Bulletin n. 1/2009
July 2009
CONTENTS
  • Section A) The theory and practise of the federal states and multi-level systems of government
  • Section B) Global governance and international organizations
  • Section C) Regional integration processes
  • Section D) Federalism as a political idea
    • Lauk Kurt Joachim
    The European social model: in urgent need of redefinition
    in European View , vol. 8, n. 1, June ,  2009 ,  53-63
    Europe has good reason to be proud of its achievements in the area of social policy, and indeed, Europeans are happy to hold up their social model as a reference point. In reality, though, there is no such thing as the European social model. The various national systems for social security are the products of historical change, and resemblances among them tend to be patchy. There is of course a common denominator: virtually all citizens of the European Union benefit from a safety net that protects them against undue hardship in the event of illness, age or unemployment, and shields them from abusive employment practice with collective wage agreements, social security law and labour law. This is what is generally understood to constitute the European social model (ESM). These accomplishments deserve to be protected. However, that does not mean that we can dispense with the need for change. The ESM was developed in recent decades by each country following its own approach to providing its citizens with social security, which took different forms. Until now, economic growth, while uneven, has been sustained sufficiently to finance the rising costs. When growth alone has proved inadequate, countries have run up debts to pay for social security, ultimately as an expression of their confidence in economic growth and the associated increase in purchasing power of future generations. Can this system, cobbled together over decades, continue to work in the future?
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