European Union Trade Research Articles

European Works Councils as Risk Communities: The Case of General Motors

■ The European works council (EWC) at General Motors is widely regarded as an outstanding example of cross-border trade union cooperation. This article reconstructs its development as a European trade union `risk community', which since the mid-1990s has faced unprecedented challenges to workers' interests as a result of intra-European competition for investment and GM's strategy of corporate globalization. To a limited extent, the EWC offered a European solution to local and national problems, but cross-border cooperation has remained fragile and issue-specific, and has implied a Eurocentric notion of trade union internationalism.

L'europe a-t-elle fait perdre l'esprit au syndicalisme ?

Having strong international convintions from its origins, Unionism does not play in the construction of UE the same rol played at national level in its history. It was a central actor in the emergence of welfare state, but it is not so preminent in the same direction in UE. More than that, the european construction means also some kind of internal transformation inside the european unionism. If we go back in history, Unions were accepted as true partnairs in the institurional architecture of social concertation, in almost every country. But now things are changed. Of course, European Unionism is recognized as an interlocutor in social questions inside the European Institutions. But this “social interlocutor” is almost deprived of its claim capacity and its authonomy. In some sense, Unions have to “de-unionize” in order to to be accepted in the construction of UE.

El sindicalismo español en perspectiva europea: de la anomalía a la convergencia

In the context of European unionism, the Spanish case has been traditionally considered as quite singular, both because of its late legalisation and for its structural weakness. Nevertheless, in the latest years, it has developed an important process of renewal of its organisation and strategies, which has lead to a sustained growth of its memberships and representativeness at the extent of approaching the average level among European countries in some key variables, as shown by recent surveys and compared studies. Upon the basis of recent empirical information, the paper examines the key factors that explain unionism in Spain and Europe, with special attention to membership and representativeness. In examining other comparative data of time and national contexts, we conclude suggesting the existence of a process of convergence between the Spanish case and the European evolution

Workers and the Demand for Trade Unions in Europe: Still a Relevant Social Force?

In many European countries since the 1980s there has been a considerable decline in union density. Using the European Social Survey, this article examines whether declining union density reflects declining worker demand for the protective and enabling functions traditionally provided by union membership. Results indicate that a substantial majority of respondents believe that employees need the protection of strong unions. Irrespective of the respondent's occupational level, the extent of job autonomy, gender, age or political orientation, positive attitudes towards unions are consistently in the majority. The results show not only the persistence of a strong belief in the necessity for trade unions but a strengthening of this conviction among employees since the early 1980s.

A reluctant stakeholder? On the perception of corporate social responsibility among European trade unions

Seen from a national business system perspective, the notion of corporate social responsibility (CSR) emerges as a specifically US‐American response to challenges regarding the corporate place in society. With the spread of American capitalism, however, CSR is bound to come into contact – and conflict – with other approaches to the role of business in society that have been shaped by different national cultures. Within Europe, one such area of potential conflict concerns the role of organised labour in representing employee interests. Studying the perceptions held by European trade unions on stakeholding, as one of the important concepts in the CSR discourse, does indeed reveal a considerable degree of union scepticism of CSR and its terminology. There is, however, also embryonic evidence of at least some unions attempting to link the CSR discourse to traditional union goals. Furthermore, national differences in union responses to CSR are beginning to emerge, which may, in turn, further shape the evolution of national business systems in Europe.

Towards strategies for making offshore outsourcing economically and socially sustainable

This paper looks at the role trade unions and employee representatives can play in workplaces where offshoring and outsourcing projects are introduced. Starting with an overview of the literature on the employment impacts of offshore outsourcing, it highlights a strong contrast between the generally optimistic macro-economic studies focusing on the net effects, and the realities of offshore projects revealed through case studies, in which failure and mismanagement are common. It describes a situation in which increasing numbers of European trade unions, acknowledging that offshore outsourcing is ‘here to stay’, have reacted to this situation by developing a more pro-active approach to the introduction of outsourcing and offshoring which seeks to avoid the negative impacts on employees of failed or badly managed offshore outsourcing projects. Finally, the paper discusses the MOOS (Making Offshore Outsourcing Sustainable) project which exemplified this approach, aiming at contributing to a better informed and more effective role for employee representatives, to enable them to assess and influence the offshore outsourcing practices of their employers.

The Role of the European Works Council During Reorganizations: Lessons of the AgirE Project (Le Rôle Du Comité D'Entreprise Européen Au Cours Des Restructurations: Les Leçons Du Projet AgirE)

The European Works Council is a transnational actor which represents the workers in European firms. The paper identifies the difficulties and obstacles which limits the powers of EWC (legitimacy in question, content of constitutive agreement, link with national bodies, transnational coordination with European trade union). But the EWC has also capabilities to improve the workers' action inside the reorganization process: action with European trade union, judiciary action, transmission of pertinent information through the group, action with European authorities. The EWC is also a place for mobilizing workers in the European group. It facilitates transnational collective bargaining (International framework agreement). The EWC has a capacity to be a restructurings' central actor.

