Pappers 

SEKO 

SGDS 

SOZPP 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

LR 

LR 

MR 

LR 

n/a 

n/a 

MR 

MR 

n/r 

MR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

n/a 

100 

100 

0 

70 

n/a 

n/a 

~ 58 

~ 58 

< 4 

80–90 

80–90 

80–90 

50 

9 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

CFTC 

CGT 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

CGTP 

No 

BNS 

No 

LO 

LO 

Pergam 

n/a 

Notes: LR, legal requirement; MR, mutual recognition; MS, Member State; n/a, data not available; n/r, not relevant. Trade unions in italics are active in only part(s) of the 
Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

95 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

3.3.  Other European organisations with which national trade unions 
are affiliated 

Table 35 shows whether the national trade unions active in the graphical sector are affiliated with UNI 
Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging  or  other  European  organisations.  As  already  mentioned  in  the 
previous sections, 35 trade unions (in 19 Member States) are affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging.  Of  these  35  trade  unions,  14  (located  in  10  Member  States)  are  also  affiliated  with 
industriAll  Europe.  industriAll  Europe  in  total  has  14  unions  affiliated.  Three  unions  affiliated  with 
industriAll  Europe  are  not  affiliated  with  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging:  ACV-CSC  CNE  in 
Belgium,  GWU  in  Malta  and  SIMA  in  Portugal.  As  regards  those  affiliated  with  other  European 
organisations, most unions (35 of the 59) report no affiliation with another European organisation for 
the graphical sector. Information on affiliation is missing for eight trade unions. Finally, the Belgian 
trade  union  ABVV-FGTB  BBTK-SETCa  reports  affiliations  with  the  European  Transport  Workers’ 
Federation (ETF), European Federation of Food, Agriculture, and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT) and 
the European Public Service Union (EPSU), while the Danish trade union HK Privat reports an affiliation 
with Information and Communication Technology Related Services (ICTS). 

3.4.  Representativeness of Intergraf in the graphical sector 

Intergraf is the European printing industry association representing employers in the graphical sector. 
Its membership comprises 22 national printing organisations in 21 countries as full members and 13 
companies from across Europe as associate members. Of the 22 national printing organisations that 
are members of Intergraf, 17 are located in Member States, while the remaining 5 are in Iceland (1), 
Norway (1), Switzerland (2) and the United Kingdom (1). Based on the available data, the number of 
companies represented by Intergraf is a little over 3 000, which constitutes less than 1 % of the total 
number of companies in the sector. They are dominated by microcompanies and small companies and 
employ around 12 % (53) of the sectoral workforce in the EU-27. Comparing Intergraf membership in 
terms of the number of members with the situation depicted in the 2016 Eurofound graphical sector 
report, the membership appears to be stable. 

Figure 14 provides an overview of the representativeness of Intergraf. Seventeen (35 %) of the sector’s 
48  employer  organisations  in  17  Member  States  are  affiliated  with  Intergraf.  Of  the  29  employer 
organisations  involved  in  sector-related  collective  bargaining,  12  (41 %)  are  members  of  Intergraf. 
These  12  organisations  are  located  in  12  Member  States.  No  data  on  involvement  in  collective 
bargaining or the role in the national industrial relations landscape were provided for the Irish Printing 
Federation, which is not an Intergraf affiliate. 

(53)  This percentage was calculated based on the available membership data. Given the high share of national-
level organisations that did not provide data or that provided estimations that included other sectors (as 
listed in Table 46), this calculation should be treated with caution. 

96 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Figure 14: Scoreboard of the representativeness of Intergraf 

35 % of employer 
organisations with members 
in the sector are affiliated 
with Intergraf 

17

31

Affiliated Not affiliated

Intergraf has one 
affiliated graphical 
employer 
organisation in 17 
Member States  

AT 

BE 

ES 

FI 

LV 

MT 

BG 

FR 

NL 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

HR 

PL 

HU 

PT 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

RO 

SE 

SI 

SK 

41 % of employer 
organisations involved in 
sector-related collective 
bargaining (54) are affiliated 
with Intergraf (12/29) 

12

17

Engaged in collective
bargaining
Not engaged in
collective bargaining

Intergraf members 
are involved in 
graphical collective 
bargaining in 12 
Member States 

AT 

ES 

LV 

BE 

FI 

MT 

BG 

FR 

NL 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

HR 

PL 

HU 

PT 

IE 

IT 

LT 

RO 

SE 

SI 

LU 

SK 

Notes:  Blue-shaded  cells  indicate  Member  States  in  which  at  least  one  graphical  employer  organisation  is 
affiliated with Intergraf; purple-shaded cells indicate Member States in which Intergraf affiliates are involved in 
collective bargaining; Greece is shaded grey, as no graphical employer organisation was identified. Note that, in 
Poland, Flekso is affiliated with Intergraf indirectly via FTA Europe, a sister organisation of Intergraf representing 
the interests of the European flexographic printing industry. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents (2023); summary of detailed information listed in Table 46 and 
Table 48. 

As can be seen in Table 44, employer organisations affiliated with Intergraf are involved in most of the 
‘typical  activities’  in  the  sector  (e.g.  printing  of  newspapers,  printing  of  books  and  printing  of 
magazines). As information on Intergraf members regarding the sectors in which they are active is 
more complete, the percentage of Intergraf members among the employer organisations for which 
there is information is very high (50 % or higher in 10 of the 17 sectors). In some Member States (e.g. 
Austria and Italy), Intergraf members appear to be active in only a few sectors. 

(54)  Sector-related collective bargaining here includes both SEB and MEB. 

97 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 45 shows the size of companies covered by Intergraf members and the other sectors (related to 
graphical) that Intergraf members are active in. Intergraf members are primarily present in larger firms 
(with  over  50  employees),  and  member  companies’  activities  include  mostly  the  production  of 
packaging, commerce, signage and photography. 

98 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 44: Scope of membership domains of sectoral employer organisations affiliated with Intergraf, 2023 

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Number of 
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Intergraf  

Number of 
employer 
organisations 
(independent 
of affiliation) 
active in each 
sector 

% of Intergraf 
members 
among all 
employer 
organisations 
in the sector 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 
affiliated with 
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14 

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15 

16 

12 

14 

11 

13 

13 

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1 

0 

4 

1 

4 

2 

2 

3 

6 

2 

10 

11 

6 

99 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

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Number of 
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organisations 
affiliated with 
Intergraf for 
which no data 
on activity in 
the sector is 
available 

Number of 
Member States 
in which 
employer 
organisations 
affiliated with 
Intergraf cover 
this activity 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

1 (IT) 

1 (IT) 

1 (IT) 

1 (IT) 

1 (IT) 

1 (IT) 

0 

0 

1 (IT) 

1 (IT) 

0 

14 

15 

15 

15 

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16 

12 

14 

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5 

4 

10 

100 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

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activity 

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o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p

r
e
p
a
p

l
l

a
w
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

s
e
c
a
f
r
u
s

r
e
h
t
o
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

s
l
e
b
a
L

AT 

AT (*), 
EE (*), 
FI, 
FR (*)  

AT (*), 
FI  

AT, FR 

AT (*), 
FI, FR 

l

a
i
r
e
t
a
m

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
r
e
h
t
O

AT, 
BG, 
EE, 
IT 

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
t
a
m
r
o
f
-
e
g
r
a
L

AT, 
DK (*) 

y
r
e
n
o
i
t
a
t
s

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

s
t
c
u
d
o
r
p

BG (*), 
DK (*), 
EE, 
FI (*), 
FR (*), 
LV 

d
e
d
r
o
c
e
r

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
R

i

a
d
e
m

AT (*), 
BE, 
BG (*), 
DE, 
DK (*), 
EE, FI, 
FR (*), 
HU (*), 
NL (*), 
RO 

l

s
c
i
n
o
r
t
c
e
e
d
e
t
n
i
r
P

AT (*), 
BE, 
BG (*), 
DK (*), 
EE, FI, 
HU (*), 
LV, 
NL (*) 
RO (*) 

d
r
a
o
b
d
n
a
r
e
p
a
P

g
n
i
t
r
e
v
n
o
c

BE, 
DE, 
EE (*), 
FR, 
NL (*), 
RO 

Notes: (*) Member States in which the activity in question is not considered part of the graphical sector. A complete list of the activities that are considered part of the 
graphical sector in each Member State is available in Table 54 in the Annex. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

101 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 45: Employer organisation coverage by workforce categories and company size groups for employer organisations affiliated with Intergraf, 2023 

Size 

Geographical 
coverage 

Size group of 
largest proportion 
of members 

Other sectors 

s
r
e
k
r
o
w
d
e
y
o
p
m
e
-
f
l
e
S

l

l

s
e
e
y
o
p
m
e
9
–
1

l

s
e
e
y
o
p
m
e
9
4
–
0
1

l

s
e
e
y
o
p
m
e
9
4
2
–
0
5

l

s
e
e
y
o
p
m
e
+
0
5
2

e
t
a
t
S
r
e
b
m
e
M
e
r
i
t
n
E

8 

18 

25 

20 

17 

24 

e
r
u
t
c
u
r
t
s
b
u
s

l

a
n
o
i
g
e
R

7 

+
0
5
2

9
4
2
–
0
1

9
–
0

5 

11 

5 

r
e
p
a
P

6 

l

a
u
s
i
v
o
d
u
A

i

4 

g
n
i
s
i
t
r
e
v
d
a
n
g
i
s
e
d
c
i
h
p
a
r
G

s
r
e
h
p
a
r
g
o
t
o
h
P

8 

4 

t
n
i
r
p
(
e
g
a
n
g
i
s

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

s
u
o
n
m
u

i

l

d
n
a
)
l
a
t
i
g
i
d
r
o

5 

s
n
g
i
s

n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
m
a
g
o
e
d
V

i

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p
f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

)
d
e
t
a
g
u
r
r
o
c
g
n
d
u
l
c
n
i
(

i

r
e
h
t
o
f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p

2 

4 

2 

r
e
i
r
u
o
c
d
n
a

l

a
t
s
o
P

2 

e
c
r
e
m
m
o
C

1 

s
c
i
t
s
i
g
o
L

3 

t
r
o
p
s
n
a
r
T

3 

62 

53 

60 

54 

55 

57 

58 

71 

55 

83 

43 

50 

14 

43 

43 

33 

47 

57 

50 

50 

31 

20 

Number of 
employer 
organisations 
% of all 
employer 
organisations 
in the sector 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

102 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 46  shows  that  all  of  the  Intergraf  members  are  the  largest  employer  organisations  in  the 
graphical  sector  in  their  Member  State,  except  for  the  Austrian  member  Propak  and  the  Finnish 
member  GT.  In  terms  of  the  membership  trend,  of  the  11  members  with  data  available,  only  the 
French member UNIIC reported an increasing membership, while six other members reported a stable 
membership and four reported a decreasing membership. 

