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.