It is again being argued that the low labour costs and social standards in countries on the periphery of the EC - Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain - jeopardise employment in the northern EC countries and the social safety net they have constructed. A common social policy harmonising...

The debate over the completion of the single European market is increasingly centering on its so-called social dimension. Does it make sense to streamline social security in the member states as a safety net against the adverse consequences of the single market?

The Delors Committee's three stage plan for attaining European Economic and Monetary Union has met with heavy criticism and has given rise to various counter-proposals. The following article examines the relative merits and shortcomings of the Delors Plan and the alternative concepts presented...

Since the beginning of the 1980s, an increase in the number of fixed-term employment contracts has been apparent in a number of free-market-oriented economies. This has been accompanied by amendments to the pertinent legislation. From the early to mid-1980s, a number of EC countries initiated...

Intensified efforts have been made in the EC in recent years to close the open flanks of its agricultural trade policy. The advocates of this not only believe that an import substitution policy will solve the problem of surpluses, the budget crisis and the grave income problems in the...

The question whether European Monetary Union should include all the EC countries from the start or should initially be limited to a few core countries is again being discussed more intensely. What advantages would a small EMU have from an economic point of view? Which countries should be its...

The planned broadening of the common internal market into an economic and monetary union as proposed in the Delors Plan means a significant qualitative leap in the process of European integration, which should ultimately lead to political union in Europe. Is this objective realistic? In what...