Table 46: Membership strength of employer organisations that are members of Intergraf, 2023 

MS 

Employer 
organisation 

Number of 
sectoral member 
companies 

Sectoral workforce 
of the member 
companies 

Membership 
trend in the last 
two or three 
years 

Rank among 
the employer 
organisations 
in the MS 

AT 

BE 

BG 

DE 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

HU 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

NL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

Propak 

Only a few 

Febelgra 

UPIB 

bvdm 

Grakom 

ETPL 

GT 

UNIIC 

Fedprint 

Assografici 

LISPA 

AMIL 

LPUA 

KVGO 

Apigraf 

ATT 

GF 

Between 250 and 
330 

92 

n/a 

130 

30 

125 

624 

68 

627 

16 

23 

28 

552 

283 

58 

400 

n/a 

n/a 

10 % 

n/a 

1 522 blue collar 

2 585 white collar 

1 060 

75–80 % 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

n/a 

Decreased 

Stable 

Decreased 

About 16 000 

Increase 

9 950 

38 452 

2 000 (including 
printing) 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

n/a 

Stable 

n/a 

Stable 

10 131 (March 2022) 

Decreased 

Approximately 6 400 

Stable 

2 200 

Decreased 

12 000 employees 

n/a 

3 

n/a 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

n/a 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 1, largest employer organisation; 2, second-largest employer 
organisation; 3, neither the first nor the second-largest employer organisation. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

As regards the role that the Intergraf members play in the national industrial relations landscape in 
their  Member  States,  the  majority  of  them,  12  employer  organisations  out  of  the  17  Intergraf 
members, are involved in collective bargaining for the sector. Seven of the 11 affiliates cover more 
than half or even the entire national sectoral workforce in their Member States. This is the case in 

103 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  France,  Italy,  Portugal  and  Sweden.  Table 47  also  shows  that  in  five 
eastern  European  and  Baltic  Member  States  (Bulgaria,  Estonia,  Latvia,  Lithuania  and  Romania) 
Intergraf  affiliates  do  not  bargain  collectively  on  behalf  of  their  members,  while  in  Hungary  the 
Intergraf member Fedprint supports its member companies in company-level bargaining. In Romania, 
the Intergraf affiliate cannot bargain, as it is not considered representative according to the national 
criteria,  while  in  Estonia  no  such  criteria  exist.  In  13  Member  States,  the  Intergraf  members  are 
consulted by the government on sector-related matters, with no data available for Austria and Italy, 
no consultations taking place in Hungary and the lack of legal representativeness mentioned above 
preventing this for the Romanian member.

104 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 47: Intergraf-affiliated national employer organisations’ role in the national industrial relations landscape, 2023 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Basis of representativeness 

AT 

BE 

BG 

DE 

DK 

EE 

FI 

FR 

HU 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

NL 

PT 

RO 

SE 

Propak 

Febelgra 

UPIB (business association) 

bvdm 

Grakom 

ETPL 

Medialiitto 

UNIIC 

Fedprint 

Assografici 

LISPA 

AMIL 

LPUA 

KVGO 

Apigraf 

MR 

LR 

LR 

MR 

MR 

No criteria for representativeness 

MR 

LR 

LR 

MR 

MR 

Both 

Both 

Both 

MR 

ATT (business association) 

Not representative 

GF 

MR 

% of sectoral 
workforce covered 
by collective 
bargaining 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

MEB 

SEB 

Involved 
in 
bipartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Involved 
in 
tripartite 
social 
dialogue? 

Consulted by 
the 
government? 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation and, 
if so, which one(s)? 

10–15 

96–100 

0 

n/a 

E: 80–85 

0 

59.2 

100 

15 

~ 100 

0 

0 

n/a 

~ 58 %–100 (55) 

0 

80–90 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

WKO 

VBO 

KRIB 

BDA and UDH 

No information 

n/a 

Confederation of 
Finnish Industries 
MEDEF, CPME and 
U2P 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

CIP 

FIGPA 

Yes 

Notes: LR, legal requirement; MR, mutual recognition; MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

(55)  The Eurofound correspondent indicated 58 % during the review of the preliminary findings, but Intergraf corrected the share to 100 % based on the legal extension of 

the collective bargaining agreements. 

105 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

3.5.  Sectoral  employer  organisations  not  represented  in  the  social 
dialogue committee for the graphical sector 

This  section  covers  employer  organisations  that  are  not  represented  by  Intergraf  and  thus  not 
represented in the ESSDC for the graphical industry. These employer organisations will be referred to 
as ‘non-represented’ in the graphical ESSDC. Of the 48 employer organisations, 26 have confirmed not 
to  be  Intergraf  members  while,  for  five  organisations,  there  is  no  clear  information  on  Intergraf 
affiliation, making the total number of non-represented employer organisations 31 (around 65 %) in 
17 Member States. 

Of the 17 Member States in which non-Intergraf members are found, as shown in Table 48, seven 
(Austria,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Finland,  France,  the  Netherlands  and  Sweden)  also  have  employer 
organisations  that  are  Intergraf  members.  In  these  instances,  the  Intergraf  member  is  the  largest 
employer organisation in Denmark, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. Only in Finland is the non-
represented employer organisation the largest. As for the trend in membership, there is no difference 
between Intergraf members and those non-represented in the ESSDC. 

Table 48:  Membership  strength  of  national  employer  organisations  that  are  not  affiliated  with 
Intergraf, 2023 

MS 

Employer 
organisation 

Number of 
graphical member 
companies 

Sectoral workforce of 
members 

Membership trend in 
the last two or three 
years 

Rank of 
employer 
organisation in 
the MS 

VZÖ 

BIK 

VDMT 

FVD 
BNM 

CMPA 

SPP 

DMA 

Feigraf 

AFCO 

AME 

ADEGI 

FGEE 

~ 50 

9 315 

200, including 
companies outside 
the graphical 
sector 
1 296 (56) 
8 

n/a 

Very small (only artisan 
bookbinders) 
50 %, including the 
workforce of the 
members outside the 
graphical sector 
> 6 000 
n/a 

10 

39 

15–20 

3 000 

200 

30 

1 051 

~ 150 

1 500 

n/a 

35 000 

n/a 

n/a 

60 005 in total (cross-
sectoral) 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

Decreased 
n/a 

Decreased 

Stable 

Decreased 

Slightly decreased 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

3 

3 

2 

1 
2 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

n/a 

n/a 

788 (57) 

12 760 (59) 

Increased 

n/a (58) 

Medialiitto 

GMI 

50 

217 

60–65 % (employer 
organisation estimate) 

3 686 (2021) 

Stable 

n/a 

1 

2 

AT 

BE 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

ES 

FI 

FR 

(56)  This  is  the  number  of  active  business  licences  recorded  by  the  FVD,  which  is  the  mandatory  employer 

organisation in the printing sector in Austria. 

(57)  This includes editors and companies in editorial production. 
(58)  FGEE  is  considered  an  employer  organisation  for  editorial  activities  and  predominantly  has  editing 

companies among its members; therefore, it cannot be ranked for the graphical sector. 

106 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Employer 
organisation 

Number of 
graphical member 
companies 

Sectoral workforce of 
members 

Membership trend in 
the last two or three 
years 

15–20 % 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

1 450 (estimate) 

n/a 

240 

n/a 

n/a 

> 1 000 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Stable 

Stable 

Stable 

Increased 

Increased 

n/a 

n/a 

Increased 

1 (59) 

Rank of 
employer 
organisation in 
the MS 
1 

1 

n/a 

1 

n/a 

3 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

2 

1 

n/a 

1 

36 000 (including non-
graphical workers) 

Decreased 

10 % of small and 
medium-sized 
companies 
At least 10 % of all 
companies 
30 

5 % 

10 % 

1 200 

Stable 

Stable 

n/a 

10 

n/a 

300 

150 

30 

32 

18 

~ 100 

~ 80 

~ 80 

n/a 

n/a 

600 

HR 

IE 

IT 

MT 

NL 

PL 

HUP – UGN 
Irish Printing 
Federation 

AIE 

ANES 

MEA 

SME Chamber 
Vereniging Repro 
Nederland 
Flekso (business 
association) 
PIO (business 
association) 
PASDP (business 
association) 
Polish Chamber 
of Printing 
(business 
association) 
Polish 
Papermakers 
Association 

SE 

Almega 

SI 

SK 

GZS-MZ 

ZDS 

ZPnS.sk 

Notes: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 1, largest employer organisation; 2, second-largest employer 
organisation;  3,  neither  the  first  nor  the  second-largest  employer  organisation.  Grey-shaded  cells  indicate 
organisations that did not confirm that they are not affiliated with Intergraf but, as they are not listed as affiliated 
on the Intergraf website, they have been counted as non-represented; bold font is used for the largest employer 
organisation in the graphical sector in the Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

As  Table 61  in  the  Annex  shows,  the  non-represented  employer  organisations  have  member 
companies active in most of the ‘typical activities’ in the sector (e.g. printing of newspapers, printing 
of books and printing of magazines) and in pre-press and pre-media services, printing of packaging, 
commercial printing and other printing. 

Regarding  involvement  in  collective  bargaining  (Table 49),  of  the  31  non-represented  employer 
organisations,  18  (58 %)  are  involved  in  collective  bargaining,  which  is  slightly  lower  than  the 
percentage for Intergraf members (12 out of 17 (70 %)). Just over half (16 out of 31 (52 %)) of the non-
represented employer organisations are consulted by their governments on sector-related matters. 

(59)  Author’s assessment; not confirmed by the national correspondent. 

107 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 49: Role of non-represented graphical employer organisations in the national industrial relations landscape, 2023 

MS 

Employer organisation 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of sectoral 
workforce 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social 
dialogue bodies? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Consulted by 
the 
government? 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation and, 
if so, which one? 

Number of organisations 

Number of MSs 

AT 

BE 

CY 

CZ 

DK 

ES 

FI 

FR 

VZÖ 

BIK 

VDMT 

FVD 

BNM 

CMPA 

SPP 

DMA 

Feigraf 

AFCO 

AME 

ADEGI 

FGEE 

Medialiitto 

GMI 

MR 

MR 

Not representative 

n/a 

LR 

MR 

MR 

MR 

LR 

LR 

LR 

n/a/ 

LR 

MR 

LR 

(60)  100 % of the metallographic sector. 
(61)  100 % of the editing workforce through a national collective agreement. 

