Starting from a re-reading of the Constitution and the Fordist-Bismarckian ethos and foundations of Italian welfare, the author draws attention to some aspects being affected by the crisis and change. In particular he identifies in some sectors of welfare a trend – in line with the principles of the Constitution – towards a universalist vision that is making system more «mixed» than its original «pure» employment type. The article describes development of ordinary legislation in the early decades of the Republic and changes in labour and social law.only subscribers can see the full article

In June 2010, the Council of Europe adopted the Strategy Europe 2020, the new ten-year plan for creating an «intelligent», «sustainable» and «inclusive» growth in the member countries of the Eu. The article recalls the recent developments in the implementation of the new governance. In the social sphere, the overall picture seems alarming. With the crisis, all the Council of Europe’s priorities and the legislative agenda of the European Commission seem concentrated on economic governance. This number of the column recalls the features of the new Pact for the Euro plus, and the European Parliament’s intervention on the coordination of economic policy. The Eu’s action is taking form in a context of union resistance to the multiplication of austerity plans in the Eu. At the same time, fundamental rights too are frequently at the centre of debate. This number of Observatory Europa underlines the evident risks of the European institutions, and so the national governments too, entering a spiral of austerity policies that may already be leading to a further reduction in social rights, with the risk of worsening the outlook of a feeble economic recovery.only subscribers can see the full article

Bruno Trentin’s text, discovered and introduced by Michele Magno and reprinted in Rps exemplifies the reform proposals of the welfare state he advanced as head of the Planning Department of the Cgil and discussed at its national conference in 1995. The introduction recalls the wider cultural context and the values present in Trentin’s thought. The central idea is that of a welfare society, in which a logic of compensation is replaced with a logic of citizens’ rights. In particular, it examines the crisis of the insurance principle, which requires the transparent involvement of general taxation in financing social security. Its values of solidarity should be founded not only on income distribution, but above all on the offer of real goods and services to people. There is also an explicit appeal to the unions to think of welfare reform systematically, and not identify it almost exclusively with the question of pensions.only subscribers can see the full article