This paper is about the changing public-private welfare mix in South Europe since the early 1990s. Reform challenges, policy milestones and outcomes are briefly examined in the light of internal pressures and deepening European integration. We focus mainly on Greece and Spain, adding comparative data for Portugal and Italy to the extent possible. The analysis embraces four major social policy fields (social security, health and social care and labour market/employment policy). In the first part of the paper we highlight major policy trajectories and reforms, while in the second and third part we briefly review trends in funding and expenditure patterns, institutional design, regulation and delivery of social welfare, linked to decentralization (and regionalization) processes. only subscribers can see the full article

Europe has experienced the intensification of immigrant flow since the mid-1990s and related to this process a new European policy has been built up at Eu level. In spite of this general trend, the intensity of migration flows, the types of migration, the migrant’s performance in the labour market, the policies oriented towards migrants’ social integration, meaningfully vary between European countries, according to the different conditions in each case, shaped by the various welfare state models, by previous migration policies and also by the structure and dynamics of the labour markets. More debate is needed about how to match these divergent trends with a homogeneous official discourse and policy on immigration at European level. At the same time, the impact that migration has on the welfare states is also different. only subscribers can see the full article