ABSTRACT
Martin Seeliger points at the utility of actors’ familiarity with procedures, agenda and policy formulation in international organisations, and provides evidence on how western actors possess more of social skills than their eastern counterparts. Seeliger rightly points to the funding structure of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) trade unions, which, for instance in Poland and Hungary, allocate a smaller proportion of members’ contributions to the national level. The application of the concept of ‘social skills’ is one of the most original points in Seeliger’s analysis. It appears that such skills allow European trade union organisations to overcome, in some cases, the well-known deficiency of their association power. The frustration of trade unionists from CEE towards the western-dominated European union structures is becoming increasingly apparent. The economic gap between East and West means that while both sides talk of solidarity–which may be seen as an achievement compared to other possible rhetorical repertoires–the meanings are rather different.
