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Purpose: This paper aims to explore the existence of convergence in non-monetary working conditions in Europe resorting to widely used definitions of this phenomenon and composite indexes of job quality. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis relies on composite indexes, widely used in previous literature, for 207 regions in six different areas of job quality drawing on the microdata of the European Working Conditions Survey from 1995 to 2015. This study assesses the occurrence of convergence both in terms of dispersion of job quality outcomes (sigma-convergence) and, especially, regarding the existence of a catch-up process (beta-convergence). Findings: This study finds evidence of both types of convergences in all the domains, with the exception of skills and discretion and prospects dimensions according to the sigma-convergence approach. The results do not suggest substantial differences between the 15 European Union countries before the 2004 enlargement and the new Member States and are robust to a wide range of changes in the sample and different econometric specifications. Originality/value: Tot he best of the authors' knowledge, this paper represents the first rigorous and systematic attempt of addressing the existence of convergence in non-monetary working conditions, applying formal and widely accepted definitions of this phenomenon. It contributes to our knowledge on this topic providing strong evidence of convergence in job quality. Those results can be of interest for scholars in Economics and other Social Sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent developments of the economic theory suggest that due attention to territorial context increases efficiency and improves delivery of the policies. This in turn calls for better linkages between spatial and socio-economic efforts. The paper analyses the concept of policy territorialization and proposes policy tools for that purpose. The relevant theoretical models are used, mainly evolutionary economics and new economic geography. The key outcome is a set of territorial keys supposed to enhance territorial approach in developmental policies. Also some plausible ways of making use of those keys are proposed and then tested using Polish territory as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the second half of the 1990s, cross-sectoral, sectoral and company-level bargaining has developed into a key movement in transnational industrial relations in the European Union. Originally stimulated by EU institutions, these forms of bargaining have since progressed autonomously. At present, it is difficult to say exactly what effect, if any, they can have on individual working conditions. Based on a 2005 report to the European Commission, this paper argues for EU legislative action to create an optional framework for transnational collective bargaining, in the form of a Council regulation to be adopted under the social and economic cohesion chapters of the EU Treaty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to query the value of strategies implemented, notably in France, and to demonstrate the largely ignored link between demographics and economics. Design/methodology/approach - The paper achieves its objective by comparing statistics of European Union (EU) members and competitors to reveal that traditional views on economics and social policy may no longer apply. Findings - The paper finds that the Old Europe stagnated due to political lack of will, but a renewed Europe has begun. The Euro as scapegoat for poor performance is dismissed. Productivity figures show how foreign trade and debt can be efficiently managed. Overall, trade must be encouraged worldwide. Low-wage countries will inevitably compete and cannot ethically be ignored. The subsidy debate heats up as the EU agricultural policy ends and the USA extends Farm Aid. Regardless, EU members must focus on sustainable development. The low birthrate in the Old Europe means social policy should be reformed to encourage families to have children and allow selective immigration to meet labour needs. The implication is that France - Europe in general - must review the EU mission and structure. The French president seems to be headed in this direction. In future research, demographics must be monitored to make social and economic plans for the working lives of our youth and retirement of our seniors. Originality/value - This paper will interest economists, politicians and policy-makers, especially those unaware of the role of demographics in productivity and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to provide an insider's view into the implementation of goals set by the European Commission for socio-economic research. By analysing project coordinators' responses to questionnaires (n=88), several aspects of the emergence of a European social science research community are examined. Focus is placed on three 'European Added Values', defined within two subsequent calls for research proposals and funding opportunities: framework programmes 4 and 5 (1994-1998, and 1998-2002 accordingly). These 'Added Values' will set the expected features of European-funded research projects, and will include: (1) transnationality - the involvement of researchers from a variety of EU states; (2) applied research - the potential implementation of outcomes in socioeconomic policy; and (3) interdisciplinarity - the integration and collaboration of different disciplinary perspectives. These 'ideals' were tested against reports as to the reality of the research practices, and found to have a significant compatibility, as well as several discrepancies, with the objectives set out by the EU research committee. This paper allows for an understanding of the dynamics of European research consortia, and the factors involved in the success or failure in attaining the overarching goals of the EU Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research in many countries has confirmed that teenage mothers and their families are often at a disadvantage compared with those whose children are born in their 20s or 30s. There has, however, never been an opportunity for a systematic comparison between countries, based on a common