Re-regulating the Single Market: national varieties of capitalism and their responses to Europeanization

Abstract:

The article combines insights from the literature on comparative political economy with recent advances in the literature on the effects of Europeanisation on member states. Empirically, it analyses the national re-regulation of wages for workers posted transnationally in the framework of the European Union's Liberalisation of Service Provision. It is argued that the organisational power of trade unions and employers' associations and their preferences critically shape the respective national response strategies in Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands. Different 'models' of politico-economic governance therefore generate divergent responses to the common impetus of EU-induced economic liberalisation based on the domestic configuration of relevant interest associations. Statist and strongly neo-corporatist systems produce swift and protectionist responses, while intermediate neo-corporatist systems generate liberal re-regulations, highlighting the challenges and institutional problems of unions within these systems, particularly in Germany.