Europe on the Way to a Social Union? The EU Social Agenda in the Context Of European Welfarism

Despite the fact that social policy remains the province of the member states, the European Commission has outlined a framework for European social policy, the 'Renewed Social Agenda'. This Agenda stands for a genuine EU social policy that complements the Union’s direct influence on welfare states through internal-market policy. EU social policy focuses on the regulatory level, mainly setting minimum standards. Other levels, such as redistributive social policy, are developed only marginally. A European Social Union should effectively combine national and European social policy. Europe still has a long way to go before this comes into being, however. This paper analyses the EU’s current social policy and makes suggestions for an enhanced European welfarism