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The article assesses the symbiotic integration approach to European Union social policy. Creating an institutional structure that allows a symbiotic dynamic to govern labour market interventions is one possible way of characterizing the link between subsidiary and social policy. The association between a regional dynamic working in favor of a stronger European Union center and a national dynamic emphasizing the maintenance of sovereignty is a unique characteristic of European integration. The symbiotic integration project is the organization of the regional and national influences in the integration process to complement each other.

The article examines some of the key issues surrounding the European Union (EU) social policy. It offers a historical background on the development of the EU social policy. It provides an overview of the contents of the Social Protocol to the Maastricht Treaty and assesses its potential implications. It also analyzes whether the creation of monetary union could develop an economic back door for the implementation of the integrative federalist model of labor market organization in the European region.

The article assesses the various scenarios that have developed for the future of labor market policy in side the European Union (EU). The idea of a minimalist social policy was regarded as problematic as it would develop a mismatch between European Union level policies and initiatives at the national level, while the maximalist option was seen as too far reaching and potentially too disruptive. On the other hand, the symbiotic model was regarded as falling foul to some of the institutional shortcomings of the EU.

The article focuses on the implications of the establishment of the European Monetary Union for the content of the European Union policy. It is concluded that monetary union may have a highly disruptive, even damaging effect on the European labor market. Monetary union may intensify existing labor market distortions inside the European Union, such as high unemployment and widening income inequalities. It could also promote the Americanization of labor market across the European Union member states.

The article discusses the minimalist vision of the European social policy. The government of Great Britain and European employers have argued for a minimalist European Union (EU) social policy for the last ten years. It is argued that EU labor market interventions should be confined to a limited range of issues, including training, policies for the long-term unemployed, equal opportunity measures and health and safety standards. The minimalist perspective argues that the EU should focus on developing frameworks and guidelines which would then improved further by different industrial relations actors at the national arena.

The article argues that a strong institutional push towards an integrative federalist European Union (EU) social policy from either governments, trade unions or the corporate sector is unlikely to happen because the behavior and policy visions of most labor market actors continues to be locked into the national arena. It is concluded that there will be no radical re-ordering of labor market governance structures in the EU. It is also stated that monetary union has a corset effect on national economic management and policy, and it is improbable that labor market affairs would avoid the squeeze.

The article reports on MCB University Press Ltd.'s 1995 Awards for Excellence presented in a ceremony held on December 5, 1995 in London, England. Paul Teague of University of Ulster at Jordanstown has been the recipient of the journal's 1995 Outstanding Paper Award for Excellence. John Berridge, editor of Employee Relations, has been awarded with the distinction of "Leading Editor." The MCB University Press has published over 120 journals and works with an even greater number of editors and has exacting standards both in terms of quality of papers published.