The slippability of packaging films has to be controlled to facilitate confectionary operations and guarantee an easy opening for filling. In the case of single-layer polyethylene (PE) films, the addition of slip agents made of fatty acid amides such as erucamide or oleamide usually allows the tailoring of the coefficient of friction (COF) in the film to match industrial targets, which depend on the final application. The coupling of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analysis showed that this method has a limited efficiency and may even be detrimental in the case of multilayer PE + ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/maleic anhydride grafted polyethylene (PEgMAH) + EVA/polyamide films. The reason is that the migration of the slip additives toward the outermost surface of the PE layer, which leads to a reduction in the COF, are strongly affected by both the existence of the adjacent layers and the presence of EVA in the PE and PEgMAH layers. Nevertheless, a proper knowledge of the effect of this perturbation allows one to reach a slippability level that is required for some confectionary operations and/or for an easy opening for filling without the degradation of the heat sealability. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 115: 2332-2345, 2010