The European Social Model(s): Which directions and responsibilities for the EU?

Economic policy has long dominated EU discourse due to the Union’s strong commitment to economic performance. While the implementation of the Single Market Act and the euro are among the most important institutional achievements at European level in recent decades, European social policy made little progress until the first half of the 1990s. From 1957 until the 1990s, social policy was essentially left to the national welfare states. Harmonisation of national social and labour market systems was not considered necessary, as the differences between national systems were seen as permanent. EU governments did not see the need to harmonise social market corrections at EU level.

The integration process of the 1990s was strongly criticised for not including a social dimension, even though it led to a series of macroeconomic adjustments in most European countries. Some Member States continued to argue for a greater role for Europe in social policy-making. During the first half of the 1990s, the focus was on convergence of concrete policy objectives. The EU Council issued a strong recommendation in 1992 on common criteria for a guaranteed minimum income, as part of a broader debate on the need and desirability of setting common standards in social policy. However, it was not until the Luxembourg process in 1997 that agreement was reached on the coordination of employment policies at European level. At the same time, a debate on the economic relevance of social protection emerged under the Dutch Presidency in the same year. This idea evolved to show that social policy is not, by definition and primarily, an obstacle to economic performance, nor a by-product of economic growth, but rather a productive factor.