This volume is the revised Report, which an international team of experts have prepared for the Greek Ministry of Labour and Social Security in the context of the Greek Presidency of the European Union and presented in the international conference "The Modernisation of the European Social Model. EU Policies and Practices" on 24-25 May 2003, at Ioannina, Greece. The book focuses on the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), its relation to other policy tools used in the European Social Policy and its significance for the fomation of a new European Social Model. The chapters follow the emergence, the evolution and analyze the constituent elements of the OMC in the fields of Social Inclusion and Pensions since the Lisbon Summit. During the Portuguese Presidency OMC encountered a cautious response. The OMC idea made substantial progress during the Belgian Presidency. In the Ioannina conference the OMC had full recognition as a tool for the implementation of European Social Policy. Everyone agreed that important social issues were dealt with more effectively through the OMC, especially when the latter is consolidated after the inclusion of the Charter of the fundamental Rights in the new European Treaty. This progress is sufficiently reflected in the present volume, where it is concluded that through OMC the European Social Model gained a new momentum in terms of effectiveness and legitimacy.

This volume presents a new perspective for discussing the European social contract and its main challenges, bringing together single-nation and comparative studies from across Europe. Presenting both theoretical discussions and empirical case studies, it explores various aspects of social cohesion, including social protection, the labour market, social movements, healthcare, social inequalities and poverty. With particular attention to the effects of the international economic and financial crisis on social cohesion, particularly in the light of the implementation of so-called ’austerity measures’, authors engage with questions surrounding the possible fragmentation of the European model of social cohesion and the transformation of forms of social protection, asking whether social cohesion continues to represent - if it ever did - a common feature of European countries. Breaking new ground in understanding the future of Social Europe and its main dynamics of change, The European Social Model Adrift will appeal to scholars of sociology, social policy and politics, with interests in social cohesion, the effects of financial crisis and the European social model.

Recientemente, muchos observadores de políticas y prácticas de cohesión social han discutido que la globalización ha promovido la convergencia global hacia modelos neo-liberales en este campo. Similarmente, estudiosos y practicionarios de la política regional han contenido que las políticas sociales de Europa representan las "mejores prácticas" a nivel global y por ello han sido promovidas en otras regiones del mundo (por ejemplo en las recientes cumbres UE-Latinoamérica sobre cohesión social), lo que lleva también a la convergencia en la elaboración de la política. Este libro cuestiona estas afirmaciones y se pregunta si distintos enfoques regionales a la cohesión social son todavía pertinentes. El análisis trans-regional comparativo presentado en este volumen está basado en el examen de la competencia entre actores (poder), el papel de la historia y tradiciones sociales (tiempo) y la importancia de límites geográficos a la cohesión social (espacio).

The aim of this book is to explore and reflect upon preconditions of a specific European social dimension, or more specifically of a European social citizenship. Welfare and social policies in Europe are deeply entrenched in state histories; the success of the welfare state stems from its ability during a fairly long historical period to unify social citizenship, full employment, mass education and a functional industrial relations system. The historical connection between welfare regimes built upon the nation state, and popular democracy founded in party voting, makes the deepening and widening of a common European project a highly risky undertaking and an open process with a radically uncertain outcome. The dilemma in the form of uneasy relationships among national welfare regimes and the evolutionary process of increased market integration - driven both by market forces (globalisation) and the European Union as a political project - is well known and has been demonstrated by different commentators. Every step of deepening market integration in Europe tends to threaten and put pressure on the existing national welfare regimes. As their own populations generally support them, the legitimacy of the EU is at risk. The book analyses the prospects of a coordinated social dimension at the European level, matching the market integration, and what role the concept of citizenship can play in such a scenario.

The European nation state is now placed between the interconnected processes of globalization and European integration. This new book examines these evolving relationships, showing how the conventional territorial basis of the state is being reappraised. Bringing together leading thinkers on the nation state, this volume tackles key questions about how we should conceptualize and discuss the political significance of territory in today’s world. For example, does the era of Europeanization and globalization herald the end of citizens’ traditional attachment to their national territories? Do our conceptions of the state no longer correspond to contemporary political realities? These questions are approached from a range of positions that illuminate the debates now taking place across the world. This book delivers a clear set of key concepts, indicators and theoretical notions to carry out a historically and empirically grounded examination. Drawing upon case studies from across Europe, the lessons and conclusions detailed have a fascinating international scope and can be applied to our understanding of globalization, which is intimately connected with European integration. This is an invaluable book for all students of European integration, political science and international relations.