Future outlook for the Irish dairy industry: a study of international competitiveness, influence of international trade reform and requirement for change

European Union (EU) trade liberalisation policies will continue to push EU milk price downwards and necessitate increased efficiency and scale at farm and processing level to maintain profitability. In Ireland pasture‐based dairying, based on the efficient conversion of grazed grass into milk can be competitive within the EU. Continued technical innovation increasing animal performance from grazed grass, increasing herd genetic potential and developing labour efficient lower fixed cost systems will be essential. At processing level, increased efficiency in commodity processing, higher margin product development and the evolution of milk payment systems to reflect the true product value of supplies received will be required.

Environmental policy in the European Union: Fostering the development of pollution havens?

A pollution haven occurs when dirty industries from developed nations relocate to developing nations in order to avoid strict environmental standards or developed nations imports of dirty industries expand replacing domestic production. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the European Union (EU) has increased its imports of “dirty” goods from poorer, less democratic countries during a period of more stringent environmental standards. Previous empirical studies such as those by Levinson and Taylor [Levinson, A., and Taylor, M.S., in press. Unmasking the Pollution Haven Effect. International Economic Review.], Ederington, Levinson and Minier [Ederington, J., Levinson, A., and Minier, J., 2005. Footloose and Pollution-Free. Review of Economics and Statistics., 87: 92–99.], Kahn and Yoshino (2004), and Ederington and Minier [Ederington, J., and Minier. J., 2003. Is Environmental Policy a Secondary Trade Barrier? An Empirical Analysis. Canadian Journal of Economics., 36: 137–54.] find evidence that United States imports are responsive to changes in environmental stringency, but the effects of EU policy have not been examined as thoroughly. Our study follows Kahn [Kahn, M.E., 2003. The Geography of Us Pollution Intensive Trade: Evidence from 1958 to 1994. Regional Science and Urban Economics., 33: 383–400.] and examines the impact of industry energy intensity and toxicity, measured by an energy index and a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) index, on imports into the EU, at the 2-digit industry level from 1970 to 1999. We use the signing of the Maastricht Treaty to signify a period of more uniform and stringent community wide environmental standards (1993–1999), and identify the level of per capita GDP within an EU trading partner. We find an increased amount of EU energy intensive trade with poorer countries during the period with more stringent EU environmental standards. This result is not robust, however, when poorer countries are defined by OECD membership and geographic region. We do not find an increased amount of EU toxic intensive trade with poorer countries although there is some evidence of increased EU imports of toxic goods from poorer OECD and non-EU European countries. For our full sample of trading partners in all regions, the evidence supports the PHH for EU energy intensive trade, but not for toxic intensive trade. Results for regional trade analysis are less clear.

European trade unionism in transition?

European trade unionism in transition?

Overstretching solidarity? Trade unions' national perspectives on the European economic and social model

The development of a European economic and social model poses serious challenges for European trade unions. On the one hand, demand for a strengthening of the social dimension of the European integration project is growing and it is realised that this cannot be achieved by unilateral action at the national level. On the other hand, the identities and organisational capacities of trade unions are deeply embedded in national welfare state institutions, limiting the leeway for a common European social model. This article presents empirical evidence from over 100 interviews with trade union leaders and politicians from 17 EU Member States on trade unions' positions in various policy fields (economic, social and competition policies). The conclusion is that unions should reflect more critically on their embeddedness in national welfare state arrangements in order to move forward together towards the realisation of a Social Europe.

Liberalisation and privatisation of public services and strategic options for European trade unions

This article argues that liberalisation and privatisation of public services in Europe have had a significant impact on employment and working conditions. Our basic hypothesis is that companies affected by growing competitive pressures increase efforts to reduce labour costs. The consequences are, on the one hand, the reduction of public sector employment and, on the other, a transformation of the traditional public sector labour relations regime (LRR). While employees were previously treated as a relatively homogenous workforce, liberalisation and privatisation have fuelled divisions, fragmentation and individualisation. In some sectors and countries this has led not only to a substantial deterioration of employment and working conditions but also to the emergence of a two-tier workforce. From this perspective liberalisation and privatisation represent a considerable threat to workers and therefore the trade unions, which have at their disposal a number of strategies to respond to the new challenges, including fighting privatisation, demanding strong sector-wide regulations and campaigning to strengthen the public sector.

