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With the advancement of the eastern enlargement of the EU in the early 2000s, some experts and advocates of the European social model began labeling enlargement as the “Trojan horse” against Europeanization, for the Americanization of Europe. According to them the idea of the European social model would be seriously challenged after enlargement because the candidate countries from the formerly communist region had developed more liberal regimes in the course of their post-communist transformation, and were practicing a rather different brand of social partnership. Based on such concerns, the EU decided to include special requirements and recommendations for the strengthening of the forms of negotiations among the social partners in candidate countries. This paper reveals four major venues for change of the existing tripartite institutions in accession countries: (1) emphasis on a new philosophy of social dialogue as social governance rather than a more narrow “social peace” and interest intermediation mechanism; (2) broadening the scope of participants in social dialogue, development of social dialogue beyond the existing tripartite structures, as a broader civic engagement; (3) development of autonomous and multi-level social dialogue among the organizations of employees and employers, without the participation of the state, and especially in regard to the lower sectoral and regional levels; and (4) development of the capacity of the social partners to participate in social dialogue at the European level. The concluding section of the paper critically evaluates the development of social dialogue in the new EU member states, and addresses the issue about the extent to which their “revised” structures of social dialogue are able to contribute towards the sustainability of the European social model in an era of increased neo-liberal pressures. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores institutional change in the business-government relationship in the EU-acceding countries from the postcommunist region. It addresses the question: In what way and to what extent does the EU exercise its influence on this relationship? ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]