17 Industrial Relations in Europe: a
Multi-level System in the Making?
Keith Sisson1 Introduction 433
2 Industrial relations at EU levels: a glass half full as well as half empty? 435
3 National industrial relations systems: a case of ‘renationalization’
and‘Europeanization’? 444
4 Conclusion: prospects for the future 449
5 Discussion questions 453
6 Further reading 453
References 453
1 INTRODUCTION
The development of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe has
led to considerable reflection about the prospects for the ‘Europeanization’ of
industrial relations. Although few present-day commentators refer to him, the
grounds for thinking that EMU might create inexorable pressures for an equi-
valent European industrial relations system stem from the proposition estab-
lished by Commons (1909) almost a century ago. Essentially, this sees
industrial relations systems following developments in the market. Especially
important in the European Union (EU) context is not so much the labour
market, where there continue to be considerable practical obstacles to mobility,