Building regional structures: ETUC and the European Industry Federations

Abstract

This article reviews the evolution of co-operation within the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the role of the European Industry Federations (EIFs) in this regard, drawing particular attention to the political-institutional prerequisites of transnational trade unionism. The progress of European trade union co-operation can hardly be accounted for without looking at the process of European integration which, despite its ambiguous impact, has spurred the development of regional structures of trade unionism and industrial relations. While the lack of viable political interlocutors at the international level has severely impeded the growth of global trade unionism, the European experience indicates that the regional level might become an important building block between the national and global levels of trade union co-operation and political governance of the world economy.