oa Convergentie en kwaliteit van arbeidsverhoudingen in Europa

Convergence and quality of industrial relations in Europe

Quality of industrial relations is increasingly recognised as a key issue at European level. This contribution intends to explore the whats and whys: what is meant by quality and why is it high on the European agenda? It is argued that it has to do with an instrumental view on quality in the first place: in how far industrial relations can contribute to the realisation of the Lisbon objectives? In the second place a certain notion of Europeanisation of industrial relation is considered to be important, a notion that mainly refers to the Rhineland or (neo-)corporatist model of industrial relations. Taking into account the effects of internationalisation and globalisation the question is raised whether or not this model will be sustainable.