Industrial relations and the regulation of employment in Europe

Employment has been at the core of numerous bipartite and tripartite bargai ning processes across Europe since the early 1990s. This focus on employmen t has caused changes in bargaining processes and in the content of collecti ve agreements. This article examines the impact of the adoption of employme nt as a priority in collective bargaining in the Member States of the Europ ean Union. It argues that, in the context of the European integration, indu strial relations play an increasing role in the regulation of employment is sues, but that collective bargaining on these issues is more and more shape d by external political and economic constraints.