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