'Converging Europe' evaluates the impact of European integration on social policy development since the launch and re-launch of the Lisbon strategy discussing the challenges posed by the still unfolding global economic crisis of 2007-2009. Given the unsettling economic conditions, does European coordination of social policies generate more social cohesion and integration or growing xenophobia, nationalism and exclusion? Informed by diverse theoretical perspectives, this book brings together a team of international experts working on an extensive range of policy issues central to the Lisbon agenda such as labour market policies, social protection systems, and social exclusion/poverty. Contributions assess the interfaces between European integration, the Lisbon strategy and social policy in three groups of countries related to the EU: old member states; the new member states; and a candidate country - Turkey. The richness of content and data allows rigorous analysis and critical comparative insights not only on the social outcomes of the Lisbon strategy but also more broadly on the dynamics and dimensions of European social policy. Pioneering the scholarly reflections on the repercussions of the global economic crisis of 2007-2009 for both the road map drawn at Lisbon and viability of national systems of social provision in Europe, this book is an important acquisition for policy makers and academics alike.

This book explores the adoption of 'active ageing' policies by EU15 nations and the impact on older peoples' work and retirement policy options. Policies examined include unemployment benefits, active labour market policies, partial pension receipt, pension principles, early retirement and incentives for deferral.

Since the 1980s, the process of European economic integration, within a wider context of globalization, has accelerated employment change and placed a new premium on ‘flexible’ forms of work organization. The institutions of employment relations, specifically those concerning collective bargaining between employers and trade unions, have had to adapt accordingly. The Transformation of Employment Relations focuses not just on recent change, but charts the strategic choices that have influenced employment relations and examines these key developments in a comparative perspective. A historical and cross-national analysis of the most important and controversial ‘issues’ explores the motivation of the actors, the implementation of change, and its evolution in a diverse European context. The book highlights the policies and the role played by different institutional and social actors (employers, management, trade unions, professional associations and governments) and assesses the extent to which these policies and roles have had significant effects on outcomes. This comparative analysis of the transformation of work and employment regulation, within the context of a quarter-century timeframe, has not been undertaken in any other book. But this is no comparative handbook in which changes are largely described on a country-by-country basis, but instead, The Transformation of Employment Relations is rather focused thematically. As Europe copes with a serious economic crisis, understanding of the dynamics of work transformation has never been more important.

Based on the findings of a large-scale, comparative research project, this volume systematically assesses the institutional design and national influence of the Open Method of Coordination in Social Inclusion and Social Protection (pensions and health/long-term care), at the European Union level and in ten EU Member States.

‘Enabling Social Europe’ examines how the paradigm of the ‘enabling welfare state’ might offer a new perspective for European social policy in the decades to come. The ‘enabling’ concept is perceived as going beyond that of mere ‘activation’, thus also embracing policies aimed at increasing personal autonomy, individual responsibility and social inclusion by endowing individuals with the resources and capabilities needed to manage and balance their life courses in a better way. The study is distinguished by a unique collaboration of social and economic policy experts coming from a wide range of disciplines: economics, law, sociology, political science, and philosophy. The authors seek to shed new light on whether European social policy ought to play a role in the future and, if so, what sort of role that could be. They convincingly argue that despite an implicit normative consensus on the ‘European social model’, there is still room for a multifaceted world in which welfare regimes can maintain their own path-dependent ways of achieving a fair and just society with a high level of welfare for all. The empirical part of the book contains an appraisal of policies and reforms with a view to the ‘enabling welfare state’ approach in four important policy areas: health care, old-age security, family policy, and poverty prevention. Within each sector, the authors compare the policies and practices of two countries attributable to different regime types: Germany and the United Kingdom, Poland and Germany, Finland and Estonia, and Belgium and Denmark. This book is highly recommendable not only for scholars and policymakers active in this field, but also for students of welfare and labour economics, sociology, social policy, political science and law.