data source. This paper analyses the current positions of women whose first child was born when they were teenagers across 13 countries in the European Union, based upon the European Community Household Panel Survey. Outcomes considered are mother's employment, family employment, family structure, and household income. The severity of disadvantage on outcome measures varied substantially by country. The findings also enable us to consider the theoretical value of attempts to classify countries according to the nature of their family formation norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper analyzes the concept of security, emphasizing the difference between political security and societal security, referring to the different types of threats to security, depending on the traits that social groups will define as essential to their identity. Our paper aims also to draw attention upon the significant facts of culture and civilization in a region situated at the confluence of Central and South-Eastern Europe, it aims to reflect the understanding of the plural character of the historic development, and it also aims to pin-point the intercultural character of the Banat region as an example of inter-regional tolerance. The chosen case study - the region of Banat - proves balance between various religions, traditions, customs and between various lifestylesThe intellectual work and the improvement in the degree of civilization conveyed by Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Jews, Bulgarians and Slovaks in Banat have become a common inheritance. Another important feature of the culture of this region would be that it was promoted by the entire community, and one can notice the interactive feature of the inter-cultural phenomenon as an outstanding approach of a peaceful living together. Our research can be considered a synthesis regarding the relationship between the coexistence of different ethnicities and cultures and the economic and social performance and, respectively, the setting up of an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual assistance, in fact a manifestation of inter-territorial solidarity aiming towards a better life and in which the diffusion of historical experiences becomes factor of development and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing mainly on qualitative evidence gathered from interviews with migrant handymen and with labour-using households in the UK, this paper analyses how this migration typifies economic and social divisions within Europe and embodies conflicting tensions between economic and social policies at an interpersonal level. By supplying household services, migrant handymen enable labour-using households to alleviate time pressures and conflicts in time priorities arising from tensions between economic expectations regarding working hours and work commitment, and social expectations regarding contemporary ideas of active parenting. Similarly to the outsourcing of feminized domestic labour and care, these tensions are in part resolved for labour-using households by extending class divisions across national boundaries while leaving gender divisions changed but not transformed and in some instances exacerbating work/ life tensions among the migrants. These broad findings are complicated by differential desires and capabilities around fathering practices among fathers in labour-using households and among the migrants, and economic differentiation among the migrant population. Although we cannot tell from our study whether such movement reinforces or redresses uneven development, what we can say is that existing cohesion policies are insufficient to redress uneven development, and individual responses including migration can reinforce existing social divisions. Further, existing social policies for promoting gender equality fail to recognize or redress the deeply embedded gendered norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the development of integration policies concerning third country nationals at the level of the European Union (EU). Starting with the discovery of recent policy developments at the European level, including new European directives mainly granting social rights to non-EU citizens, the paper proceeds to examine the reasons that enabled this shift from the national to the European level of decision making. It concludes that integration policies have been created as a new EU policy field amidst the also fairly new policy field of immigration policies. In light of the theoretical concept of “organisational fields,” the interests and motives of the main actors involved in the emergence of this policy field are analysed. The research combines neo-functionalist and intergovernmentalist assumptions, and it results in the following conclusions: First, a European integration policy could only be established within the emerging field of immigration policies, which laid the groundwork for member state collaborations in this highly sensitive policy area. Secondly, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, several non-governmental organisations and most notably the European Commission played an important role in promoting integration policies at the European level. Their engagement is interpreted as a necessary but not as a sufficient condition for the establishment of this policy field. Thirdly, these actors tried to strengthen the status of integration policies by emphasising the linkage between successful integration policies and economic and social cohesion. This semantic strategy, among other discussed reasons, facilitated the member states’ decision at the European summit in Tampere 1999 that all third country nationals shall be granted comparable rights to EU citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes to evaluate the heart of the concept of citizenship of the European Union: namely, freedom of movement and residence. The evolution of citizenship, from its inception in the Maastricht Treaty, as a political concept will be treated. Freedom of movement and residence, with its rights and limitations, historically and legally accrued to economically active persons. Non-economically active persons have been given rights in secondary legislation to move and to reside subject