17 

11 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

1 

1 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

6 

6 

No 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

10 

< 5 

0 

0 

96–100 

> 16.6 

Yes 

No 

No 

5 

4 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

10 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

< 30 

100 

99 

n/a (60) 

n/a 

n/a (61) 

65 

100 

108 

16 

13 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

Yes 

13 

12 

No 

WKO 

No 

WKO 

No 

Cyprus Employers 
and Industrialists 
Federation 
Union of the 
Employers 
Associations of the 
Czech Republic 
Confederation of 
Danish Employers 

No 

n/a 

Confemetal 

n/a 

No 

Confederation of 
Finnish Industries 

CPME 

 
 
 
 
MS 

HR 

IE 

IT 

MT 

NL 

Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Employer organisation 

Basis of 
representativeness 

% of sectoral 
workforce 
covered by 
collective 
bargaining 

Involved in 
collective 
bargaining? 

Involved in social 
dialogue bodies? 

MEB 

SEB 

Bipartite 

Tripartite 

Consulted by 
the 
government? 

HUP – UGN 

Irish Printing Federation 

AIE 

ANES 

MEA 

SME Chamber 

LR 

n/a 

MR 

MR 

LR 

n/a 

30–35 

n/a 

~ 100 

~ 100 

70 

n/a 

Vereniging Repro Nederland 

Both 

< 1 (estimate) 

Flekso (business association) 

Not representative 

PIO (business association) 

Not representative 

PL 

PASDP (business association) 

Not representative 

Polish Chamber of Printing (business association) 

Polish Papermakers Association 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Almega 

GZS-MZ 

ZDS 

ZPnS.sk 

n/a 

n/a 

MR 

LR 

MR 

MR 

0 

0 

0 

n/a 

n/a 

80–90 

50 

50 

9 

No 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

Yes 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

No 

No 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

Yes 

Yes 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Yes 

No 

No 

Yes 

Affiliated with a 
national 
confederation and, 
if so, which one? 

Croatian Employer 
Association 

IBEC 

Confindustria 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

No 

n/a 

n/a 

Confederation of 
Swedish Enterprise 
Chamber of 
Commerce and 
Industry of Slovenia 

No 

No 

Notes: LR, legal requirement; MR, mutual recognition; MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

109 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

3.6.  Other  European  organisations  with  which  national  sectoral 
employer organisations are affiliated 

Table 36 shows that, of the employer organisations for which there is information, 23 report being 
affiliated with other European or worldwide organisations: 10 are affiliated with the Screen Printing, 
Digital  Printing  and  Textiles  Printing  Association  (FESPA),  three  report  being  affiliated  with  the 
International Confederation of Paper and Board Converters in Europe (CITPA), two are members of 
the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), another two are members of European Media 
Management Association (EMMA), and finally another two report being affiliated with an organisation 
that extends beyond Europe: the World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA). 

3.7.  Representativeness of UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging and 
Intergraf in the Member States with the largest workforces 

This  section  describes  the  membership  of  the  ESSDC-represented  organisations  in the six  Member 
States (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden) with the largest graphical sector workforce 
in absolute  numbers and in the seven  Member States  (Croatia,  Denmark,  Estonia, Finland, France, 
Malta and Sweden) in which the proportion of graphical sector employment among total employment 
is higher than 1 %. Employees in the Member States with the largest graphical sector employment 
levels are represented in the ESSDC by at least one trade union in each Member State (Table 50). It is 
noteworthy that, in the case of Germany, the only trade union and the only employer organisation 
representing the workers and companies in the sector are represented in the ESSDC. The same is not 
true  for  employers  in  all  of  these  Member  States,  as,  in  two  (Poland  and  Spain),  no  employer 
organisation is involved in the ESSDC. In all except Poland, the union represented in the ESSDC engages 
in sectoral collective bargaining. In Poland, the union, which is affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical 
and  Packaging,  engages  in  only  SEB.  In  the  four  Member  States  in  which  a  national  employer 
organisation  is  represented  in  the  ESSDC,  the  employer  organisation  represented  in  the  ESSDC 
engages in sectoral-level collective bargaining. 

Table 50:  Overview  of  the  representation  of  the  national  social  partner  organisations  from  the  six 
Member States with the largest sectoral workforce in the ESSDC 

Total number of 
people employed 
(2022) 

At least one 
national 
trade union 
represented 
in the ESSDC 

At least one national 
trade union involved in 
collective bargaining 
that is represented in 
the ESSDC 

At least one 
national 
employer 
organisation 
represented 
in the ESSDC 

At least one national 
employer organisation 
involved in collective 
bargaining that is 
represented in the 
ESSDC 

383 357 
210  012 
107 787 
105 070 
91 160 
48 160 

MS 

DE 
FR 
ES 
IT 
PL 
SE 

Notes: MS, Member State. Employment refers to the sum of employment in NACE codes 18.1, 18.2, 58.1 and 
58.2. 

110 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Sources: Eurostat, SBS database; Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Employees  in  five  (Croatia,  Denmark,  Finland,  France  and  Sweden)  of  the seven  Member  States  in 
which  employment  in  the  graphical  sector  has  a  share  of  over  1 %  of  total  employment  are 
represented in the ESSDC by at least one trade union in the Member State (Table 51). In Estonia, there 
is no graphical sector trade union, while, in Malta, GWU, the national trade union for the sector, is not 
affiliated with UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging for its graphical sector employees. In four out of 
the five Member States, the union represented in the ESSDC is also involved in sectoral-level collective 
bargaining. In Croatia, the union is involved only in single-employer collective bargaining. Employers 
in five Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France and Sweden) are represented in the ESSDC 
by at least one  employer organisation in the Member State. Only in four of these  Member States, 
however, is there an organisation involved in sectoral collective bargaining, as, in Estonia, there is no 
collective bargaining given that there is no trade union in the sector. 

Table 51: Affiliations in the Member States where the graphical sector has a share over 1 % of total 
employment 

% of graphical 
sector 
employment in 
total 
employment 
(2022) 

At least one national 
trade union 
represented in the 
ESSDC 

At least one 
national trade 
union involved 
in collective 
bargaining that 
is represented 
in the ESSDC 

At least one 
national 
employer 
organisation 
represented in 
the ESSDC 

At least one 
national 
employer 
organisation 
involved in 
collective 
bargaining that 
is represented 
in the ESSDC 

1.40 

1.33 

1.26 

1.07 

1.06 

1.05 

1.04 

MS 

FI 

SE 

DK 

HR 

MT 

EE 

FR 

Notes: MS, Member State. Employment refers to the sum of employment in NACE codes 18.1, 18.2, 58.1 and 
58.2. 

Sources: Eurostat, SBS database; Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

3.8.  Capacity to negotiate and represent member organisations 

One of the European Commission’s criteria for EU-level social partners to be consulted, as described 
in European Commission Decision 98/500/EC, states that: 

111 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

… they shall consist of organisations, which are themselves an integral and recognised 
part of Member States’ social partner structures and have the capacity to negotiate 
agreements, and which are representative of several Member States. (62) 

Based on Article 155 of the TFEU, European sectoral social partner organisations need to prove their 
capacity  to  negotiate  on  behalf  of  their  members  and  to  enter  ‘contractual  relations,  including 
agreements’  (i.e.  the  capacity  to  commit  themselves  and  their  national  affiliates).  A  European 
organisation has the capacity to negotiate such an agreement if it has received a mandate to do so 
from its affiliates or if it can receive such a mandate in accordance with a given mandating procedure. 

Eurofound  has  applied  the  criterion  of  the  ‘capacity  to  negotiate’  to  both  the  EU-level  partner 
organisations  and,  in  the  bottom-up  approach,  the  national  organisations  in  order  to  assess  their 
relevance. Following these arguments, the standard Eurofound methodology for assessing the criteria 
of being an ‘integral part of Member State industrial relations’ and the ‘capacity to negotiate’ applies 
the ‘capacity to negotiate agreements’ to both the EU and national levels. The mandate / mandating 
procedure can be either statutory (i.e. laid down in the constitution of the organisation or annexed to 
it) or non-statutory (i.e. laid down in secondary documents, such as rules of procedure, memoranda 
of understanding and/or ad hoc decisions by the governing bodies of the organisation). Finally, in the 
absence  of  the  above  procedures,  management  and  labour  may  have  an  intrinsic  capacity  to 
negotiate as proven by their practical involvement in binding agreements, declarations, joint opinions, 
etc. 

As  mentioned  in  Section 0.2,  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging  and  Intergraf  have  cooperated 
within the ESSDC for the graphical industry since 2013. To date, the ESSDC has produced eight joint 
statements and opinions (listed in Table 1) related to the impact of the European Timber Regulation 
and other regulating documents (2015), the skills and training needs of the sector (2018), the role of 
print for the future of reading (2019), the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the graphical sector 
(2020), the Machinery Directive (2022),  the lack of neutrality of  ‘digital  by  default’ or ‘digital only’ 
approaches in European legislation (2023) and the priorities of the Packaging and Packaging Waste 
Regulation in the sector (2024). 

UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging is the European workers’ industry federation for the graphical 
sector.  Printing  and  graphical  activities  represent  a  cornerstone  of  the  UNI  Global  Union  and  its 
regional  organisation  UNI  Europa,  given  that  this  organisation  developed  through  the  merging  of 
printer,  lithographer  and  bookbinder  unions (63),  which  united  under  the  European  Graphical 
Federation (part of the International Graphical Federation) in the mid 1980s. The UNI Europa Regional 
Conference, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, plays a key role in supporting and implementing the 
decisions of its statutory bodies in order to build a social and democratic Europe. The main statutory 
body  of  the  UNI  Europa  Regional  Conference  is  the  UNI  Europa  Executive  Committee,  the  highest 
hierarchical body within the UNI Europa conferences. This committee is elected by representatives 

(62)  European  Commission  (1998),  Commission  decision  of  20 May  1998  on  the  establishment  of  sectoral 
dialogue committees promoting the dialogue between the social partners at European level, 98/500/EC, 
OJ L 225/27, 12.8.1998, p. 27. 

(63)  Namely  the  International  Printers’  Secretariat  (founded  in  1889),  the  International  Federation  of 
Lithographers  and  Kindred  Traders  (founded  in  1896)  and  the  International  Federation  of  Bookbinders 
(founded in 1907). 

