The increasing number of transnational agreements signed in recent years at the EU-company level suggests a form of Europeanization of industrial relations, as these agreements constitute a formal recognition of social dialogue across national borders. However, empirical results based on a multi-level research about the experiences with these agreements in the metal sector offer a more complex picture. The strategies of the actors at European, national and local levels, and more importantly the degree and type of their coordination, are crucial to understanding the processes and mechanisms which encourage or prevent the emergence of cross-national negotiations at company level.