Foreign workers and trade unions: the challenges posed

Trade unions have always found it difficult to get to grips with the subject of immigration. From their beginnings in the 19th century they assumed that working conditions were determined by labour supply and demand and became apprehensive in the face of any situation of surplus supply. The history of trade unionism abounds with conflicts between local workers and those from further afield. At the present time the European trade unions operate upon the assumption that immigrants are full members of the workforce, whose interests have to be defended alongside those of other workers. Even so, it remains the case that immigration prompts considerable misgivings within the trade unions and that situations of rejection continue to arise. The article identifies differences between southern Europe and central and northern Europe in trade unions' attitudes to new immigrants, differences that are reflected in the debates taking place on European legislation concerning labour immigration.

The Southern African Famine and Genetically Modified Food Aid: The Ramifications for the United States and European Union's Trade War

The 2002 southern African famine marked a new phase in the long-standing trade war between the United States and the European Union over genetically modified organisms. This work will explore how the delivery of genetically modified food aid to the region concretized the ontological disparities between the two trading blocs. In addition, I argue that genetically modified crops necessitate not only new development policy, but new ways of theorizing development itself in the light of globalized systems of food production.

Plying the Trade Freely: Prostitution and European Union Trade Agreements in the Case of Aldona Malgorzata Jany and Others

The international debate over sex trafficking has been mired in the debate over prostitution itself. The European Court of Justice’s recent Jany decision represents a laissez faire reading of European Union trade agreements. However, by employing a model of Governance Feminism, one may explore the realist consequences of the case for sex workers. Application of the model enables one to examine these shifts in sex workers’ bargaining power without deciding whether prostitution is simply work or inherent oppression. The author concludes that such an examination may lead to possibilities for prostitutes to ply both international borders and their trade freely.

Co-option or resistance? Trade unions and neoliberal restructuring in Europe

The purpose of this article is to engage critically with recent scholarship that accuses European trade unions of having been co-opted into neoliberal restructuring within the EU. The article first demonstrates, through a focus on British and German unions, that even if they have accepted economic and monetary union as such, trade unions still reject its underlying neoliberal rationale and demand changes to its operation. Then an analysis at the European level shows how trade unions have potential strategies at their disposal that allow them to counter restructuring, with specific reference to the European Metalworkers' Federation and the European Federation of Public Service Unions.

Competitive performance analysis and European Union trade: The case of the prepared swine meat sector

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to analyse the competitive performance of EU countries for the prepared swine meat sector over the 1990–2003 period. This sector was chosen for the role traditional products play in most EU countries. To assess competitiveness, and to compare the trends over the last 15 years, the analysis evaluates several trade indices: Revealed Comparative Advantage, the Vollrath indices, Net Export Index, and Grubel-Lloyd index. The data source was the Eurostat database, considering intra-EU export and import data referred to 17 sub-sectors with eight digit codes. Moreover, cluster analysis was applied to highlight groups of countries with similar features. Good competitive performance in the prepared swine meat sector is observed in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Austria, all of which were found to be specialized and export oriented in the sector. Germany and France show positive competitive performance, but a high level of intra-industry trade and low specialization is also revealed....

The international dimension of democratization: testing the parsimonious approach

This article examines the importance of the international context on regime change. It provides evidence that geographic proximity to the European Union (EU) does not result in the spread of democracy. In contrast, communication and cooperation between EU actors and sub-national regions contributes significantly to the development of democracy in these regions. Considering the role of EU projects, investments and trade in regime transition—measured through indicators of civil society, political openness, freedom of speech and economic liberalization—this article demonstrates that international context may have a positive influence on the diffusion of democracy at a regional, sub-national level. This finding has substantial implications for the literature on international relations and globalization studies. It suggests that the emergence of ‘new’ regions through communication and cooperation takes place through two seemingly contradictory but mutually reinforcing processes: regionalization (territorial disintegration/federalization) and integration (through communication and cooperation).

Prevalence of key developments in trade of agro-food producers in the new member states of the European Union

Abstract The ten new member states (NMS-10) of the European Union (EU) have contributed to an enhancement in the agro-food trade among the EU-25 members. Intra-industry trade (IIT) represents only a minor part of NMS-10 trade in agro-food products. Their trade in agro-food products is specialized to different countries in terms of economic distance, factor endowments and/or degree of competitiveness of their agro-food sectors. The borderless EU markets are likely to influence the increase of IIT with implications for the EU trade policy, since more than one-third of agro-food trade in the EU-25 members is represented by NMS-10.

Trade unions and racism in London, Brussels and Paris public transport

ABSTRACTThis article considers how trade unions respond to systemic racism at work. Based on case studies in the UK, Belgium and France, it identifies a gap between the national‐level anti‐racist policies of several European trade unions and local‐level union workplace practices: direct racism is often denied and indirect racism rarely challenged. It describes and analyses this gap arguing that unions must more consciously champion anti‐racism and recommends a leadership role for workplace representatives.