This book originates from the research project #New discourses in labour law# held at the European University Institute. A detailed analysis of part-time work regulation is presented for seven European countries, in order to ascertain how internal domestic choices of the legislatures have merged into the #Open method of co-ordination#. The impact of European employment policies is considered in parallel with the implementation of the Directive on part- time work, thus providing a complete overview of both soft and hard law mechanisms available to national policy-makers. In this original work, the inter-action between law and policy emerges as a dynamic and constantly changing process of exchange between national and supranational actors, through the use of concrete examples of law- making. Labour law is put forward as being central in the current evolution of European law, and this centrality is presented as a confirmation of innovation and continuity in regulatory techniques.