Social developments in the European Union 2011

The European Union has gone through a crucial period marked by growing anti-EU sentiments and the difficult implementation of its largely renewed socio-economic governance. After years of in-depth innovations and the hope of reinvigorating the E(M)U social dimension, European institutions have engaged in a lively debate on how to exit the recession... Find out more

The year 2012 has seen new developments in the EU’s economic crisis and renewed attempts to address its main causes. The European institutions have intensified their programme of promoting austere economic governance, while the political and institutional debates on democratic legitimacy and the effectiveness of the EU have intensified. In such a... Find out more

2010 was a critical year for the European Union (EU) in at least three major respects. First of all, many EU countries started showing signs of increased financial stress, while the eurozone began to be affected by a true debt crisis extending well beyond the highly publicised case of Greece. Secondly, the European Union strove to achieve renewal... Find out more

2009 began amidst one of the worst economic crises experienced in Europe for 80 years. The credit crunch of autumn 2008 sent the real economy into freefall in most of the European Union Member States and led to restructuring measures, bankruptcies, redundancies and unemployment. Recovery plans, both national and European, were in place throughout... Find out more

The urgent problem of global warming was compounded, in 2008, by a proliferation of crises – food, financial, economic, social, etc – reinforcing the need for the European Union to play a stronger role in building a new model of development, both internationally and at home. This edition of “Social Developments in the EU” looks at the social policy... Find out more

The year 2007 was dominated by two major factors in the international arena: a heightened awareness of climate change and its social repercussions and the global financial crisis triggered by the US subprime mortgage affair. Meanwhile, the EU has a new treaty which should help it boost its ability to act. External challenges are mounting up... Find out more

Developments on the European level during 2006 were marked by two opposing trends in the form of a strengthening of European economic integration and inertia with regard to the development of Europe as a political project. Find out more

In complete contrast, 2005 was a year of setbacks and reappraisals. Everything appeared to be under control at the start of the year, when the highly experienced Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, began his presidency by addressing three major issues: amending the Stability and Growth Pact, reviewing the Lisbon strategy and seeking... Find out more

Two major events of 2004 will go down in the European history books: enlargement to take in the central and eastern European countries as well as Cyprus and Malta, and the adoption of the draft constitutional Treaty for Europe. Both of these events were subjects of debate throughout the year, since their implications affect all the policies – and... Find out more

Will 2003 go down in the annals of European construction as a wasted year? This may appear to be a provocative question, but it is one worth posing. When we review the main events of the year, we are bound to acknowledge that Europe has failed to keeps its promises. Its political promises, with the failure of the Brussels European Council in... Find out more

Publication date : 2003 The year 2002 saw a profusion of political debate about Europe. As far as "social Europe" is concerned, the proceedings of the European Convention, which began in February, fed into the reflection, discussion and often controversy about the nature and purpose of the Union on a daily basis. These debates made perfectly plain... Find out more

Publication date : 2002 2001 was a year of major contrasts - political, economic and social. The year began with a certain degree of euphoria in Europe, as demonstrated by the signs of self-satisfaction emanating from the Stockholm summit, the first spring summit held since that of Lisbon; it ended in a climate of uncertainty and anxiety owing... Find out more

Publication date : 2001 For this second edition of Social developments in the European Union , we have singled out four social policy themes which, to our minds, reflect the main trends of the year 2000. The first is the outcome of the Lisbon summit, and more particularly its impact on the European Employment Strategy. The second subject is an... Find out more

Publication date: 2000 European social policy seems to be at a new turning point. The smooth switch to the euro coincided with an almost unhoped-for economic upturn and drop in unemployment in most European Union (EU) countries. A new Commission is in place and the Social Affairs Commissioner, Anna Diamantopoulou, has stressed the need to create... Find out more