Social Protection: Why the EU Needs to Deliver

Conventional wisdom in European studies has long held that social policy is not anarea in which the European Union can make a large difference. Solidarity, it is said, can onlydevelop in societies where clear boundaries exist between individuals. Such is not the casein the EU, where a citizen’s primary allegiance is to his own country. Redistribution being azero-sum game, the majority method of decision-making is required, which may only beviable if the legitimacy of central institutions is clearly established. The legitimacy of the EUinstitutions, however, is said to be weak. In addition, a number of different traditions ofwelfare protection co-exist within the EU, as has been stressed by Gösta Esping-Andersen(1990). Citizens are strongly attached to their national brand of protection: in severalcountries, this is even regarded as a key element of national identity. The history ofEuropean integration has done little to belie these views. Social policy has experiencedrelatively modest progress, and the difficulties inherent in the adoption of European financialperspectives, undermined by the evils of juste retour have shown that redistribution andunanimity are indeed at odds. This contribution purports to examine the problem from a uniquely differentperspective. It does not start by taking an ontological view of Europe, in which the EU’sactivities are determined by reference to what Europe is. Nor does it rest on any normativeviews. Instead, it presents evidence demonstrating that European citizens are becomingincreasingly aware of their standards of living and worried about their children’s future, andthat these sentiments nurture a political protest that is a potential source of instability for theEU unless met by an adequate political response.