The Sovereign Debt Crisis, The Eu And Welfare State Reform (work And Welfare In Europe)

This book offers a much-needed analysis of how the European Union (EU) has affected welfare state reforms in the Member States most severely hit by the 2008 economic crisis. Bringing together leading European social policy researchers, it shows that the EU’s responses to the sovereign debt crisis have changed the nature of EU intervention into domestic welfare states, with an enhanced focus on fiscal consolidation, increased surveillance and enforcement of EU measures. The authors demonstrate how this represents an unprecedented degree of EU involvement in domestic social and labour market policies. Readers will also discover how greater demands to attain balanced budgets have been institutionalized, leading to tensions with the EU's social investment strategy. This highly informative edited collection will engage students, social policy practitioners and researchers, scholars of the welfare state and political scientists. < Front Matter....Pages i-xxvii Introduction: Is the European Union More Involved in Welfare State Reform Following the Sovereign Debt Crisis?....Pages 1-13 A New Era of European Integration? Governance of Labour Market and Social Policy Since the Sovereign Debt Crisis....Pages 15-41 A Framework for Social Investment Strategies: Integrating Generational, Life Course and Gender Perspectives in the EU Social Investment Strategy....Pages 43-67 ‘Pushing Against an Open Door’: Reinforcing the Neo-liberal Policy Paradigm in Ireland and the Impact of EU Intrusion....Pages 69-93 National Social and Labour Market Policy Reforms in the Shadow of EU Bailout Conditionality: The Cases of Greece and Portugal....Pages 95-130 From Austerity to Permanent Strain? The European Union and Welfare State Reform in Italy and Spain....Pages 131-157 Conditionality by Other Means: European Union Involvement in Italy’s Structural Reforms in the Sovereign Debt Crisis....Pages 159-179 Still the Sound of Silence? Towards a New Phase in the Europeanization of Welfare State Policies in France....Pages 181-205 Depleted European Social Models Following the Crisis: Towards a Brighter Future?....Pages 207-221 Back Matter....Pages 223-229 Annotation This book offers a much-needed analysis of how the European Union (EU) has affected welfare state reforms in the Member States most severely hit by the 2008 economic crisis. Bringing together leading European social policy researchers, it shows that the EU s responses to the sovereign debt crisis have changed the nature of EU intervention into domestic welfare states, with an enhanced focus on fiscal consolidation, increased surveillance and enforcement of EU measures. The authors demonstrate how this represents an unprecedented degree of EU involvement in domestic social and labour market policies. Readers will also discover how greater demands to attain balanced budgets have been institutionalized, leading to tensions with the EU's social investment strategy. This highly informative edited collection will engage students, social policy practitioners and researchers, scholars of the welfare state and political scientists." This title provides a much-needed analysis of how the European Union (EU) has affected welfare state reforms in the Member States most severely hit by the 2008 economic crisis. Bringing together leading European social policy researchers, it shows that the EU's responses to the sovereign debt crisis have changed the nature of EU intervention into domestic welfare states, with an enhanced focus on fiscal consolidation, increased surveillance and enforcement of EU measures