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Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

from the different geographical areas at the regional conference, except for eight members appointed 
by UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging and four appointed by UNI Media, Entertainment and Arts, as 
these bodies have special prerogatives within the UNI Europa statutes as founder organisations. UNI 
Europa’s Management Committee is elected by a simple majority of the delegates. The Management 
Committee is formed of a president, vice-presidents, a regional secretary and presidents representing 
different  UNI  Europa  sectors  (including  the  Women’s  Committee,  the  Youth  Committee  and  the 
Professional  and  Managerial  Staff  Committee).  The  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging  Steering 
Committee is elected at the UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging Conference, different from the UNI 
Europa Regional Conference, every four years and meets three to four times per year. The UNI Europa 
Regional  Conference  appoints  the  Graphical  Secretariat.  The  Secretariat 
is  responsible  for 
implementing  the  decisions  and  the  sectoral  action  plan,  the  most  recent  version  of  which  was 
adopted at the end of 2023 for 2024–2028. 

Intergraf  has a similar long history, originating in Sweden in  the early 1920s. The organisation has 
developed, grown and transformed over the decades (64) and was finally renamed Intergraf in 2012. 
As stated in the 2021 version of its statutes, Intergraf is a non-profit organisation aiming to ‘collect, 
prepare and disseminate information … of general interest to the printing and digital communication 
industries’;  to  develop  and  refine  the  international  management  and  standards  of  the  graphical 
industry;  to  participate,  with  opinions  and  studies,  in  all  fields  relating  to  the  printing  and  related 
industries  ‘including  the  programmes  of  the  European  Union  and  other  international  bodies’;  to 
inform and educate its members through seminars, conferences, congresses and exhibitions in their 
sectors of activity; to represent the European members at the World Print & Communication Forum; 
to  maintain  its  international  secretariat  ‘to  represent  the  printing  and  digital  communication 
industries  before  all  international  institutions  and  associations’;  and,  finally,  to  cooperate,  when 
‘appropriate, with other professional associations and players in the industry’ (Article 4). According to 
the statutes, any national or international organisation can become a member of Intergraf (Article 5). 
The  General  Assembly,  composed  of  the  members’  delegates,  is  the  governing  body  of  the 
organisation  (Article 11).  Associate  and/or  corresponding  members  have  no  voting  rights  in  the 
General Assembly (Article 12). 

UNI Europa 
According to Article 3.1(o) of its statues from 5 October 2011, UNI Europa is endowed with a clear 
statutory mandate: UNI Europa shall seek to fulfil the objectives by, inter alia, ‘undertaking collective 
bargaining  and  negotiating  agreements  in  the  region  upon  mandate  of  the  UNI  Europa  Executive 
Committee’. Additionally, ‘UNI Europa shall seek to fulfil the objectives as identified in Article 2 by … 
undertaking collective bargaining and negotiating agreements in the region upon mandate of the UNI 
Europa  Executive  Committee.’  The  statutes  do  not  contain  more  specific  provisions  on  how  this 
mandate is given or on the process of ratification of the agreements concluded. Any social partner 
agreement that is concluded would require an endorsement by the sectoral responsible body and the 
UNI Europa Executive Committee. 

(64) 

In the 1930s, it was established as the International Bureau of the Federations of Master Printers (Berlin, 
Germany), transforming into the International Master Printers Association in the 1940s (London, United 
Kingdom) and developing into the International Confederation for Printing & Allied Industries in the 1980s 
(Brussels, Belgium). 

113 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Intergraf 
According  to  Article 11  of  its  statutes,  the  General  Assembly,  which  is  its  governing  body,  has  full 
power to carry out Intergraf’s aims listed above, but there is no specific reference to social dialogue 
or  the  mandating  capacity  to  negotiate  agreements.  The  General  Assembly  meets  once  a  year 
(Article 13) and can take decisions based on more than half of the member associations represented. 
In the case of potential binding agreements with the unions in the graphical industry, the previous 
representativeness study for the graphical sector indicated that Intergraf’s General Assembly cannot 
make such agreements without the suggestion and mandate of the organisation’s board, which would 
require  approval  and  ratification  of  the  General  Assembly,  which  fits  under  the  non-statutory 
mandating procedure (i.e. ad hoc decisions by the governing bodies of the organisation). Based on the 
available information, the non-statutory mandating procedure described above is still in place. 

3.9.  Effective participation in the graphical social dialogue committee 

To  assess  the  effective  participation  of  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and  Packaging  and  Intergraf  in  the 
graphical ESSDC, the (virtual or physical) attendance of the meetings held during 2022, 2023 and 2024 
was analysed. Each year, three meetings were held: one in February, one in May/June and a final one 
in  November/December.  It  is  noteworthy  that,  in  Table 52,  only  national  delegates  from  Member 
States have been included, even though Intergraf members from Switzerland and the United Kingdom 
also  attended  some  of  the  committee  meetings.  In  addition,  in  some  cases,  a  Member  State  was 
represented  by  several  delegates  from  the  same  member  organisation  or  from  different  member 
organisations; this is not reflected in the table. 

Table 52: Effective participation in the graphical ESSDC, 2022–2024 

2022 

2023 

2024 

7 MSs: BE, DE, ES, FI, 
FR, SE, SI 

6 MSs: BE, DE, ES, FI, 
IT, SE 

7 MSs: BE, DE, ES, FI, 
IT, PT, SE 

12 MSs: AT, CY, DK, 
HR, HU, IE, IT, LU, LV, 
NL, PL, PT 

13 MSs: AT, CY, DK, FR, 
HR, HU, IE, LU, LV, NL, 
PL, PT, SI 

12 MSs: AT, CY, DK, FR, 
HR, HU, IE, LU, LV, NL, 
PL, PT 

3 MSs: EE, ES, IT 

7 MSs: EE, FI, IT, NL, 
PT, RO, SE 

5 MSs: EE, IT, NL, PT, 
SE 

14 MSs: AT, BE, DE, 
DK, FI, FR, HU, LT, LU, 
LV, NL, PT, RO, SE 

10 MSs: AT, BE, DE, 
DK, ES, FR, HU, LT, LU, 
LV 

12 MSs: AT, BE, DE, 
DK, ES, FI, FR, HU, LT, 
LU, LV, RO 

MSs with trade unions 
participating in the graphical 
ESSDC (out of 19 MSs) 

MSs where UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging has 
an affiliate but no 
participation in the graphical 
ESSDC (out of 19 MSs) 

MSs with Intergraf members 
participating in the graphical 
ESSDC (out of 17 MSs) 

MSs where Intergraf has an 
affiliate but no participation 
in the graphical ESSDC (out of 
17 MSs) 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source:  Author’s  compilation  of  data  from  the  European  Commission’s  DG  Employment,  Social  Affairs  and 
Inclusion. 

114 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Moreover, Table 35 and Table 36 show that more than half (20 (57 %)) of the UNI Europa Graphical 
and Packaging affiliates and of the Intergraf members (11 (65 %)) confirmed they are actively involved 
in the management bodies or the working groups of the European social partners. 

The  situation  of  each  European  social  partner  in  the  graphical  sector,  regarding  their  sector-
relatedness,  their  role  in  the  Member  States’  social  partner  structures,  their  capacity  to  negotiate 
agreements  on  behalf  of  their  members  and  their  adequate  structures  to  ensure  effective 
participation in the work of the graphical ESSDC, is summarised in Table 53. 

Table 53:  Comparative  overview  of  the  social  partners  in  the  graphical  sector  based  on  European 
Commission Decision 98/500/EC criteria 

Criteria 

UNI Europa  

Intergraf 

Sector-
relatedness  

35/59 trade 
unions 

Coverage of MSs  26 % (65) of the 

total EU-27 
workforce in 19 
MSs 

17/48 employer 
organisations 

12 % (65) of the 
total EU-27 
workforce in 17 
MSs 

Capacity to 
negotiate  

Adequate 
structures 

Statutory 
mandate 

Non-statutory 
mandate 

9 MSs (out of 19) 
represented in 
the graphical 
ESSDC in 2022–
2024 

8 MSs (out of 17) 
represented in the 
graphical ESSDC in 
2022–2024 

Trade unions 
not in the 
graphical 
ESSDC 

Employer 
organisations not 
in the graphical 
ESSDC 

24/59 trade 
unions 

31/48 employer 
organisations 

Unknown % of 
the total EU-27 
workforce, 
estimated at 
35 % in 15 MSs 

Unknown % of the 
total EU-27 
workforce in 17 
MSs 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

n/a 

Note: MS, Member State; n/a, data not available. 

Sources: Author’s compilation based on UNI Europa statutes and Intergraf statutes, attendance data from the 
European Commission’s DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, and information in Chapters 2 and 3. 

(65)  Percentages calculated based on the available membership data. Given the high share of national-level 
trade unions and employer organisations that did not provide data or have provided estimations including 
other sectors, these calculations should be treated with caution. 

115 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Conclusions 

In 2022, there were around 511 000 people employed in the graphical sector in the EU-27, namely in 
printing  and  service  activities  related  to  printing  (NACE 18.1)  and  reproduction  of  recorded  media 
(NACE 18.2). This represents 0.32 % of the total employment of the 160 million people employed in 
the  EU-27.  In  the  same  year,  approximately  95 000  companies  were  active  in  NACE 18.1  and 
NACE 18.2 in the EU-27, which account for 0.30 % of all EU-27 companies. The workers in this sector 
are  organised  by  59  trade  unions  in  24  Member  States  and  the  employers  are  organised  by  48 
employer organisations in 26 Member States. There is no trade union organising graphical workers in 
Bulgaria, Estonia or Lithuania, while, in Greece, no employer organisations were identified. 

UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging  has 35 national sectoral trade unions affiliated in 19 Member 
States. The five Member States where it has no trade union affiliated, but where there are national 
sectoral trade unions, are Czechia, Greece, Malta, Romania and Slovakia, which are not among the six 
Member States with the largest workforces in the sector. In terms of sector-relatedness, UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging organises all types of workers in the sector, in all types of economic activities 
and  all  categories  of  company  size.  In  terms  of  membership  strength,  UNI  Europa  Graphical  and 
Packaging organises 60 % of all national sectoral trade unions, which represent 26 % (66) of the entire 
sectoral workforce, calculated based on available data. More than half  (60 %) of the national-level 
trade unions involved in collective bargaining for the graphical sector are affiliated with UNI Europa 
Graphical  and  Packaging.  In  each  of  the  23  Member  States  in  which  there  is  collective  bargaining 
ongoing (except Czechia, Malta, Romania and Slovakia), UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging has an 
affiliated trade union involved in collective bargaining. UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging has a fully 
formalised mandating procedure and statute-based negotiation capacity. 

