Building Social Europe Through The Open Method Of Coordination

Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Europa: Politik und Jura), course: Action against EoFin, 51 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Die Arbeit problematisiert die Schwierigkeiten einer gesamteurop ischen Sozialpolitik im Lichte der sog. Offenen Methode der Koordinierung (engl. Open Method of Coordination). Wie funktioniert dieses neue Instrument europ ischer Politik, welche konkreten Erfahrungen wurden bisher gesammelt, und hat die Offene Methode der Koordinierung das Potenzial eine gesamteurop ische Sozialpolitik zu erm glichen? Die vorliegende Arbeit gibt Antworten auf diese Fragen und problematisiert das Thema im Lichte der aktuellen Wohlfahrtsstaatsforschung.

The Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) is a multi-dimensional challenge for policy-makers, as well as social actors, researchers and other players. The aim of Building Social Europe through the Open Method of Co-ordination is to describe the role of the OMC as an instrument for the governance of Europe's social dimension from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The underlying issues addressed concern its potential as an instrument of Europeanisation, as well as how the Member States influence EU policy formation. The complexities of national policy-making processes in the area of employment are scrutinised by researchers from different EU countries who seek to understand how, if at all, OMC employment is integrated into Member States' policies. Furthermore, the complex adaptational pressures of the EU on the reform of national public pension schemes (the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Italy) are analysed. The editors devote their efforts to understanding the national-European dynamics of OMC in the areas of employment, social exclusion and pensions. The book is a first step towards a theoretical framework that explains the dynamics of OMC.

Based on the findings of a large-scale, comparative research project, this volume systematically assesses the institutional design and national influence of the Open Method of Coordination in Social Inclusion and Social Protection (pensions and health/long-term care), at the European Union level and in ten EU Member States.

The contributors in this volume examine the practical operations, at national and subnational levels, of the European Employment and Social Inclusion Strategies, which are the most important examples of the Open Method of Co-ordination as a new instrument of EU governance.

Büchs analyses the goals and instruments of the Open Method of Coordination, discusses approaches which theorize its functioning, examines its policy content and develops a framework for its evaluation. Through the examination of a case study the author demonstrates how policy actors apply the OMC in employment in Germany and the United Kingdom.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: A-, International Business School Budapest , language: English, abstract: The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) was “born” in the European Union (EU) at the Lisbon Summit of March 2000. A new method of integration was needed in order to achieve the Lisbon agenda – the EU to become the most competitive knowledge based economy in the world with better jobs and greater social cohesion. In this context OMC was presented as the most appropriate policy tool towards achieving an economic and social “revival”. Since its introduction the OMC has gained momentum in European policy-making because many areas previously falling under the exclusive competence of the member states (MS) are now tackled at the European level. Although the OMC was originally designed to foster a problem-solving approach in the area of employment, it has now expanded to include the fields of social exclusion, immigration, pensions and education.

Seminar paper from the year 2014 in the subject Politics - Topic: History of Inernational Relations, grade: 2,0, University of Bamberg, language: English, abstract: As part of the Lisbon Strategy of 2000 the Union set forth a new strategy for achieving the ambitious goals of becoming “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion” until the year 2010. Through incorporation of iterative benchmarking processes to assess progress in achieving the objectives set forth by the EU on the national level, mutual learning among member states and mobilization of actors across many levels – EU, national and sub-national levels – the OMC represented a novel approach to governance in the EU. Because the environment in which the OMC is applied, the multiple actors it involves across multiple levels, as well as the challenge of correctly placing it among other soft-law measures and the existing tool set of the EU institutions the literature in OMC research is equally complex. Contributions to OMC research emanate from many researchers across different fields of science, such as economists, legal scholars, sociologists and political scientists that have brought forth analyses looking at the topic from various angles. These include the OMC as a New Mode of Governance, a form of Policy Learning and Europeanisation and as a motor of European Integration. Taking this complexity into account and given the limited ability of this specific type of essay it seems necessary to concentrate on a few specific aspects. This work will thus limit its time frame – from the implementation of the Lisbon Strategy in 2000 until the overhaul it received with the introduction of ‘Europe 2020’ in 2010 at most – and discuss the case of the United Kingdom (UK) with regard to the possible impact the OMC has had on social policy and the way in which different levels of government and non-government actors have been involved. How has the Open Method of Co-Ordination influenced social policy in the United Kingdom and has it been able to involve a wider array of actors in the process?

The notion of the European Social Model (ESM) has been one of the fastest growing in European political and academic discourse in recent years. It is conventionally used to describe the European experience of simultaneously promoting sustainable economic growth and social cohesion. However, the concept has suffered from a lack of clear definition. And where definitions have been found in the literature, they do not necessarily converge. This book presents the outcome of a project coordinated by the European Trade Union Institute in which experts from different countries and social scientific disciplines (sociology, political science and economics) were invited to reflect on both the meaning and political status of the concept of the ESM. In addition to analysing the ambiguities and multiple meanings attributed to the concept, the authors unpick the underlying assumptions and make use of a new approach - the ESM as political project - with which European countries can build consensus and share a common understanding. Offering a new analytical framework and with new empirical evidence, Unwrapping the European Social Model is essential reading for all those involved in European social policy research, education, policy and practice.