Inside the trade union family: The ‘two worlds’ within the European Trade Union Confederation

The enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 2007 to the post-communist states of Central and Eastern Europe brought an encounter between two distinct ‘trade union worlds’ in terms of attitudes towards European integration. Unions from the old EU Member States want to defend their existing national standards, while those from Central and Eastern Europe have nothing to defend and look for solutions at EU level. I ask whether it is possible for the European Trade Union Confederation to realize a trade union vision of ‘Social Europe’ based solely on the perspectives of the West