European economic and monetary union creates a new environment for pay determination. The Single Market will boost competition in many sectors, and the integration of European capital will transform patterns of labour relations and pay fixing. Written by a distinguished group of authors from across the Community, this important new book deals with the key issues of pay and employment, wage differentiation within the Community, firms’ location decisions, centralised pay bargaining and lower inflation, new payment systems to boost productivity, and pay and unemployment in Southern Europe.

The conclusion accepts the likely benefits of the Single Market, but argues for pay policies to help labour markets adapt. This means greater co-ordination of economic policies and measures to prevent an increase of inequality that could threaten the Community's cohesion. It stresses the need for nationally differentiated policies that enable all member countries to succeed within the Single Market.