In terms of future capacity building, there are 24 national sectoral trade unions not represented in the 
ESSDC. The factors preventing UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging members from 10 Member States 
from participating in the graphical ESSDC meetings during the past three years would merit further 
investigation.  The  study  identified  1  other  relevant  European  trade  union  organisation,  industriAll 
Europe, which has 14 member organisations in 10 Member States; however, only 4 of these 14 unions 
are also not represented by UNI Europa Graphical and Packaging. 

Based on the findings documented in this study, it can be concluded that UNI Europa Graphical and 
Packaging is the most representative European trade union organisation in the graphical sector. 

Intergraf has 17 affiliated employer organisations in 17 Member States. In Greece, no national sectoral 
employer organisations for the graphical sector were identified. The nine Member States where there 
are national sectoral employer organisations, but none affiliated with Intergraf, are Croatia, Cyprus, 
Czechia, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain, with Poland and Spain being among the 
six Member States recording the largest workforces in the sector. The sector-relatedness of Intergraf 
covers all types of companies in all economic activities in the sector and in all company size groups. 
The membership strength of Intergraf covers 35 % of the national sectoral employer organisations. 

(66)  These  percentages  were  calculated  based  on  the  available  membership  data.  Given  the  high  share  of 
national-level  trade  unions  that  did  not  provide  data  or  that  provided  estimations  that  included  other 
sectors, this calculation should be treated with caution. 

116 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

The 17 affiliated employer organisations organise a little over 3 000 companies, which constitutes less 
than 1 % of the total number of companies in the sector, and employ around 12 % (67) of the sectoral 
workforce  in  the  EU-27.  A  significant  proportion  (41 %)  of  the  employer  organisations  involved  in 
collective bargaining for the graphical sector are affiliated with Intergraf. Of the 23 Member States in 
which  there  is  collective  bargaining  ongoing  in  the  sector,  Intergraf  has  an  affiliate  involved  in 
collective  bargaining  in  12,  while  it  does  not  have  an  affiliate  involved  in  collective  bargaining  in 
Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Ireland, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia or Spain. In Germany and 
Hungary, Intergraf has a member organisation that assists its company members in company-level 
collective bargaining. Intergraf has a non-statutory negotiation capacity, as it can enter negotiations 
only at the suggestion and mandate of the organisation’s board and following approval and ratification 
of the General Assembly. As in the case of worker representatives, the factors preventing Intergraf 
members from nine Member States  from participating in the graphical ESSDC meetings during the 
past three years would merit further investigation. The following European organisations have some 
representativeness in the sector: FESPA, with 10 members; CITPA, with three members; and CEPI, with 
two members and EMMA with two members. 

Based  on  the  findings  documented  in  this  study,  it  can  be  concluded  that  Intergraf  is  the  most 
representative European employer organisation in the graphical sector. 

(67)  This percentage was calculated based on the available membership data. Given the high share of national-
level organisations that did not provide data or that provided estimations that included other sectors, this 
calculation should be treated with caution. 

117 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Bibliography 

All Eurofound publications are available at www.eurofound.europa.eu. 

Eurofound, ‘Representativeness study of the European social partner organisations in the  graphical 
industry’, Sectoral social dialogue series, Dublin, 2016. 

European  Commission,  ‘Social  dialogue  texts  database’,  European  Commission  website,  undated, 
accessed  May  2025,  https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies-and-activities/eu-
employment-policies/social-dialogue/social-dialogue-texts-database_en. 

Intergraf, Articles of association, 2021. 

Intergraf, ‘Short overview of European printing industry’, presentation, 2022. 

Intergraf,  European  printing  industry  key  data –  2024  Intergraf  economic  report –  Abstract,  2024, 
https://www.intergraf.eu/images/pdf/2024_Intergraf_Economic%20Report_Abstract.pdf. 

Syndex  and  UNI  Global,  Collective  bargaining  trends –  2021/2022  edition,  2022,  https://www.uni-
europa.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2022/06/UNI-E-GP-Collective-Bargaining-Report-2022.pdf. 

UNI Europa, Statutes and conference standing orders, 2011. 

118 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Annex 

Table 54: Activities considered part of the graphical sector in each Member State, 2023 

Activity (NACE code) 

T
A

)
8
6
(
E
B

G
B

Y
C

Z
C

E
D

K
D

E
E

L
E

S
E

I
F

)
9
6
(
R
F

R
H

U
H

E
I

T
I

T
L

U
L

V
L

T
M

L
N

L
P

T
P

O
R

E
S

I
S

  Number 
K
of MSs 
S

Printing of newspapers 
(18.11) 

Printing of books 
(18.12) 

Printing of magazines 
(18.11) 

Printing on packaging 
(18.12/82.92) 

Pre-press and pre-
media services 
(typesetting and 
electronic make-up) 
(18.13) 

Binding of printed 
material (bookbinding 
and binding of other 
printed products) 
(18.14) 

In Belgium, only photo printing is included in the photography segment of the graphical sector. 

(68) 
(69)  For France, no information was provided on whether the printed material publishing sector is part of the graphical sector. 

119 

26 

27 

25 

26 

25 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Activity (NACE code) 

T
A

)
8
6
(
E
B

G
B

Y
C

Z
C

E
D

K
D

E
E

L
E

S
E

I
F

)
9
6
(
R
F

R
H

U
H

E
I

T
I

T
L

U
L

V
L

T
M

L
N

L
P

T
P

O
R

E
S

I
S

  Number 
K
of MSs 
S

Other printing (18.12) 

Printing of catalogues, 
advertising and other 
commercial printing 
(18.12) 

Printing on wallpaper 
(18.12/17.24) 

Printing on other 
surfaces (plastic, textile, 
etc.) (18.12) 

Security printing (18.12) 

Labels (18.12) 

Production of stationery 
products (18.12) 

Large-format printing 
(18.12) 

Printed electronics 
(26.11) 

Reproduction of 
recorded media (18.20) 

Paper and board 
converting (paper, 
board, corrugated, etc.) 
(18.14) 

120 

24 

25 

20 

23 

23 

25 

14 

22 

16 

16 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Activity (NACE code) 

T
A

)
8
6
(
E
B

G
B

Y
C

Z
C

E
D

K
D

E
E

L
E

S
E

I
F

)
9
6
(
R
F

R
H

U
H

E
I

T
I

T
L

U
L

V
L

T
M

L
N

L
P

T
P

O
R

E
S

I
S

  Number 
K
of MSs 
S

Publishing of printed 
material (58.1) 

Online publishing 
(58.19) 

3D printing (18.12) 

Production of video 
games (58.21) 

Production of signage 
(print or digital) and 
luminous signs (25.99) 

Photography (74.20) 

Production of paper 
packaging (including 
corrugated packaging) 
(17.21) 

Production of other 
packaging (than paper 
and corrugated) (17.21) 

Number of activities 
covered in each 
Member State 

15 

11 

13 

3 

14 

10 

9 

10 

10 

20 

16 

13 

19 

20 

14 

15 

17 

21 

19 

16 

25 

12 

16 

24 

7 

21 

22 

23 

10 

17 

25 

18 

23 

13 

7 

Notes: MS, Member State. Green-shaded cells indicate that the activity forms part of the graphical sector. Blank cells  indicate the activity is not considered part of the 
graphical sector. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

121 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 55: Features of the graphical sector workforce, 2023 

MS 

Self-employed 

Blue collar / white collar 

Skill composition 

Labour shortages 

AT 
BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 

DK 

EE 
EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

Very few 
Large number 
Around 7 % 
Some 
13 % 
Few 

Around 5.6 % 

Few 
No data 

25 % 

Some 

55 % / 45 % 
No data 
No data 
Mostly blue collar 
No data 
Mostly white collar 

50 % / 50 % 

No data 
No data 

No data 

Both 

No data 
No data 
Mostly highly skilled 
No data 
87 % of employees with secondary or higher education 
Mostly skilled; 70.1 % are university graduates 

40 % vocational education, 18.2 % managerial work, 45.4 % at basic / shop-floor level 

Professional/vocational qualification is a requirement for employment in the sector 
No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

58.5 % / 41.5 % 

Majority are skilled workers 

No data 

No data 

Few 

No data 

Few 

Yes but no 
precise data 

Mostly blue collar 

Mostly blue collar 

Mostly blue collar 

Mostly blue collar in printing and white 
collar in publishing 

No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

122 

Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 

Not mentioned 

Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Professional 
training for the 
sector needs 
improving 
Not mentioned 
Relative demand 
for white-collar 
workers has 
increased 

Need for ICT 
experts increasing 

Lack of professional 
workforce 
Not mentioned 
Retraining needed 
due to 
digitalisation 
Shortage of 
qualified 
employees 

Not mentioned 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

Self-employed 

Blue collar / white collar 

Skill composition 

LV 
MT 
NL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

SE 
SI 
SK 

Very few 
Around 4 % 
56.50 % 

No data 

No data  

Significant 
number of self-
employed 

No data 
Few 
No data 

No data 
69.6 % / 30.4 % 
No data 

No data 

No data 

No data 

Both 
No data 
No data 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

Highly skilled 
61.4 % skilled manual, 22.7 % highly skilled non-manual 
No data 

Labour shortages 

Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 

Too few well-educated specialists 

Lack of trained staff 

No data 

Mix of skilled and low-skilled employees and many freelance professionals 

No data 
No data 
No data 

Not mentioned 
New skills required 
to fill in new job 
categories and 
profiles 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 
Not mentioned 

123 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 56: Features hindering the organisation of the workforce in the graphical sector, 2023 

MS  Factors 

AT  No information was provided. 

BE 

The large number of small to very small enterprises makes it relatively hard for trade unions to organise employees within the sector. As the minimum threshold of 
establishing a formal negotiating body (health and safety committee) is 50 employees who are active in an organisation, only about 8 % of employers in the sector 
reach this threshold. 

BG 

The dominance of microcompanies makes organising workers difficult. 

CY 

The decline of activity is hindering the organisation of employees. Newspaper-publishing activities are less affected because of the long-standing organisational 
tradition and two MEB agreements. 

CZ 

The sector is small, with small and medium-sized companies. In these companies, organising workers is more difficult than in large ones. 

DE  As most employees work in very small companies, unions must put in greater efforts to organise them. 

DK  No feature of the workforce has an impact on union membership, which is voluntary. 

EE 

As most companies in the sector are microcompanies, workers are less likely to want to unionise. 

EL 

The operation of many microcompanies influences the capacity of trade unions to organise the workers in the sector. Additionally, the absence of sectoral collective 
agreements  does  not  encourage  workers  to  participate  in  trade  unions.  Wages  and  working  conditions  are,  in  practice,  regulated  by  individual  contracts  and 
according to minimum wage legislation. 

