Europeanisation through the Back Door: EU Social Policy and the Member States
Europeanisation through the Back Door: EU Social Policy and the Member States

Summary/Abstract: The article aims at broadly delineating the division of labour in social policy between the EU and the member states; in other words, at showing to what extent the social policy of the member states has been Europeanised. Our understanding of Europeanisation is broad. Europeanisation can be a rather subtle and invisible process rather than an abrupt modification of the national institutional architecture. The Union’s legal and juridical competences in the social area have been restricted to issues related to the single market, such as labour law, the free movement of workers, health and safety at the working place, and non-discrimination. In addition, the social OMC is a case of subtle and indirect Europeanisation influencing above all values, norms and ways of thinking about social policy. Moreover, national social systems are also influenced by other EU processes, such as the European macro-economic policy, the single market, the common currency, and the European Employment Strategy.

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