European Social Policy Research Articles

Feminism and Political Economy in Victorian England. Edited by Peter Groenewegen. Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar, 1994. Pp. 197. - Women and Families: An Oral History, 1940–1970. By Elizabeth Roberts. Oxford: Black-well, 1995. Pp. 277. $54.95. - Women and Social Policies in Europe. Edited by Jane Lewis. Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar, 1993. Pp. 247.

Feminism and Political Economy in Victorian England. Edited by Peter Groenewegen. Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar, 1994. Pp. 197. - Women and Families: An Oral History, 1940–1970. By Elizabeth Roberts. Oxford: Black-well, 1995. Pp. 277. $54.95. - Women and Social Policies in Europe. Edited by Jane Lewis. Brookfield, VT: Edward Elgar, 1993. Pp. 247. - Volume 55 Issue 4

Social Policy On Tomorrow's Euro-Corporatist Stage

The European Commission's Green and White papers on Social Policy try to promote social security as a precondition of the further success of the European integration. A Euro pean Social Policy is seen as an important con tribution to improve the public acceptance of the European Integration. The article starts with an analysis of the political effectiveness and limitations of this argument. A closer analysis shows that the proposals in the Green and White papers are not entirely clear. They vacillate between supporting full employment and introducing a basic security system. This can be seen as a first reason for the particular selective European Social Policy which is pre dicted in the article. The analysis of the main socio-political actors on the European level underpins this prediction. The important role of the social partners - as targeted in the Green and White papers - combined with the absence of a functioning central political actor (anal ogous to the state on the national level) will result in a specific kind of selectivity, which produces a relatively poor socio-political out put on the European level.

Social Protection and Economic Union

As Europe moves towards economic and monetary union, the shortcomings in the de velopment of European social policy will be come more apparent. Thus, although there have been plenty of initiatives affecting work ing conditions and the Social Fund is clearly an important instrument of Commission policy, few policy developments at the European level could be said to have had much effect on redis tribution. This article assesses the scope for a more explicit involvement in social policy, es pecially social protection, by the European tier and considers the consequences of a failure to address this issue. Despite the likely opposition to any proposals to confer some responsibility for social protection on the supranational tier, the need for changes in current arrangements is demonstrated. This article reviews proposals for E U level social protection and discusses obstacles to their implementation, notably the lack of cross-border solidarity. It is argued that the manner in which social protection is dealt with will be an important pointer to the future character of the E U and that this issue needs to be given greater prominence on the political agenda.

Poverty and the Economic Transition in the Russian Federation

In what some describe as one of the great natural experiments of our time, the Russian Federation has introduced a series of sweeping economic reforms over a very short period of time, beginning in January 1992. These include the elimination of most food subsidies; the reduction of other food subsidies and subsidies for fuel and most other basic commodities; the use of freely fluctuating market prices; the privatization of selected state enterprises; the creation of conditions for the establishment of a private sector in many areas of economic activity; and the initiation of a process that will ultimately transfer much property and land into private ownership. The result is rapid economic and social change. Western observers agree that this transformation will produce significant dislocations and affect many people adversely. Most expect that the worst dislocations will be in the short term, with the transformation leading to substantial long-term benefits. The Russians involved in the design and implementation of this transition, as well as Russian politicians, have been and continue to be deeply concerned about the impacts of the reforms on poverty levels.

Book Reviews

Book reviewed in this article: Women and Social Policies in Europe, edited by Jane Lewis The Next Mediterranean Enlargement of the European Community: Turkey, Cyprus and Malta?, by J. Redmond France and EC Membership Evaluated, edited by Franpis‐Georges Dreyfus, Jacques Morizet and Max Peyard The European Challenge: Geography and Development in the European Community, edited by M. Blacksell and A.M. Williams The History of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community: Supra‐nationality in Operation, by Dirk Siedenburg and Raymond Poidevin The United States of Europe, by Ernest Wistrich Jacques Delors: artiste et martyr, by Bernard Maris (Paris: Albin Michel, 1993), ISBN 2–226–06163–0: 326pp., 98.00 FF pb; Delors, by Alain Rollat Information Sources on the Common Agricultural Policy, by Robert Ackrill The Globalization of Business: The challenge of the 1990s, by John H. Dunning Adjustment and Growth in the European Monetary Union, edited by Francisco Torres and Francesco Giavazzi Banking Structures in Major Countries, edited by George G. Kaufman Industrial Relations ‐ will the European Community Change Everything? by John Edmonds, 11th Hitachi Lecture Britain and European Unity, 1945–1992, by John W. Young Britain in the European Community, by Andrew Geddes Greece, the New Europe, and the Changing International Order, edited by Harry J. Psomiades and Stavros B. Thomadakis Eisenhower, Kennedy, and the United States of Europe, by Pascaline Winand Dictionaries unique des Communauéh européennes, edited by A. Barav and C. Philip