to specified conditions and limitations. The jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice, in accordance with which the link with economic in dependence and the freedom to move and reside has been broken, will be critically appraised. Resort to the principle of nondiscrimination on grounds of nationality in Article 12 of the European Community Treaty, read in conjunction with the citizenship provisions in Articles 17 and 18 EC, has resulted in legal rights for nationals of European Union Member States who are lawfully resident in, and who do not become an unreasonable burden on, the host Member State. Enforceable at the suit of individuals, EU citizenship has given rise to social advantages for non-economic actors. Citizenship has become a legal source of rights beyond those agreed to by the Member States, the legitimacy for which lies with the degree of financial solidarity accorded under the principle of non-discrimination and the level of integration of a particular EU citizen into the society of the host Member State. The need to establish a real link and the proportionate legitimate interests of the Member State are limits to citizenship as a source of rights. Nevertheless, it is the intention of this paper to examine the potential for citizenship to transform the polity of the European Union, from one based on economic and social rights, to one based on fundamental rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economics & Environment / Ekonomia i Środowisko is the property of Fundacja Ekonomistow Srodowiska i Zasobow Naturalnych and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The endless flow of migrants coming to Europe since 2014 and the virulent debates in the media dividing public opinions and politicians, raise the question of migrants? future inclusion in European countries of arrival and final destination. Different in each country, the integration process depends on several factors: the way the country defines itself as a Nation; its welcoming culture and welfare model; the political context and dialogue around socio-economic inclusion as well as civic and political rights for migrants. Nonetheless, integration has received minimal attention and its policies have not been considered as a research priority so far, hence this paper aims to highlight some important aspects of migrants inclusion process in Europe, in the context of the on-going crisis. More precisely, this article is offering an overview of the European Union integration policy and tools and of the structural measures put forward by three countries (Sweden, Germany, Italy) in order to integrate the migrants who have settled and continue to arrive on their territory with the purpose to reside. This panoramic perspective will allow us to pick up the main challenges European countries will have to face in terms of migrants? inclusion into the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Smart specialization, a relatively new concept, has been actively promoted as an important tool for the Europe 2020 Strategy. It stands as a key solution for avoiding dissipation of the EU research funds and for focusing the research, innovation, human and financial resources on those innovative sectors which are highly performant, socio-economically important or attractive for investors. Given the novelty and complexity of this concept, more theoretical and methodological consideration should be given to further concept clarification, for the use of policy makers and for its effective implementation in various countries, each of them with its R&D and innovation background and economic context. This paper aims to survey the literature of the field in order to relieve theoretical and methodologic elements addressing their application in Romanian context, with an assessment of implementation opportunities and of necessary instruments, according to Innovation Union objectives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT Aim This paper identifies socio-economic driving forces of biodiversity change and analyses their political and economic dynamics by modelling socio-economic parts of three scenario storylines developed for the ALARM (assessing large-scale risks for biodiversity with tested methods) project. In the BAMBU (business-as-might-be-usual) scenario policy decisions already made in the European Union (EU) are implemented and enforced, but no additional measures are introduced. The GRAS (growth applied strategy) scenario describes a future world orientated towards economic growth and complete deregulation. And finally, SEDG (sustainable European development goal) is a normative scenario focusing on the achievement of sustainable development. Methods The GINFORS (global inter-industry forecasting system) model is applied to quantify the effects of different sets of policy measures representing the three scenarios. It allows investigation of the inter-relations between socio-economic driving forces and the state of the environment. Results The presented results for the 25 EU countries focus on the following variables: unemployment, material extraction, energy supply and CO2 emissions. The lowest amount of unemployment is in the SEDG scenario, where it steadily decreases from 2005 to 2020. In BAMBU it falls to a level that is also below that of 2005. In GRAS, the number of unemployed people in 2020 is clearly over the value of 2005. The development of total material extraction from 2005 to 2020 is nearly stable in BAMBU, while it clearly increases in GRAS. Only in SEDG is there a reduction in resource use. None of the scenarios achieves a substantial reduction in energy use. However, the development of CO2 emissions shows a decoupling from energy supply. For BAMBU there is a slight decline in CO2 emissions over time, for GRAS they increase but with a slightly smaller growth rate than energy supply. In SEDG the emissions are reduced. The decoupling trends can be explained by a shift to more renewable energy sources in all scenarios, with the highest share in SEDG. Main conclusions The results indicate that a growth-oriented policy design, such as presented in the GRAS scenario, is not compatible with the conservation of biodiversity. Only in the SEDG scenario do the policy measures support the idea