ES 

As most workers are employed in small and medium-sized enterprises, it is difficult for trade unions to organise them. 

FI 

The unionisation rate of blue-collar employees is generally high. There has been some merging of white-collar job profiles with, for instance, sales and marketing, 
which also means that some professional staff (Ylempi toimihenkilö) are represented through trade unions for economists and similar. The graphical sector trade 
unions for white-collar employees are thus competing with many other sectoral trade unions, as the job profiles are multifaceted. In the white-collar segment, the 
dual collective  bargaining  agreements  make  the  recruitment  of  members  a  little  more  difficult, and  many  white-collar  employees  are  also non-affiliated. Small 
companies in the sector, in particular, have lower unionisation rates than large companies, as the unions reach employees in large companies through shop stewards. 

FR 

The trade unions point out that there is a very large number of very small companies, and it is difficult for them to organise workers in companies with fewer than 
10 employees (80 % of the total number of companies). 

124 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS  Factors 

HR 

The decrease in the number of large companies and the change in the mode of work organisation (workers are more isolated) have made it more difficult for trade 
unions to organise employees. 

HU  The high degree of fragmentation of companies makes it difficult for unions to organise the sector. 

IE 

IT 

LT 

Trade union density in Ireland remains quite low, with 28 % of all employees in the economy reporting that they are trade union members. 

No information is available. 

Employees of small companies are always more difficult to organise. According to the Association of Lithuanian Printing Industries (LISPA), companies compete for 
employees; therefore, dissatisfied employees do not join unions but choose another employer. 

LU 

There are no specificities to mention. 

LV 

The trade union indicated that companies in the sector are paying good salaries and treat employees very well (e.g. bonuses and sports activities). That is why many 
employees do not see the need to belong to a trade union. 

MT  The high share of manual workers makes organisation easier. 

NL 

There is free riding by workers, as the collective agreement has been extended. 

PL  No information is available. 

PT 

The lack of collective bargaining creates no incentive for trade union membership. 

RO 

Smaller companies are not organised. 

SE  More effort is needed by the trade unions to reach out to small companies, but it is not more difficult to organise these companies. 

SI 

SK 

Microcompanies are predominant, so the sector is very dispersed and there are some challenges in organising workers, but trade union membership in the sector 
has been stable in the last few years.  

According to information from the only trade union of workers in the graphical sector, the situation is not favourable for organising employees in unions. There is 
no tripartite collective bargaining, higher collective agreements are not negotiated and only enterprise collective agreements are negotiated. 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

125 

 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 57: Means used by trade unions to attract members in the sector in recent years, 2023 

MS  Measures 

AT  Members are attracted through campaigning activities and the conclusion of collective agreements. 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

No information was provided. 

This is not relevant, as there is no trade union in the sector in Bulgaria. 

Trade union officers visit workplaces on a weekly basis. 

There are no such activities; TB is a small trade union with no capacities to organise such activities. 

The activities organised are event related, that is, new members are recruited during collective bargaining rounds, rallies and strike activities. 

•  HK Privat has organised several campaigns in recent years. Like most other Danish unions, membership benefits are advertised, such as insurance and discounts 
through consumer organisations. Recently, leading up to collective bargaining in spring 2023, the union  undertook a membership campaign, allowing new 
members access to the strike fund of HK Privat after only one month of membership. This campaign took place both online and at workspaces through local 
union representatives handing out material in Danish, English and Swedish. 
3F organises campaigns through a variety of means (printed, online media and radio spots) to highlight the benefits of being member. 3F is the prime official 
sponsor to the national football championship the ‘Superligue’ and it offers consumer discounts with ‘Plus Card’ purchase. 

• 

EE 

This is not relevant, as there is no trade union in the sector in Estonia. 

EL 

ES 

FI 

FR 

OMTBX organises various activities and communications with members (visits, meetings and conferences). It is also involved in workers’ and social solidarity actions 
and in organising campaigns. 

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The FSC-CCOO has organised and undertaken a union organisation project, affiliation days, a telegram channel and an audiovisual campaign. 
ELA – Industria eta Eraikuntza gives personalised attention and training to delegates. In the Gipuzkoa graphics agreement in 2022, four days of strike took 
place, resulting in company agreements and significantly improving working conditions. 
Teollisuusliitto has taken no active measures in the blue-collar segment. 
PRO aims to reach staff through shop stewards. 
Fédération FO Livre attracts members through social media and by having local union offices close to the workplace. 
F3C-CFDT organises an on-site union organising day and distributes leaflets at company entrances. 
FC-CFTC delivers training. 

HR 

SGIM, the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists and the Trade Union of Education and Media, in cooperation with the Croatian Journalist Association, strengthened 
their activities for better working conditions, for the creation of public media policies and for the importance of collective agreements in the media. Furthermore, 

126 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS  Measures 

SGIM is trying to conclude, with the publishing and printing branch of the Croatian Employer Association, a sectoral collective agreement. SGIM is very active in 
supporting the work of trade union representatives and provides various programmes for their education. 

HU 

NYDSZ is involved in training, communication and member recruitment. 

IE 

IT 

LT 

LU 

LV 

MT 

NL 

PL 

PT 

No information was provided. 

No information was provided. 

This is not relevant, as there is no trade union in the sector in Lithuania. 

There are no specific actions taken by the trade unions in Luxembourg. 

LPNA cooperates with companies and with employer organisations. 

Shop stewards in companies approach new recruits and advise them about union membership. The trade union also uses social media to promote its activities in 
general. Membership is on a voluntary basis. 

No information was provided. 

No information was provided. 

• 
• 

Sindetelco organises regular visits to companies in the north and irregular visits to those in the south. 
In 2022, Sinttav distributed leaflets to workers at INCM on the 50th anniversary of the company. 

RO 

No information provided. 

•  GS organises workers in workplaces, often focusing on the most pressing matters; collective agreements are concluded when there are negotiation rounds, 

and the focus is on the working environment in other periods. 
Ledarna and Pappers conduct workplace visits and contact management staff to try to attract new members through existing members. 

• 

Pergam offers its members different solutions for the sector. 

No information provided. 

SE 

SI 

SK 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

127 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 58: Company features that hinder the organisation of companies in employer organisations, 2023 

MS 

AT 

BE 
BG 
CY 
CZ 
DE 
DK 

EE 

EL 
ES 

FI 

FR 

HR 
HU 
IE 
IT 
LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 
NL 
PL 

PT 

Factors 
There are no hindering factors. There are mandatory employer organisations organising all companies in the sector and a voluntary organisation that has around 
200 members. 
There is no indication that the sector is harder or easier than other sectors to organise. 
There are no issues. 
The decline of the industry makes organisation more difficult. There are, however, two employer organisations in the sector. 
Small and medium-sized companies are more difficult to organise for financial reasons and a lack of personnel. 
Small companies are especially hard to organise. 
The specificities of the companies in the sector do not affect the capacity of employer organisations. 
Companies  see  no  reason  to  organise,  as  membership  in  the  employer  organisation  will  not  protect  companies  from  sectoral  or  national  economic 
developments. 
A large number of microbusinesses and the absence of large and medium-sized companies hinders the organisation of employers. 
Sectoral specificities do not explain difficulties in organising employers. 
Employer organisations have not been able to follow the modernisation and widening of activities of the sector. The activities related to the graphical sector do 
not appear to be the main activities and thus companies may belong to an employer organisation of a different sector. 
As the sector is made up of many very small companies, it is not always easy to get them to join an employer organisation. However, the support provided by 
employer organisations encourages them to join, and UNIIC stresses that it has no problem with affiliating members. 
Microcompanies and small and medium-sized companies have no interest in belonging to an employer organisation or in bargaining collectively. 
The decrease in the size of companies has made it more difficult to organise them. 
The large number of small firms in the sector makes it difficult to organise and, as a result, many do not belong to an employer organisation. 
No information is available. 
It is more difficult to organise smaller companies. 
No problems as a single employer organisation exists in the sector (AMIL). 
The sector does not differ from other sectors; larger companies are usually more willing to be organised. 
Sectoral specificities do not explain difficulties in organising employers. 
Size of companies makes organisation more difficult. 
No information is available. 
The small size of companies may have a negative impact on their organisation in employer organisations, but it seems that the long-lasting standstill in collective 
bargaining is a much stronger negative factor. The employer organisation Apigraf does not seem to play a significant role in industrial relations in the sector and 
is focused on its role as a business association. 

128 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

MS 

RO 

SE 
SI 
SK 

Factors 
Small  company  size  hinders  the  organisation  of  employers  because  of  a  lack  of  resources  and  interest,  the  diversity  of  activities,  the  highly  competitive 
environment and the view that belonging to an employer organisation is a threat to companies’ competitive advantage. 
Self-employed workers in newer forms of the graphical sector work are a challenge. 
Sectoral specificities do not explain the difficulties in organising employers. 
As collective bargaining takes place only at the enterprise level there is not much interest in belonging to an employer organisation. 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023.

129 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 59: Scope of membership domains of trade unions not represented in the ESSDC, 2023 

l

s
r
e
p
a
p
s
w
e
n
f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

19 

40 

15 

s
e
n
i
z
a
g
a
m

f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

19 

40 

15 

s
k
o
o
b
f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

16 

36 

13 

i

a
d
e
m
-
e
r
p
d
n
a
s
s
e
r
p
-
e
r
P

s
e
c
i
v
r
e
s

12 

30 

10 

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

15 

38 

13 

Number of non-
represented 
trade unions 
% of  all sectoral 
trade unions (70) 
Number 
of 
Member States 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

a
i
r
e
t
a
m
d
e
t
n
i
r
p
f
o
g
n
d
n
B

i

i

15 

37 

12 

l

a
i
c
r
e
m
m
o
c

f
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p

14 

37 

11 

r
e
p
a
p

l
l

a
w
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

8 

33 

8 

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
r
e
h
t
O

14 

35 

11 

s
e
c
a
f
r
u
s

r
e
h
t
o
n
o
g
n
i
t
n
i
r
P

11 

33 

10 

y
r
e
n
o
i
t
a
t
s

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

s
t
c
u
d
o
r
p

8 

28 

7 

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
t
a
m
r
o
f
-
e
g
r
a
L

10 

30 

10 

d
e
d
r
o
c
e
r

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
R

i

a
d
e
m

6 

24 

7 

d
r
a
o
b
d
n
a
r
e
p
a
P

g
n
i
t
r
e
v
n
o
c

13 

38 

10 

l

s
c
i
n
o
r
t
c
e
e
d
e
t
n
i
r
P

8 

29 

8 

g
n
i
t
n
i
r
p
y
t
i
r
u
c
e
S

10 

31 

9 

s
l
e
b
a
L

10 

30 

10 

(70)  Share calculated using the number of trade unions reporting members in the sector as listed in Table 18. 

