This book examines the potential role of European Union law in combating poverty and social exclusion in the European Union. Anti-poverty strategies have been part of the European Union agenda for decades. Most saliently, over a decade ago, the EU’s Member States pledged to lift 20 million people out of poverty. In spite of this commitment, the EU did not even meet a quarter of this target, and over 113 million people still were at risk of poverty and social exclusion by the end of 2020. This book addresses the incongruence between a quite developed EU policy strategy and a well-embedded legal objective on the one hand, and the lack of direct legal action on the other. Analysing the role of social policy instruments, fundamental rights, and the constitutional framework of the European Union, it makes a detailed case for a contribution of EU law to the policy objective of combating poverty and social exclusion. Drawing on work in law, politics, social policy and economics, this book will interest scholars and policymakers in the areas of EU law, labour and social security, human rights, political science and social and public policy.

In the field of anti-poverty policies, the interplay between the Europe 2020 overarching strategy and the 'Semester' have marked major discontinuity vis-à-vis the Open Method of Coordination for social protection and social inclusion (Social OMC) of the Lisbon phase. This book therefore asks whether and how Europe matters in the fight against poverty and social exclusion by assessing the emergence and possible institutionalisation of a European multi-level, multi-stakeholder and integrated policy arena in the new institutional framework. Supranational developments, multi-level interactions, as well as the strategy effects at the national level are analysed in six European countries - Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, UK and Sweden – with the aim to identify the key factors affecting the implementation of the Europe 2020 anti-poverty strategy. This book will be of key interest to students, scholars and practitioners in social policy, political science and European governance, and more broadly to European Union politics, European integrations studies, sociology and economics.

Social policy has become an increasingly prominent component of the European Union's policy-making responsibilities. Today, for example, a highly developed body of law regulates equal treatment in social security and co-ordinates national security schemes; national health services have opened up to patients and service providers from other states; and rules govern the translation of educational and vocational certificates across member states. This state of affairs is all the more remarkable given the relatively limited resources at the EU's disposal and the initial intentions of its founders. During negotiations for the Treaty of Rome in the 1950s, social policy was viewed as the exclusive provenance of the member states. There were to be provisions to facilitate labour mobility within the common market, but until the 1970s social policy making at the EU-level was modest. However, plans for the internal market moved social policy on the EU's decision-making agenda. The Social Chapter was adopted in 1989, and the Single European Act expanded EU competencies in social policy. The Treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice all expanded competencies further, so that by the time the heads of government met in Lisbon in 2007 to sign the EU's latest treaty, the extent of supranational control over important aspects of social policy making was quite impressive. This important book provides a full account of the evolution of social policy in the EU and of its current reach. It examines the reasons for the increased role of the EU in the area, in spite of formidable obstacles, and details its effects in member states, where social provision is often the biggest item in government budgets and a crucial issue in national elections. Drawing on research done on welfare states around the world and on European integration, this book provides a distinctive and sophisticated account of social policy in Europe, showing how it must now be understood in the context of multi-level governance in which EU institutions play a pivotal role.

The dynamic and complex system of European Union policymaking is analysed in this new edition of a much-praised textbook. It offers the most integrated understanding of EU policy available. Major approaches to policymaking – including intergovernmentalism, neofunctionalism, supranationalism and critical theory – are presented and supplemented with the authors' own theoretical model, federal integration, to create a comprehensive evaluation of the EU's interests and actors in key policy domains. The text covers the EU's main policy areas – including those on the single market, Economic and Monetary Union, foreign policy, migration and border control, social and regional policies, and the budget – locating them in this wider theoretical framework. As such, it is the key introduction to the subject for students of European Politics at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. New to this Edition: - Each chapter rewritten, many extensively, throughout - New chapters on migration and border control, competition policy, and social and cohesion policies. - New illustrative material and many new examples - Each chapter now includes a Guide to Further Reading Accompanying online resources for this title can be found at bloomsburyonlineresources.com/policies-and-policy-processes-of-the-european-union. These resources are designed to support teaching and learning when using this textbook and are available at no extra cost

This volume sets out to explain the conditions that have favoured the expansion of the European social dimension during the turbulent decade of 2010–20, when Europe was confronting strong countervailing pressures, including the euro crisis, the refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. The study begins by diagnosing a widespread, although slow-burning, crisis across the European Union (EU) resulting from the cumulation of social problems and the systemic tension between EU market integration on the one hand and nationally bounded welfare states and the other. Eight in-depth case studies analyse the political dynamics behind a variety of EU social initiatives aimed at addressing the consequences of free movement of workers, youth unemployment, poverty, eroding wages, environment and climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. To identify the specific drivers of EU social policymaking empirically, the authors have reconstructed the struggles over concrete policy proposals as they unfolded in the European multilevel setting. The volume introduces a novel analytical framework for interpreting the transformation of the EU social dimension in times of crisis, when some degree of social co-ordination becomes crucial to bond deeply different (welfare) states together. This in-depth study offers an invaluable analysis for researchers, academics and professionals interested in the functioning of the European polity.

Social cohesion is one of the declared objectives of the European Union. This book analyses the EU Social Inclusion Process, the means by which it hopes to meet this objective, and explores the challenges at local, regional, national and EU levels.

2011 was a year marked by some key progress in European integration: new moves towards Treaty revision, new rules for economic and budgetary coordination, and a more evident role of the EU in national policymaking. In parallel, the destabilisation of the euro zone progressed: the long-term effects of the Greek crisis have not been tackled by European policymakers, while tension shifted from the EU periphery to the very core of the euro zone. Most Member States pursued punitive austerity measures. All these trends undoubtedly represent worrying signs for the future of the European Social Model. The European Union is therefore dealing with crucial questions about its future sustainability: the fate of the euro is in jeopardy, as is the very meaning of the European integration project. A new compromise is needed between economic competitiveness and social solidarity. Otherwise, the risk will be an increase in public disaffection towards Europe and reciprocal accusations of egoism and lack of strategic views among the Member States. This 2011 edition of Social developments in the European Union examines the ways in which the EU has changed in this turbulent phase. Institutional innovations were paralleled by new economic governance tools and further reinforcement of the austerity paradigm. Beyond economic governance, this volume sheds light on the state of European social dialogue, the role of structural funds, the fate of the social dimension of Europe 2020, and the activities of the European Court of Justice. Analysis of the EU level is complemented by a critical review of national reforms, especially in the case of health care.

How successful was the EU's Lisbon Strategy? This volume provides the first comprehensive assessment of the Strategy and reflects on its key developments during its 10-year cycle. The volume contains both theoretical and empirical contributions by some of the leading scholars of EU studies across the social sciences.