INTERNATIONAL POLICY ANALYSIS Wage Policy Coordination in the Eurozone A Robust Concept for Greater Macroeconomic Stability? TORALF PUSCH May 2011 „ „ In the European Monetary Union – which is based on competition-oriented princi­ples – wage costs have come under considerable adjustment pressure. The current crisis calls for closer coordination of wage and collective bargaining policy in Europe. „ „ Taking the example of a specific wage negotiation network the present study analy­ses whether wage policy coordination could help to prevent macroeconomic imbal­ances in the Eurozone. The extent to which this is the task of wage policy and what alternatives there are for coping with socioeconomic asymmetries are discussed in three commentaries based on trade union experiences: „ „ Ralf Striving for fairness in the distribution of wealth and income and»decent work« in­stead of fostering wage competition „ „ Kay Ohl and Uwe Collective bargaining and wage policy alone should not be responsible for correcting macroeconomic imbalances „ „ Gabriele Improving standards of living and stemming economic imbalances