Policy Paper 15

Social Europe in the throes of enlargement

The enlargement towards the countries of Central and Eastern Europe is a huge challenge and emphasises an intrinsic difficulty in constructing Social Europe. With this analysis of the European social model, we will be able to analyse the causes of the current “crisis’ better, by establishing the reasons and outlining some roads to reorganisation.

POLICY PAPER.


Social Europe has become a major issue in the debate on the referendum on the draft Constitutional Treaty in France. In order to better understand these challenges, in a context of intense questioning on the future of Social Europe, we must first specify its boundaries and its content by means of an analysis of the European social model. This analysis will firstly take a political, sociological and historical approach, then will follow a legal route, by emphasising the evolving character of the body of European legislation. In this way, we will be able to analyse the causes of the current “crisis’ better, by establishing the reasons and outlining some roads to reorganisation.