Abstract
This contribution discusses the asymmetry between the economic and the social dimensions of the European integration process and underlines the need for concrete rebalancing initiatives, provided they are based on “socio-liberalism” and “ordo-socialism.”
EU countries indeed all share a “social market economy” model trying to combine economic competitiveness, social cohesion, and the protection of the environment in a democratic context, but they remain “united in diversity.” Considering the limited EU competences in the social field and intra-EU differences, EU social measures accompanying European economic liberalization must be even more enhanced. Given the recently disrupted de facto convergence, EMU flaws, and the strain between “economic” and “social” Europe during the euro-crisis, a reconciliation and reconfiguration opportunity has arisen with the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which can reinforce “ordo-socialism” as the second pillar of “social Europe,” on the basis of several complementary legal and financial initiatives.
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Notes
- 1.
This chapter is based on the author’s keynote speech on May 18, 2016, in the international conference organized in Thessaloniki by the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence of the University of Macedonia, the Heinrich Böll Foundation Greece, and the Jean Monnet Chair of European Constitutional Law and Culture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
- 2.
The authors give an excellent historical perspective on social Europe.
- 3.
The Hague Congress or “Congress of Europe” is considered as the first federal moment of the European history. It was held in the Hague, NL, from May 7 to 11, 1948, with 750 delegates participating from Europe as well as observers from Canada and the USA.
- 4.
The Single European Act (SEA) sought to revise the Treaties of Rome setting up the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community.
- 5.
The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) represents a major step in the integration of EU economies. Launched in 1992, EMU involves the coordination of economic and fiscal policies, a common monetary policy, and a common currency, the euro.
- 6.
The Treaty on European Union was signed in Maastricht in the presence of the President of the European Parliament, Egon Klepsch. In accordance with that Treaty the Union is founded on the European Communities (first pillar), with two additional areas of cooperation (second and third pillars): The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CSFP) and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA).
- 7.
The Member States of the European Union coordinate, define, and implement foreign policy in the context of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).
- 8.
The internal market of the European Union (EU) “shall comprise an area without internal frontiers in which the free movement of goods, persons, services and capital is ensured in accordance with the provisions of the Treaties” (article 26 TFEU), and in which citizens are free to live, work, study, and do business.
- 9.
That is what the first “Vision Europe Summit” tried to do, by focusing on “Welfare states in Europe.”
- 10.
The ESF is Europe’s main instrument for supporting jobs, helping people get better jobs, and ensuring fairer job opportunities for all EU citizens. It works by investing in Europe’s human capital—its workers, its young people, and all those seeking a job.
- 11.
The Youth Guarantee is a commitment by all Member States to ensure that all young people under the age of 25 years receive a good quality offer of employment, continued education, apprenticeship, or traineeship within a period of 4 months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education.
- 12.
Under the Open Method of Coordination, EU Member States exchange good practice on the way they design policies and funding schemes.
- 13.
The European Social Charter is a Council of Europe treaty that guarantees fundamental social and economic rights related to employment, housing, health, education, social protection, and welfare.
- 14.
The Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, adopted on December 9, 1989, by a declaration of all Member States, with the exception of the UK, established the major principles on which the European labor law model is based and shaped the development of the European social model in the following decade.
- 15.
Over half of EU funding is channeled through the five European structural and investment funds (ESIF). They are jointly managed by the European Commission and the EU countries. The purpose of all these funds is to invest in job creation and a sustainable and healthy European economy and environment.
- 16.
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions.
- 17.
Reform of the Community budget was achieved under the aegis of Jacques Delors, President of the Commission, from January 1985. The starting point was a communication issued by the Commission in 1987, commonly known as the Delors I Package. In 1992, a further communication from the Commission known as the Delors II Package continued the reforms undertaken in 1988.
- 18.
The European Globalization Adjustment Fund provides support to people losing their jobs as a result of major structural changes in world trade patterns due to globalization, e.g., when a large company shuts down or production is moved outside the EU, or as a result of the global economic and financial crisis.
- 19.
The EU’s Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) requires EU Member States to guarantee the following rights for all workers: a limit to weekly working hours, rest break, minimum daily rest period, minimum weekly rest period, paid annual leave, extra protection in case of night work. See Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of November 4, 2003, concerning certain aspects of the organization of working time, OJ L 299, 18.11.2003, pp. 9–19.
- 20.
