Europeanization versus Social De-europeanization: The Fate of the Bulgarian and Romanian Peripheral Economies

This article aims to analyze the influence and the practices of “Europe” applied to
the system of industrial relations in Bulgaria and Romania. An analytical grid is used
to understand the different levers and obstacles in the process of Europeanization.
This grid is developed and applied to the specific trajectories of Bulgaria and
Romania, with particular attention paid to the period beginning with the crisis of
2007. In this respect, the article questions the dynamics of Europeanization and the
pressures on the industrial relations systems in Bulgaria and Romania. The article
includes: 1- an analytical section summarizing the different levers and dimensions
of European Union influence and their use along with a note on the methodology
(the analytical work on Bulgaria and Romania is based on 30 recent interviews
conducted in both countries); 2- a section discussing the dynamics and limits of the
Europeanization of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC) found in
the literature; 3- an analysis of the trajectories specific to Bulgaria and Romania
since the first decade of transition, with particular attention paid to the period
after the 2007 crisis; and finally, 4- a conclusion which confirms a certain continuity,
if not complementarity, between the dynamism of social Europeanization brought
about by the “neo-liberal” conversion of the EU (Hermann, 2007) and the signs of
an increasingly apparent de-Europeanization.

Keywords: European Union (EU), trade unions, Europeanization, tripartism,
industrial relations, Bulgaria, Romania.