It is again being argued that the low labour costs and social standards in countries on the periphery of the EC - Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain - jeopardise employment in the northern EC countries and the social safety net they have constructed. A common social policy harmonising...

On January 1, 1981 the southward extension of the EC starts with the accession of Greece. Spain and Portugal are to follow suit in the near future. The consequences in the industrial sphere will be less spectacular than those in agriculture but still of considerable importance for the process of...