ABSTRACT
The process of integration is not only rooted in the existence of functional parallelisms but also in a historical process of convergence between Western European societies over the course of the twentieth century, and especially in the period since 1945. In turn, this has influenced political integration. Whereas as up until the late-1970s, there was a continuing theoretical and political debate which sought to develop broad countervailing political and trade union strategies to corporate internationalisation, such debates virtually petered out in the 1980s. Supply-side economics, which saw the globalisation of national economies as an expression of a high degree of competitiveness, achieved increasing dominance. The Directive was not intended to establish a functioning and autonomous system of employee representation. Rather, it created a framework in which company-based productivity coalitions could be established. The new impulse lent to European integration since the mid-1980s has also created comparable opportunities for the trade unions.
