European and National Social Policy

2021 ◽  
pp. 396-416
Author(s):  
Manfred G. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Soft Governance ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
The Eu

This chapter portrays the development of social policy managed by the European Union, focuses on principles of steering in the EU’s social policy, and explores the distribution of power between national social political action in the member states and European social policy since 1957. The data show that the EU has been able to gain influence through regulatory social policies and soft governance instruments. As pertaining to social services, social expenditure, and redistributive concepts, however, the EU only plays a marginal role. The predominance of national social policy and the limited role of European social policy have been largely due to socio-economic diversity of the EU’s member state, heterogeneous welfare states, institutional obstacles of policymaking in the EU, and powerful national constraints.

The European Social Policy Model: Progress since the Early 1980s

2002 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis G. Castles
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Social Model ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
European Social Model ◽  
Northern European ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
The Eu

This article uses a simple statistical technique to examine whether there is a distinct European social policy model and whether such a model has consolidated during the 1980s and 1990s. In terms of total social expenditure and its major aggregates, it shows that Europe as a whole, and the countries presently constituting the EU, are somewhat more similar to each other than are the countries constituting a wider OECD grouping, but that this similarity is probably insufficient to warrant the label of European social policy model. In respect of individual programmes like pensions, health and unemployment benefits differences between Europe and the wider OECD are even less distinct. Over time, there is a general tendency for there to be greater coherence in total spending levels and in levels of expenditure on poverty alleviation and health care, but less coherence in respect of levels of social security spending. While the evidence for any kind of encompassing European social model is weak, the article does identify a Northern European grouping of countries, which, in several respects, manifests an expenditure profile quite distinct from OECD nations in general.

Introduction: European Social Policy and Society after Brexit: Neoliberalism, Populism, and Social Quality

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-91
Author(s):  
Steve Corbett ◽  
Alan Walker
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
European Society ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Consequences ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

The narrow referendum decision for British exit from the European Union (Brexit), and its explosive political consequences, has become a lens through which decades-long tensions in European society can be viewed. The result, which was expected to be a clear Remain victory, has been interpreted as various combinations of: the unleashing of xenophobic and racist anti-immigrant sentiment; a kick back against disinterested elites by ‘left behind’ people; the fermenting of nationalist populism by political and media actors; a clash of cultural values; a rejection of ‘market is all’ globalisation in favour of national borders; or as a reaction against austerity, inequality and insecurity (Corbett, 2016; Goodwin and Heath, 2016; Hobolt, 2016; Inglehart and Norris, 2016; Kaufmann, 2016; Pettifor, 2016; Room, 2016; Seidler, 2018; Taylor-Gooby, 2017). This British-made shock has parallels in and consequences for wider European society. In the Referendum, the EU became an emblematic representation of the distrusted, remote, technocratic elites, who are said to be responsible for an unbelievably large number of societal ills. Meanwhile across Europe there are varieties of Eurosceptic populism and distrust of elites on both the right and left (Ivaldi et al., 2017).

scholarly journals The EU: Big on Big Things and Smaller on Smaller Things

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Bilge Filiz
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Model ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Welfare regime is composed of the social and economic policies that are adopted to protect and promote the economic and social well-being of its citizens. While neoliberal principles extend through globalization, welfare regimes have been suffering from this process since policies are developed with the emphasis on individual empowerment rather than collectively shared welfare. While spending a great deal of efforts not to lose its competitiveness, the European Union tries to create an alternative for the structure of its social policies. However, this attempt remains highly vulnerable due to the impact of capitalist economic system on development of EU social policy/model since the beginning of the EU integration process. This article analyzes the roots of underdeveloped social policy in EU history at three stages: explanation of underdevelopment of social Europe from several theoretical paradigms; examination of deep-rooted problems of European social policy within the dynamics of European integration; elaboration of EU modernization process; and clarification of this deficiency with the example of European Social Model deemed as a politically constructed project.

Maximum convergence on a just minimum: A pluralist justification for European Social Policy

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juri Viehoff
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Income Support ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Widespread Agreement ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
The Face ◽  
Significant Disagreement ◽  
The Eu

There is widespread agreement that the European Union is presently suffering from a lack of social justice. Yet there is significant disagreement about what the relevant injustice consists in: Federalists believe the EU can only remedy its justice deficit through the introduction of direct interpersonal transfers between people living in separate states. Intergovernmentalists believe the justice-related purpose of the EU is to enable states to cooperate fairly, and to remain internally just and democratic in the face of increased global pressure on welfare states. I suggest that despite their fundamental differences, many of the most reasonable and prominent philosophical accounts of social justice in the EU nonetheless converge in their institutional prescriptions. In particular, they may each serve as a justificatory basis for introducing the European social minimum, an EU-wide income support scheme.