Poverty in Europe: competing paradigms of analysis

This article examines the relationship between some of the dominant conventional perspectives on European social policy and the European poverty research agenda: in particular, the studies of poverty which have been conducted under the auspices of the European Commission. These studies have been shaped by the political agenda of the Commission but have been relatively isolated from theoretical debates concerning European social policy. However, a substantial reconfiguration of the European poverty discussion is now under way, involving redirection of the research agenda towards wider issues of social stratification and political order.

Prospects for Transnational Social Policy in Europe: East–West Relations

(1995). Prospects for Transnational Social Policy in Europe: East–West Relations. International Journal of Sociology: Vol. 25, Work and Welfare in a Changing Europe Part II: Reshaping the European Welfare States, pp. 8-22.

Neo‐Voluntarism: A New European Social Policy Regime?

Abstract: The essay begins with a recapitulation of core institutional properties of the European Union as they have evolved over several decades. The leading insight deriving from this exercise is that European social policy will always, for all practical purposes, be made simultaneously at two levels, a supranational one and a national one, and will be shaped by complex interactions between them and among the national systems situated in the integrated market economy of the Union. Proceeding from here, the remainder of the paper examines the two levels of social policy‐making, beginning with the supranational and moving on to the national, in an effort to identify the kinds of policies that are most likely to emerge given the constraints and opportunities offered by the institutional framework.

The European Community Household Panel (ECHP): Its design, scientific and policy purposes

Abstract One key objective of the European Community Household Panel Survey (ECHP) is to develop socio‐economic research as an aid to policy in the Community in the field of household income and living conditions based on: (a) a 12‐country European micro database providing standardized, comparable information on all Member States. For the first time in the history of European socio‐economic research, a comparable social micro database will be available, at substantial expense, and it should be exploited to the fullest extent possible to shed light on the concerns in the Union. (In due course, additional data will be collected from new entrants to the Union.) (b) a European network of researchers experienced in performing comparative analysis on panel data and of conducting scientific, policy‐oriented reports on subjects of close interest to the Union, such as those indicated in the White Paper on European Social Policy. This paper sketches the rationale of the ECHP, its objectives and the position reached so far in its development.

European Union Employment and Social Policy

European Union Employment and Social Policy Paul Davies, Paul Davies Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Mark Freedland Mark Freedland Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Yearbook of European Law, Volume 15, Issue 1, 1995, Pages 421–448, https://doi.org/10.1093/yel/15.1.421 Published: 01 November 1995

The Green Paper on European Social Policy

(1994). The Green Paper on European Social Policy. Regional Studies: Vol. 28, No. 8, pp. 827-831.

Book Reviews : Women and Social Policies in Europe: Work, family and the state

Book Reviews : Women and Social Policies in Europe: Work, family and the state

Social indicators and social reporting

The present integration and future enlargement of the European Union creates a new demand for comparative social statistics, particularly on general living conditions in member countries, as well as their development. The Maastricht Agreement as well as the two white papers on European Social Policy, on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment respectively, address a broad area of policy issues concerning living conditions at a micro-level. Key issues as convergence, cohesion, integration, cooperation and social dialogue are addressed, as well as social exclusion, poverty, equal opportunities, social conflict, racism and segregation. A large set of social concerns is dis­ cussed in these documents, such as employment, minimum standards, health, safety at work, hous­ ing and social security. These documents also underline the distributional aspects of living condi­ tions, highligtening gender, family, generations, disablility, old age, race, immigrants, the regions, and religion. These documents distinctly relate to the legitimative fundamentals of European integration: the growth of welfare in all member states, the levelling of disparities of living conditions between member states, and the normative role of European integration for political action at national level. These articulated user demands, as well as a generally felt need for better international social statistics calls for a strengthening of the statistical infrastructure along the lines of the social indica­ tor tradition, as it already is established on the national level in several European countries. The keyword better statistics stands for an integrated indicator system, improved data quality, compre­ hensiveness, flexible data collection systems, timeliness, cost-effectivess, and international and regional coverage. There is an urgent need for technical coordination of the national programs be­ fore these become too diversified to permit proper comparative social indicator statistics. In this paper the present status of the social indicator movement is discussed, as well as the routes it offers to enhanced international comparability. 1. The Basic Idea of Social Indicators 1.1. From Social Statistics to Social Indicators

