Transnational collective bargaining: Another (problematic) fragment of the European multi-level industrial relations system

This article introduces the principal issues relating to the development of transnational collective bargaining. In particular, it summarizes the background and content of the juridical study undertaken for the European Commission, the so-called Ales Report, which suggested the mechanisms for an optional legal framework for transnational company agreements. We highlight four crucial questions: first, how to define, at transnational (company) level, the competent and legitimate workers' representatives; second, how transnational company agreements can be effectively implemented; third, what systems and/or rules are suitable for the resolution of transnational labour disputes; and fourth, how transnational company bargaining can relate to other elements of the multi-level European industrial relations system. These same questions are addressed by other articles in this special issue, and we compare the answers they give with those provided by the Ales report. The lack of any legal form of internal regulation or external coordination seems to be the main feature of the upsurge in transnational company bargaining. This is likely to increase the already high degree of complexity inherent in the European industrial relations system: its multi-level governance model is characterized by task-specific jurisdictions, many jurisdictional levels and a flexible design.