While the European Union has developed a “social Europe”, the economic crisis and the public debt have highlighted the imbalance between the social and economic dimensions of the European project. While important initiatives relating to the social dimension of the European Union came into being in 2017 – the main one being the proclamation of the European Social Rights Foundation in Gothenburg in November – the past year could mark a turning point in the development of the social dimension of the European project .

It is with Sofia Fernandes and Thiébaut Weber that we approach the theme of social Europe, its degree of development, the opportunities it represents and the obstacles that stand in its way, during this first 2019 session of the Académie Notre Europe. Former Luxembourg labor minister Nicolas Schmit also comes to share with members of the Academy his experience of the “fabric of social Europe”.

This session is also an opportunity to officially launch the joint project with Scuola di Politiche.