Institutional change in EU: how much "free market", how much “welfare state”?

Recent evolutions in Europe raise questions on the viability of the actual economic and social model that defines the European construction project. In this paper, using the logics of economic theory, we will try to explain the viability of institutional European model that stick between free market mechanisms and protectionism. The main challenge for the EU is about the possibility to bring together the institutional convergence and the wellbeing for all Europeans. This is the result of the view, still dominant, of European politics elite, according to which institutional harmonization is the solution of a more dynamic and prosper Europe. But, economic realities convince us that a harmonized, standardized Europe is not necessarily identical with a Europe of harmony and social cooperation.