IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v61y2023i4p917-934.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Negative Integration Is What States Make of It? Tackling Labour Exploitation in the German Meat Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Blauberger
  • Susanne K. Schmidt

Abstract

In this article, we trace Germany's recent reform (and its precursors) seeking to remedy precarious working conditions in the meat sector. Focusing on an extreme case of labour exploitation, and asking how unique it is, allows us to uncover which institutional features of EU Member States condition the liberalization effects of negative integration. We thereby contribute to the literature on Europeanization, which has mainly emphasized weak industrial relations to account for the German meat industry's reliance on cheap migrant labour. Complicated enforcement structures, demanding requirements of administrative cooperation, and the complexities of an evolving case law, we argue, further contributed to the precarious conditions of migrant workers in Germany. Major COVID outbreaks in slaughterhouses created the political momentum for reform which specifically addresses this administrative side of labour protection, but remains limited to the meat sector – despite similar patterns of labour exploitation elsewhere.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Blauberger & Susanne K. Schmidt, 2023. "Negative Integration Is What States Make of It? Tackling Labour Exploitation in the German Meat Sector," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 917-934, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:61:y:2023:i:4:p:917-934
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13431
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13431
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13431?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kuhlmann, Johanna & Vogeler, Colette S., 2021. "United against precarious working conditions? Explaining the role of trade unions in improving migrants’ working conditions in the British and German meat-processing industries," Journal of Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(3), pages 515-531, September.
    2. Knill, Christoph & Lehmkuhl, Dirk, 1999. "How Europe Matters. Different Mechanisms of Europeanization," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 3, June.
    3. Bosch, Gerhard & Hüttenhoff, Frederic & Weinkopf, Claudia, 2020. "Corona-Hotspot Fleischindustrie: Das Scheitern der Selbstverpflichtung," IAQ-Report 2020-07, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Work, Skills and Training (IAQ).
    4. Scharpf, Fritz Wilhelm, 2009. "Legitimacy in the multilevel European polity," MPIfG Working Paper 09/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Bettina Wagner & Anke Hassel, 2016. "Posting, subcontracting and low-wage employment in the German meat industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 22(2), pages 163-178, May.
    6. Treib, Oliver, . "Implementing and complying with EU governance outputs," Living Reviews in European Governance (LREG), Institute for European integration research (EIF).
    7. Gerring, John, 2004. "What Is a Case Study and What Is It Good for?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 98(2), pages 341-354, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moritz Weiss & Michael Blauberger, 2016. "Judicialized Law-Making and Opportunistic Enforcement: Explaining the EU's Challenge of National Defence Offsets," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 444-462, March.
    2. Jessica Weber, 2023. "Coordination Challenges in Wind Energy Development: Lessons from Cross-Case Positive Planning Approaches to Avoid Multi-Level Governance ‘Free-Riding’," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-25, October.
    3. Stijn van Voorst & Ellen Mastenbroek, 2017. "Enforcement tool or strategic instrument? The initiation of ex-post legislative evaluations by the European Commission," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(4), pages 640-657, December.
    4. Schmidt, Susanne K., 2002. "Die Folgen der europäischen Integration für die Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Wandel durch Verflechtung," MPIfG Discussion Paper 02/4, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    5. Andersson Fredrik O. & Ford Michael, 2017. "Entry Barriers and Nonprofit Founding Rates: An Examination of the Milwaukee Voucher School Population," Nonprofit Policy Forum, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 71-90, January.
    6. Sophie Jacquot & Cornelia Woll, 2003. "Usage of European Integration - Europeanisation from a Sociological Perspective," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01019642, HAL.
    7. Askim, Jostein & Claes, Dag Harald, 2011. "Part Hare, Part Tortoise - Explaining patterns in Norwegian public utilities reforms 1990-2010," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 87-94, June.
    8. Gustav Lidén, 2013. "What about theory? The consequences on a widened perspective of social theory," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 213-225, January.
    9. Wertheim-Heck, Sigrid C.O. & Vellema, Sietze & Spaargaren, Gert, 2015. "Food safety and urban food markets in Vietnam: The need for flexible and customized retail modernization policies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 95-106.
    10. Ines Wagner, 2015. "EU posted work and transnational action in the German meat industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 21(2), pages 201-213, May.
    11. Brigitte Pircher & Karl Loxbo, 2020. "Compliance with EU Law in Times of Disintegration: Exploring Changes in Transposition and Enforcement in the EU Member States between 1997 and 2016," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 1270-1287, September.
    12. Diesenreiter, Carina & Österle, August, 2021. "Patients as EU citizens? The implementation and corporatist stakeholders’ perceptions of the EU cross-border health care directive in Austria," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(11), pages 1498-1505.
    13. Seikel, Daniel, 2011. "Wie die Europäische Kommission Liberalisierung durchsetzt: Der Konflikt um das öffentlich-rechtliche Bankenwesen in Deutschland," MPIfG Discussion Paper 11/16, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    14. Petia Kostadinova, 2015. "Improving the Transparency and Accountability of EU Institutions: The Impact of the Office of the European Ombudsman," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 1077-1093, September.
    15. Shuchih Ernest Chang & Hueimin Louis Luo & YiChian Chen, 2019. "Blockchain-Enabled Trade Finance Innovation: A Potential Paradigm Shift on Using Letter of Credit," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    16. Daniel Béland & Michael Howlett & Philip Rocco & Alex Waddan, 2020. "Designing policy resilience: lessons from the Affordable Care Act," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 53(2), pages 269-289, June.
    17. Niedziałkowski, Krzysztof & Shkaruba, Anton, 2018. "Governance and legitimacy of the Forest Stewardship Council certification in the national contexts – A comparative study of Belarus and Poland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 180-188.
    18. Kotapati Srinivasa Reddy, 2015. "Beating the Odds! Build theory from emerging markets phenomenon and the emergence of case study research—A “Test-Tube” typology," Cogent Business & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 1037225-103, December.
    19. Demircioglu, Mehmet Akif & Vivona, Roberto, 2021. "Depoliticizing the European immigration debate: How to employ public sector innovation to integrate migrants," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(2).
    20. Rosina K Foli & Frank L K Ohemeng, 2022. "“Provide our basic needs or we go out”: the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, inequality, and social policy in Ghana [Easing of lockdown a relief to Ghana’s poor—despite fears it is premature]," Policy and Society, Darryl S. Jarvis and M. Ramesh, vol. 41(2), pages 217-230.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:61:y:2023:i:4:p:917-934. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.