(Un)fit for 55! Ohne eine verschärfte Governance-Verordnung sind die Klimaziele 2030 nicht zu erreichen

IG ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 287-300
Author(s):  
Michèle Knodt ◽  
Rainer Müller ◽  
Sabine Schlacke ◽  
Marc Ringel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
Regulatory Action ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Soft Governance ◽  
Energy Efficiency Targets ◽  
Positive Effect ◽  
The Eu

The European Commission's “Fit for 55” package of July 2021 provides for a significant increase in renewable energy and energy efficiency targets in the European Union (EU). However, the EU’s competences in the energy sector are severely limited and subject to sovereignty. Already in 2018, the EU adopted a Governance Regulation that provides for a hardening of the otherwise only soft governance in the areas of renewable energies and energy efficiency due to the lack of European competences. It is intended to ensure that the Commission's recommendations for improving national energy and climate plans are implemented by the member states. An analysis of the quality of implementation of these recommendations now shows that this has a positive effect in areas with harder soft governance but still needs improvement. Increasing the targets of regulatory action cannot be successful without revising the Governance Regulation and hardening soft governance along with it. Otherwise, the EU is not fit for its 55 percent target in 2030.

On the post-Brexit prospects for social policy in the UK

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Pinker
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Intention To Leave ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
Keynote Speech ◽  
Article 50 ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

In this afterthought, Robert Pinker reflects on the prospects for social policy in the UK after Brexit. On 23 June 2016. the UK electorate voted to leave the European Union. The process of exiting the EU would commence right after the UK Government declared its intention to leave by triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Pinker discusses the debate in the UK regarding the kind of Brexit favoured by those who wanted to leave the EU — a ‘hard’ or a ‘soft’ one. He also considers the legal challenges to a fast-track Brexit, along with the Prime Minister's Lord Mayor's keynote speech promising to adopt a new approach to managing the forces of globalisation and the Chancellor's Autumn Statement on 23 November 2017. Finally, he looks at the funding crisis in UK health and social care services, the government's 12-point Brexit Plan, and the Supreme Court's rulings on Article 50.

Exploring European Social Policy. By Robert R. Geyer. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2000. 272p. $50.00 cloth, $14.99 paper.

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 256-257
Author(s):  
William Walters
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Short History ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

Social scientific interest in "social Europe" pales in compar- ison with the attention that has been directed toward the economic and political dimensions of the European Union (EU). This is perhaps hardly surprising; for much of its relatively short history, the system that is today the EU has been almost exclusively economic in its focus. Only since the 1980s has the project of European integration acquired a significant social dimension. Given this imbalance, Robert Geyer provides a welcome and timely addition to the litera- ture.

Coalition formation and eastward expansion of the european union (implications for the council)

2001 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Silárszky ◽  
René Levínský
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Coalition Formation ◽  
Cooperative Games ◽  
Power Index ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Distribution Of Power ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Eu

In this paper we study the distribution of power in the Council of the European Union. The goal of this paper is to evaluate the implications of coalition formation and the entry of some Central and Eastern European countries on the voting power of the member states. The analysis is based on the Shapley-Shubik power index of simple cooperative games. Modified versions of the Shapley-Shubik index are used to analyze the influence of sub-systems of the EU on the distribution of power in the decision making process.

scholarly journals Welfare States and Social Cohesion in Europe: Does Social Service Quality Matter?

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
RHYS ANDREWS ◽  
SEBASTIAN JILKE
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Services Quality ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Solidarity ◽  
Economic Strain ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

AbstractIn this article, the authors evaluate whether the provision of good quality social services has the potential to create social cohesion. In addition to examining the relationship between social services and social cohesion, the authors expand institutional theories of social capital by investigating whether this potential for building social solidarity may be resilient to the corrosive effects of economic strain. Multilevel analyses of variations in the perceptions of social cohesion amongst Europeans were conducted for 27 member countries of the EU using the Eurobarometer 74.1 on poverty and social exclusion from 2010. The results suggest that individuals receiving better quality social service provision perceived higher levels of social cohesion within the country in which they live. By contrast, individuals living in households experiencing economic strain perceived lower levels of cohesion. Further analysis revealed that the experience of economic strain does not weaken the positive relationship between social services quality and perceptions of cohesion.

scholarly journals Wage Bargaining in the Presence of Social Services and Transfers

2004 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabela Mares
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Full Employment ◽  
Wage Bargaining ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Wage Determination ◽  
Labor Market Institutions ◽  
National Differences ◽  
The Impact

OECD economies were able to reconcile the pursuit of welfare state expansion and full employment during the first decades of the postwar period. Yet the trade-off between these two policy objectives widened in recent decades. To explore the question ofwhy this change occurred, this article extends familiar models of wage determination by adding a number of parameters that capture cross-national differences among welfare states. The model identifies the conditions under which unions deliver wage moderation in exchange for social policy benefits and transfers and explores how different labor-market institutions magnify or decrease the impact of wage choices on the equilibrium level of employment. Next, the author examines the impact of changes in the composition of social policy expenditures and in the level of the tax burden on. unions' wage choices. She shows that mature welfare states, characterized by high tax burdens and a high share of transfers devoted to labor-market outsiders, reduce the effectiveness ofwage moderation in lowering unemployment. The author tests the main propositions using OECD panel data for the period 1960–95.

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