- Preface
- New to this edition
- Brexit Late News
- List of figures
- List of boxes
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- How to use the online resources
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1 The Historical Context
- 2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
- 3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
- Part 2 Theories and Conceptual Approaches
- 4. Neo-functionalism
- 5. Intergovernmentalism
- 6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
- 7. Governance in the European Union
- 8. Europeanization
- 9. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- Part 3 Institutions and Actors
- 10. The European Commission
- 11. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
- 12. The European Parliament
- 13. The Court of Justice of the European Union
- 14. Interest Groups and the European Union
- 15. Citizens and Public Opinion in the European Union
- Part 4 Policies and Policy-making
- 16. Policy-making in the European Union
- 17. Trade and Development Policies
- 18. Enlargement
- 19. The European Union’s Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
- 20. The Single Market
- 21. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- 22. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 23. Economic and Monetary Union
- 24. The Common Agricultural Policy
- 25. Environmental Policy
- Part 5 Issues and Debates
- 26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
- 27. Brexit
- 28. The Future of the EU
- Glossary
- References
- Appendix—Brexit supplement
- References
- Index
(p. 310) 21. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- Chapter:
- (p. 310) 21. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- Author(s):
Gerda Falkner
- DOI:
- 10.1093/hepl/9780198806530.003.0021
This chapter looks at how European social policy has evolved since the late 1950s. It begins by reflecting on the intergovernmental character of the policy in the early days, and on how the gradual introduction of qualified majority voting (QMV) and the widening scope of the policy allowed the European institutions and interest groups a greater say in the EU’s social dimension. The chapter also looks at the fight against regional disparities and (youth) unemployment in EU cohesion policy, including the European Social Fund (ESF). Focusing on newer developments, later sections chart the arrival of the open method of coordination (OMC), a non-regulatory approach to European policy-making in this field, and the social partnership—that is, the involvement of interest groups representing employers and labour in making European-level social policy. The chapter concludes by arguing that social regulation has become more difficult since the accession of a large number of Central and East European (CEE) states, and because of the effects of the financial and economic crisis.
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- Preface
- New to this edition
- Brexit Late News
- List of figures
- List of boxes
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- List of abbreviations
- How to use the online resources
- 1. Introduction
- Part 1 The Historical Context
- 2. The European Union: Establishment and Development
- 3. From the Constitutional Treaty to the Treaty of Lisbon and Beyond
- Part 2 Theories and Conceptual Approaches
- 4. Neo-functionalism
- 5. Intergovernmentalism
- 6. Theorizing the European Union after Integration Theory
- 7. Governance in the European Union
- 8. Europeanization
- 9. Democracy and Legitimacy in the European Union
- Part 3 Institutions and Actors
- 10. The European Commission
- 11. The European Council and the Council of the European Union
- 12. The European Parliament
- 13. The Court of Justice of the European Union
- 14. Interest Groups and the European Union
- 15. Citizens and Public Opinion in the European Union
- Part 4 Policies and Policy-making
- 16. Policy-making in the European Union
- 17. Trade and Development Policies
- 18. Enlargement
- 19. The European Union’s Foreign, Security, and Defence Policies
- 20. The Single Market
- 21. The European Union’s Social Dimension
- 22. The Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice
- 23. Economic and Monetary Union
- 24. The Common Agricultural Policy
- 25. Environmental Policy
- Part 5 Issues and Debates
- 26. The Euro Crisis and European Integration
- 27. Brexit
- 28. The Future of the EU
- Glossary
- References
- Appendix—Brexit supplement
- References
- Index