ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a comprehensive overview of the various ways the field of employment relations is influenced by the European Union (EU) and the European integration process. It examines EU market, institutional and macro-economic influences in an effort to understand their nature and magnitude. The chapter presents the various ways in which market integration can influence the management of the employment relationship in the EU. It explores the strength of EU institutional influences and assesses the degree to which they have affected organizational-level people management policies. In other words, creating the EU internal market triggers continuous and far-reaching corporate restructuring, which in turn has an impact on the manner in which people are, managed in particular member states. Alongside the release of more intense market competition, European integration has also increased labour mobility across the member states. The EU social dimension was discussed in terms of how it could strengthen or at least complement national employment relations and welfare systems.