130 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 60: Trade union coverage by workforce categories and company size groups of non-represented sectoral trade unions, 2023 

Company size 

Geographical coverage 

Type of workers 
organised 

Other sectors in which trade unions also have members 

l
l

a
m

s
d
n
a
e
g
r
a

l
y
l
l

a
u
q
E

e
t
a
t
S
r
e
b
m
e
M
e
r
i
t
n
E

e
g
r
a
L

l
l

a
m
S

e
r
u
t
c
u
r
t
s
b
u
s

l

a
n
o
i
g
e
R

r
a

l
l

o
c
e
t
i
h
W

t
n
e
m
e
g
a
n
a
M

r
a

l
l

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c
e
u
B

l

l

d
e
y
o
p
m
e
-
f
l
e
S

r
e
p
a
P

l

a
u
s
i
v
o
d
u
A

i

5 

1 

9 

23 

10 

20 

20 

12 

4 

11 

8 

r
e
i
r
u
o
c
d
n
a

l

a
t
s
o
P

7 

n
g
i
s
e
d
c
i
h
p
a
r
G

g
n
i
s
i
t
r
e
v
d
a

9 

s
r
e
h
p
a
r
g
o
t
o
h
P

5 

e
g
a
n
g
i
s

f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

s
n
g
i
s

s
u
o
n
m
u

i

l

d
n
a

5 

n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
p
e
m
a
g
o
e
d
V

i

3 

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p
f
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n
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d
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r
P

)
d
e
t
a
g
u
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r
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c
g
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d
u
l
c
n
i
(

i

r
e
h
t
o
f
o
n
o
i
t
c
u
d
o
r
P

g
n
i
g
a
k
c
a
p

11 

8 

e
c
r
e
m
m
o
C

5 

s
c
i
t
s
i
g
o
L

7 

t
r
o
p
s
n
a
r
T

7 

50 

33 

35 

44 

40 

41 

46 

44 

40 

38 

32 

26 

32 

37 

32 

33 

29 

29 

20 

37 

35 

11 

11 

11 

1 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

5 

Number 
of  trade 
unions 
%  of  all 
trade 
unions 
Number 
of 
Member 
States 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

131 

 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 61: Scope of membership domains of sectoral employer organisations not affiliated with Intergraf, 2023 

s
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a
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i
r
e
t
a
m

d
e
t
n
i
r
p
f
o
g
n
d
n
B

i

i

Number of non-
represented 
employer 
organisations 

Total number of 
employer 
organisations 
(independent of 
affiliation) 

% of the non-
represented 
employer 
organisations among 
all employer 
organisations in the 
sector 

Number of non-
represented 
employer 
organisations not 
active in the sector 

18 

17 

18 

16 

18 

16 

18 

16 

6 

10 

10 

12 

8 

11 

5 

3 

9 

32 

32 

33 

31 

33 

32 

30 

30 

17 

23 

23 

24 

18 

25 

10 

7 

19 

56 

53 

55 

52 

55 

50 

60 

53 

35 

44 

44 

50 

44 

44 

50 

43 

47 

11 

12 

11 

13 

11 

11 

9 

13 

23 

19 

19 

17 

19 

16 

24 

24 

18 

132 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

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S

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L

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O

l

a
i
r
e
t
a
m

d
e
t
n
i
r
p
f
o
g
n
d
n
B

i

i

Number of non-
represented 
employer 
organisations for 
which no 
information on 
activity in the sector 
is available 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

4 

4 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

4 

4 

2 

4 

4 

Note: No data on the sector coverage of the Irish Printing Federation. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

133 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 62: List of national trade unions identified as representing workers in the graphical sector 

Trade union acronym 

Name in original language 

Name in English 

GPA 

Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten 

Union of Private Sector Employees 

ACV-CSC BIE 

ACV-CSC Bouw, Industrie en Energie 

ACV-CSC Construction, Industry and Energy 

ABVV-FGTB BBTK-SETCa 

ABVV-FGTB FGTB Bond voor Bedienden, Technici en Kaderleden 

ACLVB-CGSLB 

ACV-CSC Puls 

ACV-CSC CNE 

ΣΕΒΕΤΤΥΚ 

OBIEK-SEK 

ΤΒ 

Ver.di 

HK Privat 

3F 

OMTBX 

FSC-CCOO 

ABVV-FGTB  Federation  for  White-collar  Workers,  Technicians 
and Professional and Managerial Staff 
General Federation of Liberal Trade Unions in Belgium 

Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden in België 

ACV-CSC Puls 

ACV-CSC Puls 

ACV-CSC Centrale Nationale des Employés 

ACV-CSC National Federation of Employees 

Συντεχνία  Εργατοϋπαλλήλων  Βιομηχανίας,  Εμπορίου,  Τύπου – 
Τυπογραφείων και Γενικών Υπηρεσιών Κύπρου 
Ομοσπονδία Βιομηχανικών Εργαζομένων 

Cyprus  Industry,  Commerce  and  Press-printing  Houses  and 
General Services Trade Union 
Federation of Industrial Workers 

Typografická  Beseda –  odborový  svaz  zaměstnanců  polygrafické 
výroby v Čechách, na Moravě a v Slezku 
Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft 

Typographical  Association –  Trade  union  of  Employees  of 
Printing Production in the Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia 
United Services Union 

Handels- og Kontorfunktionærernes Forbund Privat 

Fagligt Fælles Forbund 

Union  of  Commercial  and  Clerical  Employees  in  Denmark – 
Private 
United Federation of Danish Workers 

Ομοσπονδία Μισθωτών Τύπου και Βιομηχανίας Χάρτου 

Federation of Press and Paper Industry Employees 

Federación de Servicios a la Ciudadanía de Comisiones 

Federation of Services to the Citizenship of Workers 

CCOO-Industria 

Federación de Industria de Comisiones Obreras 

Federation of Industry of Workers 

UGT-SP 

UGT-FICA 

UGT-FeSMC 

Industria 

ELA – 
Eraikuntza 
FI-USO 

eta 

la  Unión  General  de 

Federación  de  Servicios  Públicos  de 
Trabajadores 
Federación de Industria, Construcción y Agro de la Unión General 
de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores 
Federación  de  Servicios,  Movilidad  y  Consumo  de  la  Unión 
General de Trabajadores 
Eusko Langileen Alkartasuna – Industria eta Eraikuntza 

Federation of Public Services of the General Union of Workers 

Federation  of  Industry,  Construction  and  Agriculture  of  the 
General Union of Workers 
Federation of Services, Mobility and Consumption of the General 
Union of Workers 
Basque Workers’ Solidarity – Industry and Construction 

Federación de Industria de la Unión Sindical Obrera 

Federation of Industry of Workers’ Commissions 

134 

MS 

AT 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

BE 

CY 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

DK 

EL 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

LAB 

Langile Abertzaleen Latzordeak 

Nationalist Workers’ Committees 

Τeollisuusliitto 

Τeollisuusliitto 

Ammattiliitto PRO 

Suomen Journalistiliitto 

Industrial Union 

Trade Union PRO 

Union of Journalists in Finland 

ES 

FI 

FI 

FI 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

FR 

HR 

HU 

IE 

IE 

IT 

IT 

IT 

LU 

LU 

LV 

LV 

MT 

NL 

NL 

PRO 

SJL 

Filpac CGT 

Fédération FO Livre 

F3C-CFDT 

FC-CFTC 

IP-CFE-CGC 

SGIM 

NYDSZ 

SIPTU 

Unite 

SLC-CGIL 

Fistel-CISL 

Uilcom-UIL 

LCGB-Services 

imprimerie, 

OGB-L – 
médias, culture, FLTL 
LKDAF 

LPNA 

GWU 

Fédération des travailleurs des industries du livre, du papier et de 
la communication – Confédération Générale du Travail 
Fédération du livre Force ouvrière 

Federation  of  Workers  in  the  Book,  Paper  and  Communication 
Industries – CGT 
Book Federation – Force Ouvrière 

Fédération communication, conseil, culture CFDT 

Communication, Consultancy, Culture Federation CFDT 

Fédération de la Communication CFTC 

Communication Federation of the CFTC 

national 

Syndicat 
polygraphiques 
Sindikat grafičara i medija 

du 

personnel 

CFE-CGC 

Industries 

CFE-CGC National Union of Polygraphic Industry Staff 

Trade Union of Graphic and Media Workers 

Nyomdaipari Dolgozók Szakszervezete 

Trade Union of Printing Workers 

Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union 

Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union 

Unite the Union 

Unite the Union 

Sindacato Lavoratori Comunicazione in Confederazione Generale 
Italiana del Lavoro 
Federazione 
Telecomunicazione 
Lavoratori 
Unione Italiana Lavoratori della Comunicazione 

e 
Sindacati 

in  Confederazione 

Informazione 

Spettacolo 

Sindacale 

Italiana 

Communication  Workers  Union  in  General  Confederation  of 
Italian Workers 
Federation  of  Trade  Unions  Information  Entertainment  and 
Telecommunication in Italian Confederation of Workers’ Union 

Italian Labour Union of Communication 

Lëtzebuerger Chrëschtleche Gewerkschaftsbond 

Luxembourg Confederation of Christian Trade Unions 

imprimerie, 

OGB-L 
Luxembourgeoise des Travailleurs du Livre 
Latvijas Kultūras darbinieku arodbiedrība 

médias, 

culture – 

Fédération 

OGB-L printing, media and culture – Luxembourg Federation of 
Book Workers 
Trade Union of Culture Sector 

Latvijas poligrāfijas nozares arodbiedrība 

Latvian Graphical Industry Trade Union 

General Workers’ Union 

General Workers’ Union 

FNV Media en Cultuur 

Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging Media en Cultuur 

Federation of Dutch Trade Unions – Media and Culture 

De Unie 

De Unie 

The Union 

135 

 
 
 
NL 

PL 

PT 

PT 

PT 

PT 

RO 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SE 

SI 

SI 

SK 

CNV 

ZPP 

Fiequimetal 

Sindetelco 

Sinttav 

SIMA 

USTR 

GS 

Unionen 

Ledarna 

Pappers 

SI 

SEKO 

SGDS 

Pergam 

SOZPP 

Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond 

Związek Zawodowy Poligrafów 

Christian National Trade Union 

Polygraphers Trade Union 

Federação  Intersindical  das  Indústrias  Metalúrgica,  Química, 
Farmacêutica, Eléctrica, Energia e Minas 

