"This article looks at how modernization in industrial relations is premised on a renewal and renovation of the social partnership and social dialogue agenda at the European Union (EU) level. It illustrates the attempts that have been made by the supranational state to set up a new regime of regulation in the EU. It consists of support initiatives that are aimed at deepening the ability of social and economic actors within EU policy networks and communities to develop learning capacity at the supranational level. Hence, the article argues that industrial relations modernization at the supranational level in the EU needs to be understood in terms of these various collaborative and networking practices. They are sustained by new forms of direct state support at the supranational level."

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