20 years after. Changing perspectives on industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe two decades after EU enlargement: from transition to transformation

Abstract

This article looks at the evolution of industrial relations in Central and Eastern Europe after the so-called ‘eastern enlargement’ between 2004 and 2013. The main claim is that 20 years after EU accession the ‘European dream’ (embodied in the European Social Model) has not been fulfilled in the area of industrial relations. Furthermore, the main frame of reference (thus the goal to be reached) has become increasingly distorted over the years. The article investigates the dynamics of industrial relations in the ‘new’ Member States of Central and Eastern Europe in order to show that what had been expected to become a transition – that is, a move from one defined point to another – eventually turned into a transformation without convergence on a clear model and characterised by widespread weakness and fragmentation of industrial relations.