EUI Working Papers
MAX WEBER PROGRAMME EUI Working Papers MWP 2011/04 MAX WEBER PROGRAMME GERMAN AND BRITISH TRADE UNIONS: PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES AFTER ENLARGEMENT Rebecca Zahn EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE, FLORENCE MAX WEBER PROGRAMME German and British Trade Unions: Problems and Opportunities after Enlargement REBECCA ZAHN EUI Working Paper MWP 2011/04 This text may be downloaded for personal research purposes only. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copy or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the working paper or other series, the year, and the publisher. ISSN 1830-7728 © 2011 Rebecca Zahn Printed in Italy European University Institute Badia Fiesolana I – 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI) Italy www.eui.eu cadmus.eui.eu Abstract This paper examines and compares German and British trade union responses in a European context following the recent European enlargements in 2004 and 2007, enlargements that are unprecedented in the history of the European Union. In particular, the paper undertakes a contextualized comparison of trade union behaviour in responding to the changing regulatory and opportunity structures which present themselves following the enlargements. Account is taken of the role that trade unions adopt within their national legal systems as well as of the effects of the European Union’s policy of Europeanisation on national trade unions. Keywords Trade unions, German Labour Law, British Labour Law, European Enlargement, Europeanisation. Introduction In recent years, trade unions in Germany and the UK have been struggling to react to changing regulatory and opportunity structures occurring within their national legal systems.
[Show full text]