European Works Councils are bodies representing the European employees of a company. Through them, workers are informed and consulted by management on the progress of the business and any significant decision at European level that could affect their employment or working conditions. See https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=707&langId=en&intPageId=211. See also Directive 2009/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 May 2009 on the establishment of a European Works Council or a procedure in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of undertakings for the purposes of informing and consulting employees, OJ L 122, 16.5.2009, pp. 28–44.
- 21.
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3149/92 of October 29, 1992, laying down detailed rules for the supply of food from intervention stocks for the benefit of the most deprived persons in the Community, OJ L 313, 30.10.1992, pp. 50–55. Commission Regulation (EC) No 983/2008 of October 3, 2008, adopting the plan allocating to the Member States resources to be charged to the 2009 budget year for the supply of food from intervention stocks for the benefit of the most deprived persons in the Community, OJ L 268, 9.10.2008, pp. 3–7. Council Regulation (EEC) No 3730/87 of December 10, 1987, laying down the general rules for the supply of food from intervention stocks to designated organizations for distribution to the most deprived persons in the Community, OJ L 352, 15.12.1987, pp. 1–2.
- 22.
Judgment of the General Court (Fifth Chamber) of April 13, 2011, Federal Republic of Germany v European Commission, Case T-576/08, ECLI:EU:T:2011:166.
- 23.
Council Directive 92/85/EEC of October 19, 1992, on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health at work of pregnant workers and workers who have recently given birth or are breastfeeding, OJ L 348, 28.11.1992, pp. 1–7.
- 24.
Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 29, 2004, on the coordination of social security systems, OJ L 166, 30.4.2004, pp. 1–123 (previously Regulation 1408/71).
- 25.
OJ C 73, 02.04.1986, p. 4. The term ERASMUS comes from “EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students.”
- 26.
Council Decision 87/327/EEC of June 15, 1987, adopting the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (Erasmus), OJ L 166, 25.6.1987, pp. 20–24.
- 27.
Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of April 5, 2011, on freedom of movement for workers within the Union, OJ L 141, 27.05.2011, pp. 1–12.
- 28.
A “posted worker” is an employee who is sent by his employer to carry out a service in another EU Member State on a temporary basis, in the context of a contract of services, an intra-group posting, or a hiring out through a temporary agency.
- 29.
Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of December 16, 1996, OJ L 18, 21.1.1997, pp. 1–6.
- 30.
See Regulation (EU) 2019/1149 of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 20, 2019, establishing a European Labor Authority, amending Regulations (EC) No 883/2004, (EU) No 492/2011, and (EU) 2016/589 and repealing Decision (EU) 2016/344, OJ L 186, 11.7.2019, pp. 21–56. The Authority will reach its full operational capacity by 2024, and its seat will be in Bratislava—for more details, see https://www.ela.europa.eu
- 31.
The European employment strategy (EES) dates back to 1997, when the EU Member States undertook to establish a set of common objectives and targets for employment policy. Its main aim is the creation of more and better jobs throughout the EU. https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=101&langId=en
- 32.
The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is a set of rules designed to ensure that countries in the European Union pursue sound public finances and coordinate their fiscal policies.
- 33.
The Cohesion Fund is aimed at Member States whose gross national income (GNI) per inhabitant is less than 90% of the EU average. It aims to reduce economic and social disparities and to promote sustainable development.
- 34.
Proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027, COM (2018)322 final, Brussels, May 2, 2018, and amended proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027, COM (2020)443 final, Brussels May 25, 2020. Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of December 17, 2020, laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027, OJ L 433I, 22.12.2020, pp. 11–22.
- 35.
Council Recommendation of April 22, 2013, on establishing a Youth Guarantee, OJ C 120, 26.4.2013, pp. 1–6.
- 36.
To assess the impact of crises on the deepening of European solidarity, see Bertoncini (2020).
- 37.
In November 2018, the European Commission published an information document presenting the main initiatives launched: “The European Pillar of Social Rights: One Year On” (European Commission, 2018). An “Action plan” was presented in March 2021, on the basis of the public consultation launched by the new Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Mr. Nicolas Schmit (European Commission, 2021). See https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1226&furtherNews=yes&newsId=9706
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Bertoncini, Y. (2022). Building Social Europe: From “Social-Liberalism” to “Ordo-Socialism”?. In: Anagnostopoulou, D., Skiadas, D. (eds) Higher Education and Research in the European Union. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-85690-8_13
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