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The EU Social and Health Policies

par Crespy, Amandine
Editeur scientifique Faure, Samuel;Lequesne, Christian
Référence Elgar Companion to the European Union, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, page (271-283)
Publication Publié, 2023-04-25

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Résumé :

In many ways, the Covid-19 pandemic has shed light on the embeddedness of national and EU policy in the realm of social policy and healthcare. Looking back at, for instance, the creation of the European Social Fund, the European Social Dialogue, the soft coordination of employment policy initiated in 1990s, or the austeritarian response to the 2010 debt crisis, scholars and decision makers have argued about whether the EU can effectively enhance social cohesion at the scale of the continent. Three main lines of reasoning can be distinguished claiming that the EU’s social and health policies are either irrelevant, catching-up, or dangerous. Similarly, there are different views about whether its competences in this realm should be strengthened or, on the contrary curtailed, going forward. Any attempt to reinforce the EU’s social action is impeding by resistance from a number of governments and corporate actors. In the face of rising inequality and acute old and new forms of poverty, the EU has nevertheless gradually expanded its toolbox yet without succeeding to address effectively inequality both within and between Member States. The conjunction of the European Green Deal and the outbreak of Covid-19 have brought about a new political momentum as the EU institutions are now promoting the notion of ‘just transition’ in an attempt to reconcile environmental sustainability and social justice. Still, it is difficult to see whether, and how, this emerging agenda will articulate with the existing policy instruments for social policy.