The purpose of this article is to engage critically with recent scholarship that accuses European trade unions of having been co-opted into neoliberal restructuring within the EU. The article first demonstrates, through a focus on British and German unions, that even if they have accepted economic and monetary union as such, trade unions still reject its underlying neoliberal rationale and demand changes to its operation. Then an analysis at the European level shows how trade unions have potential strategies at their disposal that allow them to counter restructuring, with specific reference to the European Metalworkers' Federation and the European Federation of Public Service Unions.
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