Economic citizenship in the European Union. Employment relations in the new Europe

Economic citizenship in the European Union: employment relations in the new Europe

The shift from national to supranational regulation has an obvious logic for those policy problems that are clearly transnational in nature. The EU acts in many ways as a regulatory state, but increased Euro-regulation also brings problems of being perceived as overbearing. In addition, the costs and benefits of increasing regulation are often seen as unevenly distributed, with, for many, too much emphasis on competition and business interests and too little on the interests of working people.

The argument developed in this book is that the traditional European model of economic citizenship, which attempts to mesh social justice with market competition, is under severe strain and needs reforming. Employment relations form the central focus of the volume, as they have been subject to the most severe stress, as the result of economic forces and changes in productive systems. The book is divided into three parts. Part one looks at economic citizenship in transition, focusing on the changing situation of employment relations, labour market performance and the influence of lean production. Part two looks at new visions of economic citizenship, discussing the effect of the Europe of the regions on the future of national systems of industrial relations, and looking at labour market policies in Europe. The third part focuses on economic citizenship and the EU, discussing EU social policy, and the effect of monetary union on Social Europe. A final chapter, remaking economic citizenship in Europe, encourages employers, trade unions and governments to look at shared solutions to labour market problems, aiming to marry economic efficiency with social justice.