ABSTRACT
The location of trade unions within nation states implies that any weakening of democratic government autonomy potentially reduces the strength of national labour. Initiatives range from a common police force, rapid response EU army, common foreign policy and other moves towards ultimate political union, alongside possibly the most extensive project attempted to date, namely the creation of European and Monetary Union (EMU) between selected member states. The European Trades Union Congress (ETUC) had, furthermore, secured a commitment from the EU Commission to place greater emphasis upon employment matters, cumulating in the Luxembourg jobs summit in November 1997, thereby diffusing concerns that EMU might accentuate Europe's existing unemployment problem. Analysing the rationality of this support must therefore question whether the construction of a European Social Model (ESM) throughout Euroland is realistic, and more fundamentally whether this would be consistent with the demands made upon member states by EMU itself.
