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This article examines the emergence and evolution of social pacts in European countries in the last 20 years. While the changing constraints related to the different phases of the Monetary Union and actors' interests and resources are usually interpreted as key variables, we add a more institutionalist perspective. We analyse four countries to trace the role of institutional dynamics: while in Ireland and Spain the first pacts have been stabilized, in Italy and Portugal we see a more limited or `uneven' institutionalization. The dynamic interpretation of institutional trends and critical events helps remedy some of the limits of the traditional literature on social pacts.