Search results for ‘Subject term:"social policy"’ Sort:
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The state of European Union social policy
- Author:
- GEYER Robert
- Journal article citation:
- Policy Studies, 21(3), September 2000, pp.245-261.
- Publisher:
- Taylor and Francis
- Place of publication:
- Philadelphia, USA
Often overlooked in general policy journals, European Union (EU) social policy has gone through a remarkable expansion in the 1980s and 1990s. Some even argued that it was laying the foundation for a European welfare state. Through a brief review of its development and role in European integration theory, this article will argue that, despite its expansion, EU social policy lacks vital financial and political muscle to significantly affect national welfare regimes and create a European welfare state. Moreover, its broad guidelines and flexible implementation may even encourage national social policy diversification rather than harmonization. Following this conclusion, the article will briefly speculate on the future of EU social policy and social policy research.
Social policy and European Union
- Author:
- WEALE Albert
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 28(1), March 1994, pp.5-19.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
What social policy developments may be reasonably expected from the European Union? Three possible positions on this question are developed: a market liberal view; a progressive liberal view; and an institutionalist view. None of these positions is obviously the correct one, and in each case a mixture of pragmatic and principled criticisms can be developed. However, it is argued that the progressive liberal position strikes an ethically acceptable balance of competing considerations.
European community social policy: developments and issues
- Author:
- MAZEY Sonia
- Publisher:
- Polytechnic of North London
- Publication year:
- 1990
- Place of publication:
- London
Places current proposals on social policy within the wider context of the origins, aims and subsequent development of EC social policy since 1957.
Europe 2020 and the right against poverty: beyond competence clash, towards ‘hybrid’ governance solutions?
- Author:
- JESSOULA Matteo
- Journal article citation:
- Social Policy and Administration, 49(4), 2015, pp.490-511.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The supranational strategy ‘Europe 2020’ came along with two main innovations for social policy coordination in the EU: a quantified poverty reduction target and a new governance framework – the ‘European Semester’. Aiming to assess the effectiveness of this strategy in prompting the emergence of a European(-ised) anti-poverty arena, the article first presents the strategy evolution at the supranational level in 2011-14. Then it analyses its implementation in five member states – Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the UK – through the first four annual cycles. By directing the analytical focus on processes – rather than outcomes – in order to capture the domestic changes produced by the Europe 2020 anti-poverty strategy, the article argues that the latter marked significant discontinuity with the Social Inclusion Open Method of Coordination. The new strategy increased the political salience of the poverty issue both at the supranational level and in the selected member states, while leading to a ‘competence clash’ between national governments and the EU in Germany, Sweden and the UK. The emergence of such main tension substantially constrained the Europe 2020 potential in these three countries. Differently, in Italy and Poland, the implementation was smoother and the effects along the participation and integration dimensions were more evident. It is argued that national policy legacies, the relevance of EU social funds, as well as partisan preferences, help to explain the differential effects of Europe 2020. The article concludes by suggesting that recent decisions at the EU level might eventually bring European anti-poverty coordination beyond soft-law towards ‘hybrid’ governance solutions. (Edited publisher abstract)
Social service decline and convergence: how does healthcare fare?
- Authors:
- MONTANARI Ingalill, NELSON Kenneth
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 23(1), 2013, pp.102-116.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The slowdown of welfare state expansion since the 1970s has initiated an ongoing discussion about the stagnation and possible decline of social policy. In this paper the hypotheses on differences among welfare state sectors with regard to decline and convergence are subject to comparative empirical tests focusing on healthcare. A cross-national analysis of healthcare services is performed, comparing developments with that of cash benefits. Contrary to previous claims we find that European healthcare systems are not particularly hit by retrenchment and that convergence is absent in key healthcare dimensions, namely coverage and provision. Convergence appears mainly in terms of the increased reliance on private healthcare financing. The examination is based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Health Data and institutional data on entitlement levels of major cash benefit programmes, providing both a descriptive analysis and multi-level regressions.
Annotated review of European Union law and policy with reference to disability
- Author:
- ARSENJEVA Janina
- Publisher:
- Academic Network of European Disability Experts
- Publication year:
- 2011
- Pagination:
- 183p.
