What is the European Social Model?

Résumé du document

This essay will try to define the European Social Model (ESM). This concept can be found at two stages: the national and UE levels. Indeed, the member states prove to have more or less different social models, whereas the European integration has constantly been seeking to create a social model at the EU level. By asking ourselves what is the ESM, we will have to deal with an aspect of the EU policy which is quite recent and not well known. This is precisely the concrete side of the ESM: the EU social policy. To address the essay question, the first part will look at the ESM under a theoretical point of view by identifying it both at the national and EU levels. Afterwards, the essay will focus on the practical definition of the ESM, that is to say the European social policy. Finally, it will think about the interactions between this policy and some other areas of EU activities.

Extraits

[...] However, because of the states' reticence, this policy area has suffered from weaknesses -notably its regulatory feature. Finally, the interactions of the EU social policy with the economic and regional policies and the CAP prove that the ESM is a complex concept which, to conclude, can be defined differently according to the point of view one holds. ( words) Bibliography Daly, M. (2006), Social Policy after Lisbon', Journal of Common Market Studies, 461-481. Fredman, S. (2006), ‘Transformation or Dilution: Fundamental Rights in the EU Social Space', European Law Journal, 41-60. Hantrais, L. [...]

[...] Social progress is the core principle of this model. In other words, European countries look for “high levels of employment and of social protection, raising the standard of living and quality of life, and promoting economic and social cohesion” (Hantrais p. 39). What is more, all the European welfare states have experienced similar historical developments e.g. they started to exist at the same period. One example is the appearance of compulsory unemployment insurance in many European countries in the interwar years. [...]

[...] Hopkin, J. and Wincott, D. (2006), Labour, Economic Reform and the European Social Model', The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 50-68. Hix, S. (2005), The Political system of the European Union (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2nd edition). Majone, G. (1993), European Community between Social Policy and Social Regulation', Journal of Common Market Studies, 153-170. Shackleton, L. (2006), European Social Model: Past its Sell-by Date?' http://www.fundacionrafaeldelpino.es/documentos/CONFERENCIASYENCUENTR OS/OBSERVATORIOS/Espacio%20P%FAblico/Shackleton.pdf (12/03/2007). Tsoukalis, L. (1997), The New European Economy Revisited (Oxford: Oxford University Press). [...]

[...] The essay will now keep on addressing the theoretical face of the ESM, but by focusing on the EU level. Traditionally, the political debate on the national scene has taken place between two ideologies. One the one hand, neo-liberalism stresses the efficiency of the free market, thus reducing social rights and protection and state intervention at their minimum. On the contrary, social democracy puts emphasis on the role of the state in promoting equality and high social welfare. The economic policy of the EU is clearly directed towards neo-liberalism, whereas its action in the social field tends to belong to what Fredman calls Third Way'. [...]

[...] To start with, the EU social policy is in constant interaction with the EU economic policy. Indeed, the EU social policy has emerged thanks to the creation of the Single Market, through a process of spillover. This can be explained by some concerns that the opening of frontiers would accentuate the economic discrepancies between prosperous and less developed regions. A social policy was then the response for these worries and, broadly speaking, for addressing European market failures (Hantrais p. 222). [...]