This article introduces seven national studies which examine the impact of austerity measures on collective bargaining in manufacturing in the European Union (EU) countries most affected by the crisis. We explore the changing dynamics in the relationships between domestic actors in the period leading up to the crisis and the influence of supranational actors thereafter. Austerity measures have undermined the structure, process, content and outcomes of collective bargaining, though the nature and degree of changes are conditioned by path-dependent factors of each national system.