The European Social Model after the crisis: the end of a functionalist fantasy?

Abstract

What is the European Social Model (ESM) for? This paper argues that it is best seen as an ideal type that facilitates the selection of values that sustains the political economy of the European Union. The ESM has facilitated integration in response to changing systemic requirements in the EU: to compensate for Economic and Monetary Union, to coordinate responses to globalisation under the Lisbon Agenda and to offer solace within the EU 2020 agenda after the sovereign debt crisis. As the systemic demands of the EU have changed, the ESM has not. It now has damaging effects on society which have harmed the political integration of the EU. In conclusion, it is argued that the ESM was a missed opportunity, and that while it remains an ideal type rather than a reality, it needs to present a more ambitious political agenda that would reconfirm the EU's commitment to its society over its markets.