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The Europeanization of Welfare: Paradigm shifts and social policy reforms

The Europeanization of Welfare: Paradigm shifts and social policy reforms. Luis Moreno Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Workshop on Changing Values - Changing Welfare States: on the European Dimension of German and Turkish Social Policy

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The Europeanization of Welfare: Paradigm shifts and social policy reforms

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  1. The Europeanization of Welfare: Paradigm shifts and social policy reforms Luis Moreno Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) Workshop on Changing Values - Changing Welfare States: on the European Dimension of German and Turkish Social Policy Social Policy Forum, Bosphorus University and Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Bremen Istanbul, 23/26 May, 2006 Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  2. PARADIGM SHIFTS (Economic) • Globalisation and technological changes in the post-Fordist economy. • From Keynesianism to Monetarism. • Macro policies of monetary centralisation and harmonisation of EU ‘internal’ open markets. • Deregulation of the labour market, wage flexibility and cost containment in social expenditure. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  3. PARADIGM SHIFTS (Social) • Has welfare development become a mere surrogate of economic ideas, interests and institutions? • Is the Schumpetarian workfare state to subordinate welfare policies to the strengthening of national competitiveness and the achievement of economic success? • Is the European Social Model an identity marker for Europeans? Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  4. EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL • TO PROVIDE SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND SOCIAL COHESION. • Contrast with other socio-economic models (individualization and re-commodification in USA, and ‘dumping’ in South-East Asia). • Construction of ‘floors’ or ‘nets’ of material resources and entitlements to favour citizens’ participation in society. • Priority in the fightagainst poverty and social exclusion. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  5. EUROPEANISATION (1) • Europeanisation is not a static concept, but rather a dynamic idea expressed in the erosion of state sovereignty and the gradual development of common institutions in Europe (e.g., Agreement of Schengen, Court of Justice, Euro currency) Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  6. EUROPEANISATION (2) • Relates to countries sharing a linked heritage and embracing egalitarian values of democracy and human rights. • Unfolding of structures of multi-level governance. • National, regional and local policies are to be shaped by considerations beyond the mere centrality of the member states. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  7. EUROPEANISATION (3) • Is the constitution of a United States of Europe the necessary outcome? • Cultural assimilation and single identity formation, along the lines of the American ‘melting-pot’ and ‘command-and-control’ policy provision? • History and cultural diversity within the mosaic of peoples in the Old Continent to be taken into account. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  8. Revisiting regime theory (1) • Individual empowerment (Anglo-Saxon) • Statist egalitarianism (Nordic) • Corporatist partnership (Continental) Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  9. Revisiting regime theory (2) Familialistic interpenetration (Mediterranean) - Household production and distribution of income and social services. - Strong family micro-solidarity. - Pivotal role of women for care functions (‘superwomen’). Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  10. Features of welfare regimes Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  11. EUROPEAN WELFARE • Furthering of a macro community of trusts. • Not to be superimposed on the internal interaction of communities with long-standing culture and history. • Legal framework for preservation of European Social Model. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  12. Social policy provision (1) • Macro-structural constraints (external social dumping, industrial relocation and financial globalisation). • Institutional inputs are also of the foremost importance, particularly those related to European law and European Court of Justice’s jurisprudence. • Orientation of EU towards regulation policies rather than re-distribution. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  13. Social policy provision (2) • ‘OPEN METHOD OF CO-ORDINATION’ (OMC): To organise a learning process about how to cope with the common challenges in a co-ordinated way, while also respecting state (and sub-state) diversity. Common guidelines, national action plans, peer reviews, joint evaluation reports and recommendations. Agenda for policy actors and encouragement for experimentation. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  14. FUNCTIONAL DIMENSION • EU countries have embraced new economic policies of a similar nature. • Very limited economic ‘sovereignty’ to promote previous Keynesian demand-side policies. • Emergence of new social risks in post-industrial societies. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  15. New Social Risks (related to) • Higher participation of women in the formal labour market; • Increase in the numbers of frail and dependent elderly people; • Rise of social exclusion for workers with poor education; • Expansion of private services and the de-regulation of their public counterparts. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  16. New Social Risks (groups) • Balancing paid work and family responsibilities (especially childcare), being called on for care for a frail elderly relative, or becoming frail and lacking family support; • Lacking the skills necessary to gain access to an adequately paid and secure job, or having skills and training that become obsolete and being unable to upgrade them through life-long learning; • Using private provision that supplies an insecure or inadequate pension or unsatisfactory services Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  17. TERRITORIAL DIMENSION • In 2002, about half of the EU-15 regions were ‘partner regions’, or regions with legislative powers (almost in half of the member states): Finland (the Åland Islands), Belgium (3 regions, 3 communities), Germany (16 Länder), Austria (9 Länder), Spain (17 Comunidades Autónomas), Portugal (2 autonomous regions), Italy (20 regioni and 2 autonomous provinces), and the United Kingdom (3 parliaments, or regional assemblies). Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  18. Decentralisation (1) • The principle of subsidiarity (Maastricht Treaty, 1992) provides for decisions to be taken supranationally only if local, regional or national levels cannot perform better. • The preferred locus for decision-making is as decentralised and closer to the citizen as possible. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  19. Decentralisation (2) • Political elites of the member states often interpret the subsidiarity principle as a safeguard for the preservation of their traditional national power bases. • Sub-state layers of government have found in the principle of European subsidiarity a renewed impulse for the running of public affairs, and new opportunities for policy innovation. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  20. CONCLUDING REMARKS (1) • Evidence from diverse European countries shows that similar needs are emerging in the areas of new social risk concerning work-life balance, access to paid work for the lower-skilled and privatisation. • In general, most EU countries are moving in the direction of the liberal social protection system. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  21. CONCLUDING REMARKS (2) • Decentralisation has also become a major embedding factor in European contemporary life. • Reconstruction of programmes of social citizenship may also be articulated from ‘below’ (mesogovernments and ‘safety nets’). Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

  22. CONCLUDING REMARKS (3) • EU has been remarkably effective in developing common economic institutions, but has been much less successful in creating a common framework for European social policy. • Both the European-national and the economic-social dichotomies will test the real system-building capacity of the process of Europeanisation. Luis Moreno, Istanbul, May 23, 2006

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