Edited by Robert Taylor.
Published 2009(ISBN 1 905370 48 2) Price £9.95
It is 20 years since former EU president Jacque Delors introduced the European Social Charter, which laid the foundations for the EU’s future social and employment policies. Dubbed by Margaret Thatcher at the time “a socialist charter”, it was regarded by trade unionists as a counterweight to the creation of a single market. The arguments surrounding the so-called “social dimension” have remained for most progressives at the centre of the debate about the future of the EU. Today, against the backdrop of a global financial crisis and a Europe-wide recession, the issue of social protection and employment rights is at the top of the political agenda. The authors in this timely publication offer a range of ideas on what the social dimension means for Europe in today’s globalised, but more uncertain world. How successful has EU social policy been, and is a “renewed social agenda” the way ahead? How adaptable is the EU’s social model to the economic and social challenges we now face, and is there a shared vision and an emerging consensus for change? The essays address these and related questions about social Europe from a UK, French, German and EU perspective.