making up for the opportunities to shape Eu­rope which have been criminally squandered as a result of the narrow nationalism of many individual unions. In countries with dominating sectoral trade unions(such as Germany) it must be acknowl­edged that the unions are playing only a. sup­porting role on the European stage at this time. Large branch unions are beginning to grasp that strategic authority in matters re­lated to Europe as a whole has been in the hands of the higher main organization and that practical execution has been the responsi­bility of the sectoral unions. It is not for noth­ing that IG Metall speaks of"tripartism be­tween the EC Commission and the European­level peak associations representing the em­ployers and trade unions". With respect to the expanded rights provided by the Maastricht Treaty, IG Metall speaks of a"new incentive" for the unions to examine their cooperation within the Single Market:"If they want to use this instrument they must direct their decision­making structures more strongly toward Eu­rope." There can be no doubt that the creation of effective and competent branch trade unions at the European level is on the agenda and that agreement must be reached on an appropriate division of labour between them and the ETUC for the representation of wor­kers interests. Such a development is unavoid­able if the unions want to achieve their goal of collective bargaining at the Community level: "With the official establishment of the Single Market one year away, the trade unions are far from this", according to IG Metall in early 1992. European-level collective bargaining which is comparable to that currently taking place in individual countries will not be possible for some time. The various stages of development thus far attained by the national economies of EC member states are so far apart that a com­munity-wide wage policy is not likely in the foreseeable future. Different and even contra­dictory interests will only be leveled out or re­solved in the course of a protracted alignment process. It is conceivable that something like platform agreements can be concluded with European employers on the basis of agreed upon wage­policy goals of the ETUC or even the Euro­pean branch organizations. Initial forms of such platform agreements can be seen in the joint statements made by the ETUC and UNICE(Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe). Platform agreements could establish the prin­ciples for dealing with specific contract is­sues, procedural rules and developmental trends which are then implemented in a decentralized way according to the principle of subsidiarity which is supported by both bargaining parties and adapted to the given conditions. According to the platform agreement, bargain­ing issues would include length and structur­ing of worktime, the organization of teamwork, groupwork or quality circles, information and participation rights as well as workers protec­tion and safety. It seems as if environmentally­sound products and production processes as well as problems of occupational training and further education are among the high-priority issues with which an innovative, European­wide collective bargaining policy could be set in motion. The large corporations operating across Eu­rope promise to become a special focus of at­tention. The trade unions have increasingly recognized that transnational firms are superb places for the development of international cooperation between the mirco-level units of worker representation. The creation of Euro­pean works councils as the common rep­resentative of multinational workforces in transnational companies is a gateway to across border trade union cooperation. 12