European Community Labour Market Harmonisation

In assessing whether or not harmonisation is an appropriate policy goal for a social dimension to the European Community, the article compares different aspects of employment conditions, practices and legislation in member states to see the extent to which these converge or diverge. The thesis is that harmonisation for the most part depends on whether convergence already exists in specific aspects of the member states’ labour markets. If there is considerable divergence, then it will be practically impossible to obtain harmonisation without highly disruptive and far-reaching policy changes by some member states, changes which may not necessarily yield them beneficial results.