Since the 1970s, the role of the European Union in social affairs has consistently, but cautiously, been expanded. While it was widely accepted in the early decades of the EC/EU that social policy was secondary to the Union’s economic objectives, the achievements of the Social Action Programme in the 1970s, and the arrival of Jacques Delors in the mid-1980s as Commission President, moved the social dimension up the Brussels agenda and introduced the concept of a European Social Model.
The following infographic illustrates the levels at which various types of social policies are set across the EU:
To find out more about the role of the EU in setting social policy, you can read this recent paper by IIEA Senior Fellow Tony Brown, which takes a look at the current developments of the social dimension of the European Union, including the European Commission’s Reflection Paper on the Social Dimension of Europe, and the European Pillar of Social Rights, which was proclaimed at a summit of EU leaders in Gothenburg on 17 November 2018.
