Market Expansion and Social Dumping in Europe

The term 'social dumping' regularly appears in public debates and in policymaking circles. However, due to its ambiguity it is used in a manner that is convenient for individual discourse participants, thus opening the door for misconceptions and ill-grounded accusations. This book systematically examines social dumping in the context of the European integration process. It defines social dumping as the practice, undertaken by self-interested market participants, of undermining or evading existing social regulations with the aim of gaining a competitive advantage. It also shows how the two major EU integration projects the creation of the Internal Market, and EU enlargement to the east and to the south have provided market actors with new incentives and opportunities to contest existing social 'constraints'. The empirical chapters examine social dumping practices accompanying labour migration, employee posting and cross-border investment distribution. In addition, they outline the process of formation of social standards and trace initiatives at EU and national levels that contribute to the spread of social dumping in Europe. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of employment relations, EU studies, international political economy, globalisation studies, welfare studies, social policy and migration studies.

Magdalena Bernaciak is Researcher at the European Trade Union Institute, Brussels.

Introduction: Social dumping and the EU integration process Magdalena Bernaciak Part I Intra-EU labour and service mobility: Threat to labour standards? 1. Large-scale migration in an open labour market: The Irish experience with post-2004 labour mobility and the regulation of employment standards Torben Krings, Alicja Bobek, Elaine Moriarty, Justyna Salamonska and James Wickham 2. Breaking the law? Varieties of social dumping in a pan-European labour market Lisa Berntsen and Nathan Lillie 3. The politics of migrant irregularity: Social dumping in the French construction industry Marcus Kahmann 4. Varying perceptions of social dumping in similar countries Jens Arnholtz and Line Eldring 5. Socioeconomic cleavages between workers from new member states and host-country labour forces in the EU during the Great Recession Martin Guzi and Martin Kahanec Part II Social dumping pressures in manufacturing sectors 6. Marketization and social dumping. Management whipsawing in Europe's automotive industry Ian Greer and Marco Hauptmeier 7. Social dumping with no divide. Evidence from multinational companies in Europe Vera Trappmann 8. Coordinated interest representation along the automotive value chain as a response to social dumping practices Volker Telljohann Part III The deregulation agenda at the EU and national levels 9. EU economic freedoms and social dumping Jan Cremers 10. Have your competitiveness and eat it too. The pull and limits of cost competition in Hungary and Slovakia Vera scepanovic 11. Tracing the competitiveness discourse in Spain: Social dumping in disguise? Mònica Clua-Losada Conclusion Magdalena Bernaciak