The European Trade Union Federations within the European polity: ETUFs and international trade union activity

Abstract

This article examines the European Trade Union Federations’ (ETUFs) role within the European polity in representing the interests of their affiliates vis-à-vis decision-makers at European level. In order to influence processes at European level, however, ETUFs need to aggregate and coordinate the often heterogeneous interests of their affiliates. This dual focus of the ETUFs’ activities is captured in the article by using the concept of the ‘logic of membership’ and ‘logic of influence’ to investigate how changes in their internal and external environment have affected the ETUFs’ capacity to act within the institutional structures and decision-making processes that constitute the European polity. A key finding of the article is that the European Commission’s renewed focus on strengthening the social dimension in principle opens up new opportunities for ETUFs to increase their influence at European level. The analysis, however, also shows that this is only possible if the ETUFs manage to mobilise the support of their affiliates for joint European strategies. This in turn requires national trade unions to overcome their tendency to retreat to the national level to cope with transnational challenges.