s. The first includes countries where alternative dispute resolution is rare: Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. In the second group, appeal to such conflict resolution is more frequent, or even preferred: Austria, Cyprus, Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Norway, Malta, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the UK. Eurofound claims that it didn’t receive the data it needed to take stock of the situation in France.
There are many reasons why countries choose, or not, these alternatives. The study shows that, in Poland for instance, conciliation or mediation procedures have been initiated but there is a reluctance to use them. Polish unions think that, out of the approximately 180,000 cases brought to court, only about a dozen was settled this way, mostly through conciliation.