"This article analyses recent developments in the Italian industrial relations system resulting from the joint pressures exerted by the EU institutions and an Italian multinational, both advocating deregulation of the legal framework, with a move towards company-level regulation, and opt-out clauses in national collective agreements. It is argued that such pressures appear to be effective in shifting the balance of power between the players, overcoming resistance to a deregulatory and decentralizing approach. However, the demands of just one company, albeit a leading employer, cannot shape the legal system as a whole, but rather give rise to a multi-faceted model."

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