The author highlights the violent reproposal of the neoliberal ideology and the continual mortification of the most important aspects of the European social model according to the deterministic logic of economic models and ineluctable natural processes. The author comes to the conclusion that the factors hypothesised in literature on the crisis in European welfare states are inapplicable; and that the restriction of the range of possible evolutionary courses for future societies does not seem to be underway. The article analyses the alternative hypotheses to the crisis theories and to the demolition of the «European social model», exploring through the «human development’ approach the possible synergies between economic development and social development, competitiveness and justice, rights and growth which can once again shape welfare as a «productive factor». only subscribers can see the full article

For long-time observers of EU social and employment policies it is hardly surprising that the concept of flexicurity has gradually become a central concern in EU reform initiatives. The linguistically awkward combination of flexibility and security into flexicurity captures well the essence of European economic policy making since its inception and it is a good example of the distinct character of the European Social Model: a balancing of economic and social interests that understands social and employment policy as an integral part of economic policy and an important factor of production in the European economy. Flexicurity forms part of efforts to introduce new modes of governance and a greater reliance on soft law instruments in European policy making. It will be argued in the following that we increasingly witness elements of reflexivity in these supranational efforts of policy making. The central thesis of the paper is that in order for soft forms of governance to be effective, European law and policy must become reflexive. In the areas of European social and employment policies, flexicurity and the debate over a European Social Model play an important role in this process.only subscribers can see the full article

The pension system reform in the various European countries has been at the forefront of the political and scientific debate for years. The necessity to face the new social-economic context has led to the introduction of new measures for the reorganisation of institutions. To promote widespread discussion on legislative innovations already introduced and on prospects for further commitment for the modernisation of pension systems, the seminar held in Brussels on 23-24 June 2005, entitled «Pension Policies and European Social Model» organised by Inca, Cgil and Ferpa (European Federation for the Elderly and Pensioners) with the collaboration of the Observatoire Social Européen, stimulated a debate between experts and social partners. Two papers presented at the seminar are published here. The first by David Natali deals specifically with these themes and took inspiration from the recent Green Paper on demographic changes published by the European Commission; the second paper reflects on the seminar proceedings. only subscribers can see the full article

The classification of the American welfare state as ‘residual’ does not square with the empirical facts. The US system is dominated by public provision for welfare, among which social insurance programmes, particularly Social Security and Medicare, clearly predominate, while public pensions are more universal, redistributive and generous than in some European countries. Key differences persist, in that there is more reliance on private provision in pensions and health, stronger emphasis on work-conditioned benefits, and greater importance given to selective schemes. The term ‘work-conditioned’ welfare state captures some of these key features more adequately than the concept of the ‘residual’ welfare state. EU member states have not followed the US in increasing private welfare spending without taxation, and the relative importance of selective benefits has shrunk in most countries. These is some convergence on the level of policy discourse, where the idée directrice of European social policies has changed from social protection to activation, whereas the US is moving closer to Europe with respect to health care and the acceptance of state responsibilities.only subscribers can see the full article

This article is an introduction to a first and incomplete assessment of the influence of the Lisbon Strategy on the European social model. This exercise is complex for various reasons: first, because of the complexity of the Strategy; secondly because of the difficulty in identifying a clear definition of the European social model. On the basis of the existing literature and the main indicators proposed by the Strategy itself, we try in each case to suggest some reflections on the (limited) success and the (many) limitations of the Strategy. By this we mean the contents of the Lisbon Agenda and its influence on the modernization of the European social model, and also the development of the southern-European welfare model (further removed from the aims of Lisbon and so subject to greater pressure). We also study the procedural aspects of the Strategy and its capacity to influence participation, the learning process and the institutional capacities of individual member countries. The article ends with a comment on the lights and shadows linked to the implementation of the Strategy and (substantive and procedural) tensions that are still to be resolved. only subscribers can see the full article

The paper presents a series of useful perspectives to comprehend if and how the harmonisation process of social and occupation policies at the EU level has been developed and which key concepts are necessary to interpret its progress. The analysis thus proposes some considerations/definitions of the term «harmonisation», focusing on two main aspects: firstly the process of harmonisation in relation to the creation/stabilisation of the so-called «social European model'; secondly the harmonisation process in relation to the EU enlargement process to find out how the future new EU states have been helped/supported to harmonise their own policies on social and occupational matters and in which direction such a process of harmonisation has been targeted, towards which values and development models and with which results/prospects.only subscribers can see the full article

Set up in 1997, the European Employment Strategy (EES) aimed to create favourable conditions for achieving higher employment by coordinating national labour policies. The later reformulations of the strategy (in 2003 and 2005) have not changed the underlying orientation, based on measures affecting supply, while too little attention has been given to the interaction between developments on the labour market and the characteristics of the social model, on the one hand, and the macroeconomic impact on the other. This essay has two aims: first, to demonstrate the constant concern on the part of the DG Employment and Social Affairs to combine flexibility and inclusion, in response to the need to preserve the “European social model”, and, secondly, to show how the EES has been an essential condition for the functioning of the single mechanism on which the convergence policies of the member countries of the European Monetary Union has been based, represented by the flexibility of prices and salaries. The limitations of this mechanism are discussed in the last part of the article.only subscribers can see the full article