Europe’s industrial relations in a global perspective

From a global perspective, the European Union is a forerunner in combining a market- building agenda with a social agenda which includes emerging European industrial relations. In other global regions this process has barely begun and the EU is sometimes seen as a model for the development of a regional social dialogue. While industrial relations arrangements in EU Member States continue to differ in traditions and practices, a limited convergence between them can be observed and is partly related to the EU as a regulatory space. The emergence of EU-level industrial relations is evidenced by a growing number of mutually reinforcing institutions, policies and processes at EU level and focusing on the social dimension of the market.