THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF SOCIAL AND LABOUR MARKET POLICY COORDINATION IN THE EU: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Development of EU social policy has, since the early days of European integration, been systematically related to the efficiency - equity classification of social policy objectives, the equity objective being almost exclusively served by (democratically legitimised) national social and labour market...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai. Studia Europaea 2009-01, Vol.54 (1), p.89-126
Main Author: Koutsiaras, Nikos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Employment policy
Equity
Europe
European Commission
European Union
International organizations
Labor market
Labour market
Labour policy
Legitimacy
Political economy
Political science
Social policy
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Summary:Development of EU social policy has, since the early days of European integration, been systematically related to the efficiency - equity classification of social policy objectives, the equity objective being almost exclusively served by (democratically legitimised) national social and labour market policies. But it has also been shaped by national governments' demands for EU-provided legitimacy, especially with regard to various market confirming - and conforming - policy reforms. Those demands have, in turn, been driven by the domestic political economy of growth and redistribution and, therefore, have been tightly linked to the needs for rescuing the national welfare state. Thus, unsurprisingly, EU social and labour market policy has not developed in a simple evolutionary fashion, instead having followed an erratic course of uneven progress over time and across issue areas. Nevertheless, received accounts of EU social and employment policy have often failed to adequately address - and explain - the host ofempirical issues associated with the role of the EU in the domain of employment and social affairs. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:1224-8746
2065-9563