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Functionalism vs Westphalia: the looking glass of employment policy

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  • George Ross

    (Morris Hillquit Professor in Labor and Social Policy, Brandeis University (USA) Ad personam Chaire Jean Monnet, Université de Montréal (Canada))

Abstract

Many key ideas in the Lisbon strategy can be traced back to the Delors Commission's 1993 White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment, arguably the EU's first major effort to confront the economic and social realities of globalisation. At the time the White Paper failed to achieve the results it sought. However, the core of the White Paper's labour market issues were taken up by the Amsterdam Treaty which initiated the European Employment Strategy and its innovative methodology, the open method of coordination (OMC). The Lisbon strategy, which followed soon thereafter, broadened this approach into a new mission to enhance the competitiveness of the EU which used the OMC extensively. However, EU Member States, zealous of their prerogatives in economic, labour market and social policies, were unwilling to grant the EU level significant roles for transnational coordination and implementation in these areas. The results have not matched the outpouring of support for Lisbon from progressive intellectuals and centre-left politicians. In the critical policy areas that the 1993 White Paper, the EES and the Lisbon strategy have addressed, contradictions between intergovernmentalism and the need for European coordination have led to suboptimal results.

Suggested Citation

  • George Ross, 2009. "Functionalism vs Westphalia: the looking glass of employment policy," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 15(1), pages 93-110, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:treure:v:15:y:2009:i:1:p:93-110
    DOI: 10.1177/102425890901500108
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Barry Eichengreen, 2006. "Introduction to The European Economy since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond," Introductory Chapters, in: The European Economy since 1945: Coordinated Capitalism and Beyond, Princeton University Press.
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