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A number of commentators have noted the weakness and/or liberal nature of labor institutions in the new EU member states of eastern Europe. This paper examines some additional evidence of that weakness, as well as the correspondence of labor policy with other policy areas, specifically pensions and tax policy. It then explores possible mechanisms through which the liberal nature of these policies might influence the previously existing member states of western Europe. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Now that the European Union has expanded to include ten new member states, the transformation of industrial relations in postcommunist eastern Europe has become increasingly important, not least for the future of the European "social model." Following the varieties of capitalism literature, which divides advanced capitalist economies into coordinated and liberal market models, we examine labor relations in eastern Europe to determine which of the types they most approximate. We then find that, despite the rigidities of the communist era, nine of the ten postcommunist (new and prospective) member states are much closer to the liberal than the coordinated types, and that they are also far from the European social model. Again following the varieties of capitalism approach, we find that the likelihood that the eastern European countries will converge or harmonize toward existing European labor and social standards to be unlikely. Rather, it seems more likely that the liberal approach of the new member states will push the European social model towards further liberalization. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]