of a sustainable development, but in some respects they are still not ambitious enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an argument is developed in favour of further integration of "Europe" and, most importantly, its increased "politicization". It is not based on any romantic or idealistic vision of a positive European cultural identity, but on an assessment of Europe's reality as already integrated economically, socially and ecologically, however lagging behind politically in terms of democratic government and citizenship. The seemingly endless discussions about Europe's identity, limit, unity, civilization, etc. are not a problem that is yet to be solved, but are, precisely, the core of what makes Europe what it is: a plurality in unity instead of a "unity in plurality", as one of the official slogans of the European Union (EU) has it. Current social, economic and environmental problems require European solutions as well as a more active European citizenship. However, European civil identity that is to match European societal reality, will not be a unitary and homogeneous identity, but heterogeneous and diverse, covering a plurality of perceptions, preferences and ideals - it will be plural, not as a first step towards unity, but in its core; and it will be divided, but not along national lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the spatial structure of the European Union. In a lot of studies the social and economic characteristic of the macroregions of Europe is described. One type of them focuses on the developed regions: where are they and what kind of spatial form is characteristic for them. The results often give a model. The aim of the research is to analyse the geometric and other models of Europe's core area. We have a lot of flat shapes for the spatial structure: we have axes, polygons (triangles, squares, a pentagon) and other forms, and they have a lot of different geographical extensions in Europe. These formations have been collected from numerous studies (books, reports, papers, articles) and they have been compared based on different methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobility of EU students and staff is threatened by Brexit, as the favourable conditions allowing for a frictionless cross-border academic learning and scientific research base are renegotiated at the highest political levels, including the pre-Brexit freedom of movement of persons and home fees for EU students. However, the UK higher education system is highly differentiated, and its hierarchical nature implies that criteria such as age, history, geographical location, economic resources, research activity, teaching quality, academic selectivity and socioeconomic student mix will have important ramifications when assessing the vulnerabilities of UK higher education institutions and the internationalisation of UK higher education should the UK leave the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on gendered discourses in integration policy and the problems immigrants pose in the reproduction of inequalities in a number of European countries. There has been little consideration of how gender categories operate in relation to broader political discourses around the construction of 'us' and 'them' and the constitution of national social and political communities and identities. Yet gender issues have become significant in the backlash against multiculturalism and gender and sexual relations have moved to the centre of debates about the necessity to enforce integration, if not assimilation. The first section outlines recent developments in the immigration-integration nexus in different European states. The second section draws out some of the reasons for the focus on family migration and spouses who are seen as the main importers of the 'backward' practices and with 'doubtful' parenting practices for future generations of citizens. The third section tackles the shift of current debates about integration of migrant women from the periphery, where they were largely invisible or mere appendages of men, to the centre, where they have acquired in the process a heightened, though not necessarily positive, visibility. Too often, representations of migrant women are based on a homogenised image of uneducated and backward migrants as victims of patriarchal cultures, legitimizing in this way the use of immigration controls to reduce the numbers entering and to tackle broader social issues, as has clearly been the case with forced marriages. Furthermore, the more discourses focus on Muslim women and Islam as inimical to European societies, the more the debate becomes culturalised and marginalises the socio-economic dimension of integration and the structural inequalities migrants face. Thus pre-entry tests may have less to do with integration than with a desire to reduce the flow of marriage migrants or to raise their human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post- Maastricht period is marked by an integration paradox. While the basic constitutional features of the European Union have remained stable, EU activity has expanded to an unprecedented degree. This form of integration without supranationalism is no exception or temporary deviation from traditional forms of European integration. Rather, it is a distinct phase of European integration, what is called 'the new intergovernmentalism' in this article. This approach to post- Maastricht integration challenges theories that associate integration with transfers of competences from national capitals to supranational institutions and those that reduce integration to traditional socioeconomic or security-driven interests. This article explains the integration paradox in terms of transformations in Europe's political economy, changes in preference formation and the decline of the 'permissive consensus'. It presents a set of six hypotheses that develop further the main claims of the new intergovernmentalism and that can be used as a basis for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although most countries in the European Union are richer and healthier than ever, health inequalities remain an important public health challenge. Health-related problems and premature death have disproportionately been reported