Introduction: Changes in European social security

Abstract

In this chapter we will present a classification of models of social security to help us develop a framework for the analysis of recent changes in European social security systems. To that end we will first, in section 2, give a brief survey of some historical roots of social security systems in the countries of Europe. We will also present a classification of social security models, as developed in the early 1990s. In section 3, subsequently, we will attempt to define some of the main dimensions of change in social security since then. In both section 2 and section 3 we will also touch on European integration, and its consequences for the development of social security in the European Union countries.