Social Policy And The Eurocrisis

In this study, an international and multidisciplinary team take stock of the promise and shortfalls of 'Social Europe' today, examining the response to the Eurocrisis, the past decade of social policy in the image of the Lisbon Agenda, and the politics that derailed a more Delorsian Europe from ever emerging.

In the context of the eurocrisis and its current management, the long 'road to Social Europe' appears to has become a dead end. The present volume explores in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way the processes and driving forces at the root of the current social downward spiral. It examines also the main social consequences of the eurozone crisis. It first provides an assessment of the state of Social Europe beginning with a look back at the framing and development of Social Europe from the founding of the European Community onward. This includes social policy issues linked to the kind of federalism promoted within the Economic and Monetary Union. Second, the texts presented here provide a good basis for understanding the factors that led to rule-based management of the eurozone crisis, offering an analysis of the role of the main European institutions in shaping crisis responses. Third, the book sheds light on various social consequences of the New Economic Governance Framework and of reform policies in the fields of social protection and labour law. Finally, it demonstrates that the crisis and its management have contributed to increased economic, political and cultural heterogeneity and inequality between and within EU member states, which is undermining the legitimacy of the European project as a whole. This has come at an unfortunate time, as the EU is now facing new major challenges to its social cohesion.

In the context of Europe's eurocrisis and its current management, the long 'road to Social Europe' appears to have become a dead end. This volume explores in a comprehensive and interdisciplinary way the processes and driving forces at the root of the current social downward spiral. It also examines the main social consequences of the eurozone crisis. The book first provides an assessment of the state of Social Europe, beginning with a look back at the framing and development of Social Europe from the founding of the European Community onward. This includes social policy issues linked to the kind of federalism promoted within the Economic and Monetary Union. Second, the book provides a good basis for understanding the factors that led to rule-based management of the eurozone crisis, offering an analysis of the role of the main European institutions in shaping crisis responses. It also sheds light on various social consequences of the New Economic Governance Framework and of reform policies in the fields of social protection and labor law. Finally, it demonstrates that the crisis and its management have contributed to increased economic, political, and cultural heterogeneity and inequality between and within EU Member States, which is undermining the legitimacy of the European project as a whole. This has come at an unfortunate time, as the EU is now facing new major challenges to its social cohesion. (Series: Studies in European Cooperation - Vol. 4) [Subject: Economics, Politics, Social Policy, European Studies]

The sixteenth edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play has a triple ambition. First, it provides easily accessible information to a wide audience about recent developments in both EU and domestic social policymaking. Second, the volume provides a more analytical reading, embedding the key developments of the year 2014 in the most recent academic discourses. Third, the forward-looking perspective of the book aims to provide stakeholders and policymakers with specific tools that allow them to discern new opportunities to influence policymaking. In this 2015 edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play, the authors tackle the topics of the state of EU politics after the parliamentary elections, the socialisation of the European Semester, methods of political protest, the Juncker investment plan, the EU’s contradictory education investment, the EU’s contested influence on national healthcare reforms, and the neoliberal Trojan Horse of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

This book builds upon our knowledge of the far-reaching economic, political and social effects of the Euro crisis on the European Union by providing a unique study of European identities. In particular, it considers the impact on the construction of European identities in political and media discourse in Germany, Ireland and Poland—three countries with profoundly different experiences of the crisis and never before compared in a single study. Offering an original insight into the dynamics of identity change at moments of upheaval, the author argues that political and media actors in the early stages of the crisis drew on long-standing identities in order to make sense of the crisis in the public sphere. European identity discourses are thus resilient to change but become central to legitimising and contesting bailouts and further economic integration. As such, the author challenges the commonly held view that identities change dramatically at times of crisis but argues that this very resilience helps to understand the EU’s current divisions. The study of identity during the Euro crisis sheds important light on the prospects for European solidarity as well as on the future of the single currency as an identity-building project. The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars in the fields of EU politics, comparative European politics, and identity politics.

The Euro Crisis produced the most significant challenge to European integration in 60 years testing the structures and powers of the European Union and the Eurozone and threatening the common currency. This book explores how the financial and political crisis was portrayed in the European press and the implications of that coverage on public understanding of the developments, their causes, responsibilities for addressing the crisis, the roles and effectiveness of European institutions, and the implications for European integration and identity. It addresses factors that shaped news and analysis, the roles of European leaders, and the extent to which national and pan-European debates over the crisis occurred. In doing so, it provides a clear and readable explanation of what the portrayals tell us about Europe and European integration in the early twenty-first century."

This volume investigates the policies and politics of extreme austerity, setting the crisis in Greece in its global context. Featuring multidisciplinary contributions and an exclusive interview with former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, this is the first comprehensive account of the economic crisis at the heart of Europe.