in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Neighbourhood social capital is believed to influence the association between neighbourhood deprivation and health in children and adolescents, making it a potentially interesting concept for policymakers. Methods: This study aims to review the role of social capital in health inequalities and the social gradient in health and well-being of children and adolescents. A systematic review of published quantitative literature was conducted, focussing on (1) the mediating role of neighbourhood social capital in the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and health-related outcomes in children and adolescents and (2) the interaction between neighbourhood social capital and socio-economic characteristics in relation to health-related outcomes in children and adolescents. Three electronic databases were searched. Studies executed between 1 January 1990 and 1 September 2011 in Western countries (USA, New Zealand, Australia and Europe) that included a health-related outcome in children or adolescents and a variable that measured neighbourhood social capital were included. Results: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria for the review. The findings are mixed. Only two of five studies confirmed that neighbourhood social capital mediates the association between neighbourhood deprivation and health and well-being in adolescents. Furthermore, two studies found a significant interaction between neighbourhood socio-economic factors and neighbourhood social capital, which indicates that neighbourhood social capital is especially beneficial for children who reside in deprived neighbourhoods. However, two other studies did not find a significant interaction between SES and neighbourhood social capital. Due to the broad range of studied health-related outcomes, the different operationalisations of neighbourhood social capital and the conceptual overlap between measures of SES and social capital in some studies, the factors that explain these differences in findings remain unclear. Conclusions: Although the findings of this study should be interpreted with caution, the results suggest that neighbourhood social capital might play a role in the health gradient among children and adolescents. However, only two of the included studies were conducted in Europe. Furthermore, some studies focussed on specific populations and minority groups. To formulate relevant European policy recommendations, further European-focussed research on this issue is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Professional Geographer is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article proposes a methodological framework for analyzing the Europeanization of national planning, that is, EU influence on domestic planning systems and policies. It seeks in particular to examine whether, where, and how Europeanization of national planning occurs and under which analytic frameworks it may be explained. To this end, the article proposes a three-step research approach. First, it highlights the main patterns of Europeanization in the area of national planning in relation to different modes of EU governance and ideal types of Europeanization. Second, it suggests a typology for the examination of the potential effects of the Europeanization of planning at the domestic level. Finally, it develops some hypotheses on how different institutional, socio-economic and cultural contexts may accommodate or restrain the Europeanization of national planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the bill the Small Business Act of 1953, that limits the bidding opportunities for European Union contractors in the U.S. It focuses on the similarities and differences among the small business-specific procurement policies developed by the U.S. Government and Europe. It also examines small business procurement policies across several key considerations, that includes the policy framework, definitions of small firms, and promotion of economic and social sustainability.

In this article we present a new proposal for the measurement of development, applied to the Pacific Countries of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP), conditional on their insularity, and with privileged relations with the European Union. Our index has been constructed attending to the criteria defined in the Goals of the Millennium Declaration. For this purpose we will use the P distance method for the year 2007, the last year for which data are available. This index integrates socio-economic variables that permit a territorial ordering of the Pacific ACPs, in terms of those partial indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-communist revolutions of 1989 triggered parallel transformation in the ideological landscape on both sides of the former Iron Curtain. The geo-political opening after the end of the Cold War made global integration a highly salient factor in political mobilization, opting out to replace the capital-versus-labor dynamics of conflict that had shaped the ideological families of Europe during the 20th century. This has resulted in splitting the traditional constituencies of the Left and the Right and reorganizing them along new fault-lines: those shaped by attitudes to globalization and EU enlargement (in the West) and by attitudes to EU accession and global economic competition (in the East). Thus, an ideational convergence between East and West is taking place in Europe, radically altering the structure of political competition in the early 21st century. As the new political cleavage cuts across, rather than runs along, the left-right ideological continuum, it is eroding the societal alliances that had supported the post-war European Social Model. The emerging structure of political competition enables substantive changes in the European Social Model in the direction of deepening labor commodification, thus defeating the emancipatory potential that earlier labor-market policies had contained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is presently constructing a new model of regional cooperation that includes not only economic objectives but also social, cultural and environmental agendas. One of the main challenges this project faces is