Europeanization of social partnership in EU-acceding countries

Abstract

With the advancement of the eastern enlargement of the EU, some advocates of the European social model saw enlargement as the "Trojan horse" against Europeanization, for the Americanization of Europe. In response, the EU recommended the strengthening of social partnership among business, labor and the state in candidate countries. This paper reveals four major venues for change: (1) emphasis on a new philosophy of social dialogue as social governance; (2) broadening the scope of participants in social dialogue; (3) development of autonomous and multi-level social dialogue among the organizations of employees and employers; and (4) capacity building for participation of the social partners in EU-level social dialogue.