ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the key issues surrounding the EC social policy debate. It outlines the development of EC social policy, particularly with regard to EC labour law and a social dialogue at Community level. The portrayal of EC social policy as being more or less detached from the institutional tiers of national industrial relations systems is substantiated by the Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey on European Human Resource Management. Nevertheless, the clear message from this table is that most companies do not regard the Community as a strategic site for industrial relations or human resource management activity. Perhaps the inconsistency can be explained by the gap that sometimes exists between the political opposition of some United Kingdom companies to EC social policy and the minimal impact many of the existing or proposed policies would be likely to have on their organisation.