the development of closer ties to neighbouring states without offering outright membership to the EU. As a result, however, cooperation and security-oriented agendas of the EU will automatically compete with each other for influence. The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) can be thus understood in terms of an ongoing project of re-territorialisation that combines traditional geopolitical concerns and a 'politics of regional difference' with a post-national focus on mutual interdependence and partnership. Evidence for the consequences of these competing territorialities will be presented from the results of European research on civil society networks between the EU and neighbouring states. The focus will be on EU-Ukrainian relations within the ENP context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional economic inequalities are increasing in most of the European Union (EU) member states, while between-nation inequalities in the enlarged Europe are declining in the last years. The economic differences between East and West Europe are gradually diminishing and the EU is becoming a relatively homogeneous economic, legal, and political field, which promotes social and economic cohesion in Europe (at a rate of approximately 2 per cent per year). Most of the regional economic inequalities are already inequalities within nations. The economic and income inequalities in the enlarged EU can be largely explained by different regional employment patterns, industrial structures and the region's location within the European space: central urban regions with a good research and traffic infrastructure, qualified employees, a high employment rate and knowledge-intensive services are the best predictors for high income levels. The slow convergence process in the enlarged EU may not increase popular support for the European integration process because the most important frame of reference is still the nation-state where regional inequalities are increasing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts between European Union (EU) members about enlargement result from its redistributive effects. EU members are more likely to suffer from enlargement if they profit from EU transfers and if they are relatively close to applicant countries in which unemployment is significantly higher than in member countries. Phasing in membership rights serves to compensate the relative losers of enlargement to accomplish EU widening. Using data from all previous enlargement rounds until 2004, we demonstrate that EU members are more likely to demand a discrimination of new members if distributional conflicts arise. The existence of these distributional conflicts in turn increases the odds of EU members and the accession candidates actually agreeing on a phase-in period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Where are the points of agreement and divergence in the positions of social democratic parties in Europe? This question stands at the centre of a survey on the European Economic and Social Model conducted in 17 European countries. On the abstract-programmatic level on some points there is considerable agreement, for example, on the demand for a strengthening of the social dimension of the European Union. Even on a number of concrete political projects there is unanimity within European social democracy (rejection of the country of origin principle in the liberalization of services). The normal case in relation to concrete political proposals is of course great heterogeneity of positions. This divergence can be explained by the dominance of "national" interests over the general party-political interest in a uniform position. These national interests are shaped on the one hand by inter-state distributional interests (net payers vs. net beneficiaries), and on the other hand by the degree of approximation of one's own welfare state and politico-economic model to the model of the core European states (the six founding states): it is only to be expected that a strengthening of the social dimension of the EU would lead to a transfer of this model to EU level. For this reason positions are very heterogeneous, particularly in the case of EU policies which touch on the foundations of national welfare state regimes. As an example we shall present the survey results on the proposals for a co-ordinated wage and employment policy, as well as the institutionalization of a common EU welfare state model. In this connection four groups of countries have crystallized: (i) The states of "old Europe" favor further socio-political integration, even if they must foot the bill as net payers, because they can expect an institutionalization of a welfare state model at EU level which is compatible with their own. (ii) The "cohesion states" (southern Europe plus Ireland) are also relatively open-minded because their own welfare state development has led to an approximation to the continental European model "from below" (iii) The "transition states" of Eastern Europe are rather skeptical because they fear a loss of competitiveness from further EU socio-political integration. (iv) The "euro-skeptics" (Scandinavia and the UK) are equally reluctant. This is due on the one hand to their being net payers, but on the other to the fact that the institutionalization of a common EU social model would go hand in hand with a far-reaching transformation of their own welfare state models. This would trigger conflicts over redistribution and jeopardize the functional integrity of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that, despite pessimistic forecasts for their future, social pacts remain a central element of industrial relations across many member states of the European Union. Social pacts provide a mechanism of pragmatic adaptation to the trilemma of reconciling market integration, intergovernmentalism and democratic accountability. In addition, recent developments in the general direction of social dialogue and social pacts, in some of the new member states, indicate a learning process to enable economic catch-up while engaging in institutional innovation. Finally, the article argues that social pacts remain important in ensuring a voice for labour across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]