Erne, Roland --- "European Trade-Union Strategies: Between Technocratic Efficiency and Democratic Legitimacy" [2006] ELECD 139; in Smismans, Stijn (ed), "Civil Society and Legitimate European Governance" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Civil Society and Legitimate European Governance

Editor(s): Smismans, Stijn

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843769460

Section: Chapter 10

Section Title: European Trade-Union Strategies: Between Technocratic Efficiency and Democratic Legitimacy

Author(s): Erne, Roland

Number of pages: 22

Extract:

10. European trade-union strategies:
between technocratic efficiency and
democratic legitimacy
Roland Erne

INTRODUCTION

The democratic nature of the EU, or the lack of it, has never been so important
(Schmitter 2000; Erne et al. 1995). It is generally acknowledged that the
existing governance structures and mechanism of the EU `are not able to
provide democratic legitimation for the EU polity as a whole' (Héritier 1999:
208; European Commission 2003a: 38). Indeed, a democratic polis needs as
well as constitutional bodies, a tight network of intermediate institutions and
social organisations such as the unions, other civil society associations and the
media (Lepsius 1993). These offer more possibilities for citizens' participation
in the political system and thus an increase in its legitimacy. Hence, the
making and performance of European civil society organisations is linked to
the constitution of a democratic EU polity.
This chapter analyses one potential agent of Euro-democratisation, namely
organised labour. Although unions have often played an important role in
national democratisation processes, this does not necessarily promise a similar
role for them at the EU level. Authoritarian regimes typically prohibit free
trade-union activity and consequently impel unions to take part in
democratisation movements, but the current institutional setting of the EU
provides alternative options for organised labour, namely Euro-
democratisation, Euro-technocracy and (re-)nationalisation.
I will assess the tensions between these options in a comparison of the
different strategies of trade unions in two transnational company merger
cases.1 While the unions and European ...