- Place of publication:
- Leeds
The Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED) was established to provide a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating EU laws and policies that affect disabled people. This annotated overview of EU legislation and policy instruments both updates and extends a provisional mapping of legislative instruments first conducted for ANED in 2008. The review covers both disability-specific and mainstream instruments. It provides evidence of the extent to which disability is being mainstreamed in different areas of EU law and policy. The summaries and examples presented here relate to primary and secondary EU legislation, as well as soft-law instruments that are currently in force.
Disappointing poverty trends: is the social investment state to blame?
- Authors:
- VANDENBROUCKE Frank, VLEMINCKX Koen
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 21(5), December 2011, pp.450-471.
- Publisher:
- Sage
In 2000, the Lisbon European Council set a new strategic goal for the EU which included the modernisation of the European social model. In this article, the authors ask whether the disappointing outcomes of the Open Method of Co-ordination on Inclusion by are explained by methodological weaknesses or by substantive contradictions in the social investment paradigm. To clarify the underlying concepts, the authors first examine the original ‘Lisbon inspiration’ and then relate it to the idea of the new welfare state, as proposed in the literature on new risks in post-industrial societies. The article then examines two explanations for disappointing poverty trends, suggested by critical accounts of the ‘social investment state’: ‘resource competition’ and ‘re-commodification’. The article suggests that policy-makers should not ignore the failure of employment policies to reduce the proportion of children and working-age adults living in jobless households in the EU. In ending, the authors identify policy conditions that facilitate social investment and social inclusion.
Examining the impact of the Open Method of Coordination on sub-state employment and social inclusion policies: evidence from the UK
- Author:
- MACPHAIL Eilidh
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 20(4), October 2010, pp.364-378.
- Publisher:
- Sage
The Open Method of Communication (OMC) involves the fixing of European-level guidelines, establishing targets, benchmarks, indicators and the development of National Action Plans, as well as the exchange of best practice and peer review. The emphasis is on the member states drawing up their own national plans and translating European guidelines into national and regional policies. Given its emphasis on a decentralised approach, the OMC would be expected to have an impact on the sub-state level in EU member states. This study of the Employment and Social Inclusion OMC processes in the United Kingdom explored changes to the policy, polity and politics dimensions in these policy areas to determine the impact of the OMC on the sub-state level. The research comprised a range of interviews at EU, UK and devolved level and analysis of policy documents. The findings suggest that, while the OMC process is far from facilitating ‘deliberative polyarchy’, in the UK case the limited engagement of sub-state authorities with the OMCs in Employment and Social Inclusion owes more to the internal division of power and the perception of the UK as a leader in these fields than to the structure and nature of the EU process itself.
JESP Symposium: the European Union's global social role
- Authors:
- ORBIE Jan, et al
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 19(2), May 2009, pp.99-116.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This introductory article provides an overview of the EU's objectives and instruments in promoting the social dimension of globalization, illustrating its focus on international labour standards and the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the shift from trade measures to a broader spectrum of soft external policy instruments. More specifically, the horizontal and vertical coherence of the EU's international social policies is analysed. The three other contributions to this article elaborate on this distinction by examining the social dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy, the `uploading' of the EU social model in the ILO, and the EU's promotion of corporate social responsibility in the world. These accounts suggest that market-enhancing goals often take priority over social objectives, and that the EU can at best be seen as a regional social power. In addition, the contributions point to the limitations of an ambitious EU role in this area.
Pension policy in EU25 and its impact on pension benefits
- Authors:
- ZAIDI Ashghar, GRECH George
- Journal article citation:
- Benefits, 15(3), October 2007, pp.299-311.
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
This article summarises the most recent changes in public pension policies in the countries of the European Union and describes how they affect pension benefits for future pensioners. The common trends are that the generosity of public pension benefits is on the decline, the changes are likely to shift more risks towards individuals and there are fewer possibilities of redistribution. The analyses point towards the importance of a more comprehensive assessment of these reforms so as to reduce the risk of pensioner poverty in the future.