Women and Social Policies in Europe: Work, Family and the State.

This text aims to provide a thoroughly documented overview of social policies affecting women in Germany, Italy, Denmark, Britain, Ireland, Norway, France and Sweden. The central theme of the book is the relationship between women's paid and unpaid work, something very few European governments have been prepared explicitly to address as a social issue and which has yet to enter the European Commission's agenda. Contributors discuss the literature on women and welfare in the particular country concerned, and outline the developments in social policies relating to women and the position of women in regard to reproductive and labour market behaviour in the post-War period. The essays analyze the assumptions behind policies affecting women's family and work lives and discuss specific legislative approaches to securing equality. A concluding chapter discusses the European Community's contribution to the goal of equal opportunities for both men and women. The main aim of this text is to provide students with a source of easily accessible information about a major issue in social policy - the relationship between men and women, the family and employment.

On Half-Full Glasses, Europe and the Left: Comments on Wolfgang Streeck's 'European Social Policy after Maastricht'

On Half-Full Glasses, Europe and the Left: Comments on Wolfgang Streeck's 'European Social Policy after Maastricht'

A Further Comment on Wolfgang Streeck's 'European Social Policy after Maastricht'

The general argumentation of Wolfgang Streeck's paper (1994) is the following. First, on the basis of a historical analysis, he tries to show that the social policy carried out at European community level has until now produced very few and poor results. Second, he identifies the reasons for such a situation essentially in the very nature of intergovernmentalism and Member States' reluctance to engage themselves supranationally as far as social policy is concerned, and also in a total lack of interest on the part of European employers in 'centralized, market-correcting social policy or collective bargaining'. Third, given these premisses, it would be vain and naive, according to Streeck, to expect that the Maastricht Social Agreement (MSA) will induce any change of behaviour on the part of social and political actors responsible for the making of European social policy; as a consequence, its substantive content is not likely to be more full-fledged in the future.

European Social Policy after Maastricht: The 'Social Dialogue' and 'Subsidiarily'

The paper reviews recent changes in the institutional conditions ofa European social policy, especially the new codecision rights of the 'social partners' under the Maastricht Social Protocol. To assess the potential of the new institutional framework to add a meaningful social dimension to the integrated European market, the paper places Maastricht and its aftermath in the context of both the history of social policy as well as the overall institutional structure of the European Community. Drawing on theory derived from the study of neo-corporatism, the paper argues that the key for a productive 'social dialogue' rests with business; that business has no incentives to promote an activist, market-correcting social policy at Community level and will therefore likely use its codecision rights to delay or prevent legislation; and that neither the unions nor the European Commission, the incipient European Community executive, have a capacity to make business change its strategic calculation.

European Social Policy — New Directions

European Social Policy — New Directions

European Social Policy: Options for the Union

European Social Policy: Options for the Union

Ethische Perspektiven und Aufgaben einer europäischen Arbeitsmarktpolitik für die Zukunft

Abstract Besides the economical criteria of convergence, which have been precisely laid down in the EC-treaties, especially in the treaties of Maastricht, the integration of labour markets is an explicit aim of the European Union. Considering that approx. 19 million employees within the EC are not gainfully employed, a common and well-aimed labour market policy seems to be one of the major responsibilities of European economical and social policy. The instruments of job creation and preservation in Germany are being compared with the aims of the EC-comission, also experiences of other countries are being involved. The Christian Churches in Europe are committed to get involved in tackling unemployment and its human-destructing effects. The Social Chamber of the EKD has made continuous proposals. At present, it is working on continuing its previous memorandums on unemployment. With this, also the memorandum ))Responsibility for a Social Europe« (1992) is being continued and put into concrete terms.