Reinventing the welfare state The case for a European Social Union

Transcription

1 Reinventing the welfare state The case for a European Social Union Frank Vandenbroucke (UvA) The end of postwar KVAB

2 A fundamental clash between two postwar projects? An institutional clash between two logics Welfare states: closure European integration: opening A balancing act is possible Reconnecting with the founding fathers inspiration Reinventing the relation between the EU and national welfare states: A European Social Union

3 A fundamental clash between two postwar projects? An institutional clash between two logics Welfare states: closure European integration: opening A balancing act is possible Reconnecting with the founding fathers inspiration Reinventing the relation between the EU and national welfare states: A European Social Union

4 A fundamental clash between two postwar projects? An institutional clash between two logics Welfare states: closure European integration: opening A balancing act is possible Reconnecting with the founding fathers inspiration Reinventing the relation between the EU and national welfare states: A European Social Union

5 A fundamental clash between two postwar projects? An institutional clash between two logics Welfare states: closure European integration: opening A balancing act is possible Reconnecting with the founding fathers inspiration Reinventing the relation between the EU and national welfare states: A European Social Union

6 The social dimension of the European project according to the founding fathers: a belief in convergence European integration would support the simultaneous pursuit of economic progress and of social cohesion, both within countries (through the gradual development of the welfare states) and between countries (through upward convergence across the Union) Division of labour: economic development: supranational coordination of social security rights & anti-discrimination: supranational social policy: national sovereignty (in theory) European solidarity fair access to the dynamics of upward economic convergence (market integration + limited solidarity transfers, in the context of the cohesion policy ) economic freedoms, but also social rights for mobile citizens => a pan-european social space solidarity within Member States, to redistribute the produce of economic growth The convergence machine worked more or less until 2004/2008.

7 Since 2004/8: the reality of inequality and divergence The EU has stopped being a convergence machine. Europe is becoming more unequal, both between and within countries There is no one-size-fits-all explanation, hence no silver bullet to tackle increasing inequalities But it is impossible to change course without a basic consensus on the European social model A basic consensus on the European Social Model is not a luxury, but a necessity.

8 Since 2004/8: the reality of inequality and divergence The EU has stopped being a convergence machine. Europe is becoming more unequal, both between and within countries There is no one-size-fits-all explanation, hence no silver bullet to tackle increasing inequalities Yet, we need an encompassing European social policy concept A basic consensus on the European social model is not a luxury, but a necessity.

9 Why is a basic consensus on the social model a necessity? An inevitability of European Monetary Union flexibility determines our social order repairing the design flaws requires more solidarity solidarity requires mutual trust integration and social regulation in EU28 Social dumping? Social sovereignty? the very core of the European project.

10 Why is a basic consensus on the social model a necessity? An inevitability of European Monetary Union flexibility determines our social order repairing the design flaws of EMU requires more solidarity solidarity requires mutual trust integration and social regulation in EU28 Social dumping? Social sovereignty? the very core of the European project.

11 Why is a basic consensus on the social model a necessity? An inevitability of European Monetary Union flexibility determines our social order repairing the design flaws of EMU requires more solidarity solidarity requires mutual trust integration and social regulation in EU28 Social dumping? Social sovereignty? the very core of the European project.

12 Why is a basic consensus on the social model a necessity? An inevitability of European Monetary Union; Freedom of movement and national social cohesion in EU28: Social dumping? Economic freedoms right to strike (Viking, Laval) the very core of the European project.

13 Why is a basic consensus on the social model a necessity? An inevitability of European Monetary Union; Freedom of movement and national social cohesion in EU28: a balancing act Social dumping? Economic freedoms right to strike (Viking, Laval) Two dimensions of solidarity: domestic (national) and pan- European

14 Which solidarity? An inevitability of European Monetary Union; Freedom of movement and national social cohesion in EU28: a balancing act Social dumping? Economic freedoms right to strike (Viking, Laval) Two dimensions of solidarity: domestic (national) and pan- European

15 A European Social Union A Social Union would support national welfare states on a systemic level in some of their key functions guide the substantive development of national welfare states via general social standards and objectives, leaving ways and means of social policy to Member States on the basis of an operational definition of the European social model. European countries would cooperate in a union with an explicit social purpose, pursuing both national and pan-european social cohesion requires a sense of common purpose

16 Unduly idealistic? See the Five Presidents Report on the Future of EMU: solidarity, convergence, social benchmarking Lacunae: education

17 Envoi: the puzzle for the European left A European Social Union a European Welfare State But it implies: More pooling of sovereignty and a degree of convergence Pan-European solidarity Effective (non-polarising) democracy => a sense of common purpose

18 Thank you Vandenbroucke and Rinaldi, Social inequalities in Europe The challenge of convergence and cohesion. In: Vision Europe Summit Consortium (eds.): Redesigning European welfare states Ways forward, Gütersloh ( Vandenbroucke, The idea of a European Social Union, in Luuk van Middelaar en Philippe Van Parijs (eds.), After the storm. How to Save Democracy in Europe. Lannoo, Tielt, 2015, pp Vandenbroucke, A European Social Union: Unduly Idealistic or Inevitable? Vandenbroucke, Soevereiniteit, solidariteit en democratie in Europa: de linkse puzzel, S & D, Jaargang 72, Nummer 4, Augustus 2015, pp Vandenbroucke, The Case for a European Social Union. From Muddling Through to a Sense of Common Purpose, in Marin, B. (Ed.) (2015), The Future of Welfare in a Global Europe, Ashgate: Aldershot UK, pp