Employment issues within firms and labour markets lie at the heart of the government of industries, 'industrial relations' between trade unions and employers, as well as social cohesion and macroeconomic models. Indeed, from the GEDI project's analytical perspective, the issue of employment has a particular status. Within the institutional order (IO) of an industry, or indeed within a firm's business model, employment is one of its four analytical pillars it call institutionalized relationships (IRs). Moreover, the employment issue relates to another area of investigation concerning each governmental scale's capacity to generate trans-industry regulations (TIRs). Introduced by the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, the EES is the most clear cut European Union (EU) outcome in terms of the common regulation of employment in Europe. Its institutionalization has faced several challenges over time. One of the most recent is the unsuccessful attempt made around 'flexicurity' to increase the regulatory power of the EU over states' employment policies and professional relations within industries.