"Industrial relations transformation in the framework of European Union standards: the case of BulgariaThis article reviews the impact of European Union long-term strategies on industrial relations standards at both international and national levels – the latter with a particular focus on Bulgaria. Such strategies have the aim of enabling the European economy better to compete on the international stage, but they also present direct challenges to the labour market and to the industrial relations institutions at a time when these are already under severe pressure as a result of the global financial and economic crisis. The author discusses several issues which are problematic in the extension of EU-wide strategies to Bulgaria, particularly as regards their impact on the labour market, with the latter also undergoing transformation in the process of recovery and adaptation to European-style structures and approaches. The article concludes that there needs to be better integration between European and national level systems if long-term strategies are to have a chance, but that resistance and fear may act as an effective block on the potential success of trans-nationalisation. "

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