Sindicato  Democrático  dos  Trabalhadores  dos  Correios, 
Telecomunicações, Media e Serviços 
Sindicato  Nacional  dos  Trabalhadores  das  Telecomunicações  e 
Audiovisual 
Sindicato das Indústrias Metalúrgicas e Afins 

Interunion  Federation  of  Metal,  Chemical,  Electric,  Electrical, 
Pharmaceutical, Pulp, Paper, Printing, Press, Energy and Mining 
Industries 
Democratic  Union  of  Postal,  Telecommunications,  Media  and 
Services Workers 
National  Trade  Union  of  Telecommunications  and  Audiovisual 
Workers 
Union of Metallurgical and Allied Industries 

Uniunea Sindicatelor Tipografilor din România 

Union of Typographers’ Unions in Romania 

Facket för skogs-, trä- och grafisk bransch 

The Swedish Union of Forestry, Wood and Graphical Workers 

Unionen 

Ledarna 

Unionen 

The Leaders 

Svenska Pappersindustriarbetareförbundet 

Swedish Paper Workers’ Union 

Sveriges Ingenjörer 

Service och kommunikationsfacket 

Sindikat grafične dejavnosti Slovenije 

Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers 

The Swedish Service and Communications Union 

Τrade Union of Graphical Activity of Slovenia 

Konfederacija sindikatov Slovenije Pergam 

Trade Union Confederation Pergam 

Slovenský odborový zväz polygrafie 

Slovak Trade Union of Employees in the Graphical Sector 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

136 

 
 
 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 63: List of national employer organisations representing the companies in the graphical sector 

MS 

Employer organisation 
acronym 

Name in original language 

Name in English 

VZÖ 

Propak 

BIK 

VDMT 

FVD 

Febelgra 

BNM 

UPIB  

CMPA 

SPP 

bvdm 

Grakom 

DMA 

ETPL 

Feigraf 

AFCO 

AME 

ADEGI 

FGEE 

AT 

AT 

AT 

AT 

ΑΤ 

BE 

BE 

BG 

CY 

CZ 

DE 

DK 

DK 

EE 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

ES 

FI 

FI 

FR 

FR 

Verein Österreichischer Zeitungen 

Association of Austrian Newspapers 

Fachverband der Papierverarbeitenden Industrie Österreichs 

Association of the Paper-processing Industry in Austria 

Bundesinnung Kunsthandwerke 

Verein Druck und Medientechnik 

Fachverband Druck 

Federal Guild of Artisan Crafts 

Association of Printing and Media Technology Enterprises 

Austrian Printing Association 

Federatie van de Belgische Grafische Industrie 

Federation of the Belgian Graphical Sector 

Belgian News Media 

Belgian News Media 

Съюз на печатарската индустрия в България 

Printing Industry Union of Bulgaria 

Παγκύπριος Σύνδεσμος Εργοδοτών Τυπογράφων 

Cyprus Master Printers Association 

Svaz polygrafických podnikatelů 

Bundesverband Druck und Medien 

Grafisk Kommunikation & Medier 

Danske Medier Arbejdsgiver 

Eesti Trüki- ja Pakenditööstuse Liit 

Union of Printing Industry Businessmen and Entrepreneurs 

Federal Association of Printing and Media 

Danish Association for Graphic Communication and Media 

Danish Newspapers and Media Employers 

Estonian Printing and Packaging Industry Association 

Federación Empresarial de Industrias Gráficas de España 

Business Federation of Graphic Industries of Spain 

Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Cartón Ondulado 

Spanish Association of Corrugated Cardboard Manufacturers 

Asociación Metalgráfica Española 

Asociación de Empresas de Gipuzkoa 

Federación Gremio de Editores de España 

Spanish Metallographic Association 

Association of Companies of Gipuzkoa 

Federation Guild of Editors of Spain 

Finnish Media Federation 

Medialiitto 

Medialiitto 

GT 

GMI 

UNIIC 

Graafinen teollisuus 

Federation of the Printing Industry in Finland 

Groupement des Métiers de l’Imprimerie 

Association of the Printing Trade 

Union des Industries des Cartons et des Imprimés 

Union of Cardboard and Printing Industries  

HR 

HUP – UGN 

Hravtska udruga poslodavaca – Udruga grafičara i nakladnika  

Croatian  Employer  Association –  Publishing  and  Printing 
Association Hrvatska 

137 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

HU 

Fedprint 

Nyomda- és Papíripari Szövetség 

Federation of Printing and Paper Industry 

Irish Printing Federation 

Irish Printing Federation 

Irish Printing Federation 

Assografici 

AIE 

ANES 

LISPA 

AMIL 

Associazione Nazionale Italiana Industrie Grafiche Cartotecniche 
Trasformatrici 
Associazione Italiana Editori 

Associazione Nazionale Editoria di Settore 

Lietuvos spaustuvininkų asociacija 

Italian Printing and Paper Converting Industries Association 

Italian Publishers Association 

National Publishing Association 

Association of Lithuanian Printing Industries 

L’Association  des  Maîtres  Imprimeurs  du  Grand-Duché  de 
Luxembourg  
Latvijas Poligrāfijas uzņēmumu asociācija 

Association  of  Master  Printers  of  the  Grand  Duchy  of 
Luxembourg 
Association of Latvian Printing Companies 

LV 

LPUA 

MT  MEA 

MT 

SME Chamber 

SME Chamber 

Malta Employer Association 

Malta Employer Association 

SME Chamber 

KVGO 

Vereniging Repro 
Nederland 
Flekso 

PIO 

PASDP 

Het Koninklijk Verbond van Grafische Ondernemingen 

Royal Association of Graphic Enterprises  

Branchevereniging van Reprografische Ondernemingen 

Employer Organisation of Reprographic Businesses 

Polska Izba Fleksograficzna  

Polska Izba Opakowań 

Polish Chamber of Flexographers 

Polish Packaging Chamber 

Polskie Stowarzyszenie Sitodruku i Druku Cyfrowego 

Polish Association of Screen and Digital Printing 

Polish Chamber of Printing 

Polish Chamber of Printing 

Polish 
Association 
Apigraf 

Papermakers 

Polish Papermakers Association 

Portuguesa 
Associação 
Transformadoras do Papel 
Asociația Tipografilor din Transilvania 

das 

Indústrias 

Polish Chamber of Printing 

Polish Papermakers Association 

Gráficas 

e 

Portuguese Association of Printing and Paper Industries 

IE 

IT 

IT 

IT 

LT 

LU 

NL 

NL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PL 

PT 

RO 

ATT 

SE 

SE 

SI 

GF 

Almega 

GZS-MZ 

Grafiska Företagen 

Almega – Medieföretagen 

Gospodarska zbornica Slovenije – Medijska zbornica 

SI 

ZDS 

Združenje delodajalcev Slovenije – Sekcija za les in papir 

138 

Transylvania Printers Association 

Swedish Graphic Industries Federation 

Almega – Media Industries Employer Association 

Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Industry  of  Slovenia –  Chamber  of 
Media Providers 
Association of Employers of Slovenia – Wood Section 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

SK 

ZPnS.sk 

Zväz polygrafie na Slovensku 

Printing Industry Association of the Slovak Republic 

Note: MS, Member State. 

Source: Network of Eurofound Correspondents, 2023. 

139 

 
 
 
Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Graphical sector 

Table 64: Correspondents who contributed to this study 

Member 
State 
AT 
BE 

BG 

CY 
CZ 

DE 

DK 

EE 

EL 

ES 
FI 
FR 

HR 

HU 
IE 

IT 

LT 
LU 
LV 
MT 

NL 

PL 
PT 

RO 

SE 
SI 

SK 

Correspondent 

Organisation 

Georg Adam 
Dries Van Herreweghe 

Gabriela Yordanova 

Alexandros Perdikes 
Soňa Veverková 
Sandra Vogel 

Thilo Janssen 

Carsten Jørgensen 
David Lausen 
Ingel Kadarik 
Miriam Lehari 

Penny Georgiadou 

Pablo Sanz de Miguel 
Vera Lindström 
Frédéric Turlan 
Predrag Bejaković 
Irena Klemenčić 
Szilvia Borbély 
Rosanna Angel 
Alessandro Smilari 
Silvio Bologna 
Inga Blaziene 
Franz Clément 
Krišs Karnītis 
Vincent Marmara 
Martin Clarke 
Thomas de Winter 
Dominika Polkowska 
Reinhard Naumann 
Victoria Stoiciu 
Nicoleta Voicu 
Nils Brandsma 
Barbara Lužar 
Daniela Kešelová 
Miroslava Kordošová 
Zuzana Turkovič 

Working Life Research Centre 
HIVA – Research Institute for Work and Society, KU Leuven 
Institute  of  Philosophy  and  Sociology,  Bulgarian  Academy  of 
Sciences 
Cyprus Labour Institute – Pancyprian Federation of Labour 
Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs 
German Economic Institute 
Institute  of  Economic  and  Social  Research,  Hans  Böckler 
Foundation 
Employment  Relations  Research  Centre  (FAOS),  University  of 
Copenhagen 

Praxis Centre for Policy Studies 

Institute of Labour of the Greek General Confederation of Labour 
(INE GSEE) 
University of Zaragoza 
Oxford Research AB 
IR Share 
Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, University of Split 
Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb 
Kopint-Tárki Institute for Economic Research 
IRN Publishing 

Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini 

Lithuanian Social Research Centre 
Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research 
EPC Ltd 
University of Malta 

Panteia BV 

Ecorys Poland 
Centre for Studies for Social Intervention (CESIS) 

Centre for Public Innovation 

Oxford Research AB 
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana 

Institute for Labour and Family Research 

140 

 
 
 
 
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EF/24/005

 
 
This study provides information allowing for an 
assessment of the representativeness of the actors 
involved in the European sectoral social dialogue 
committee for the graphical industry. Their relative 
representativeness legitimises their right to be 
consulted and their capacity to negotiate 
agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on 
representativeness is to identify the relevant 
national and European social partner organisations 
in the sector. This study identifies UNI Europa 
Graphical and Packaging – representing trade 
unions – and the European Federation for Print and 
Digital Communication (Intergraf) – representing 
employers – as the most representative        
European-level social partner organisations in the 
graphical industry.  

The European Foundation for the Improvement of 
Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) is a 
tripartite European Union Agency established in 
1975. Its role is to provide knowledge in the area 
of social, employment and work-related policies 
according to Regulation (EU) 2019/127.

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ISBN 978-92-897-2504-0 
doi:10.2806/3783220