The Europeanisation of Social Protection, Edited by Jon Kvist and Juho Saari, Bristol: Policy Press, 2007, 308 pp., ISBN 978-1-84742-019-0 (paperback) and ISBN 978-1-84742-020-6 (hardcover).

This book looks at the broad policy areas encompassed by social protection and covers many more 11 EU member States, selected for their institutional, cultural and political differences. The analysis and reflections are most timely in the current context of EU at the cross-roads, with the outcome of the Lisbon Treaty ratification unknown, the heavy social toll of the recession in the wake of the financial crisis hitting all member States, and the growing public deficits limiting further Governments’ capacity to address it. The book starts with a statement that “EU member States remain largely responsible for social policy and EU competence is limited by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. However, social policy at national level is increasingly influenced by the European Union, in fact, even more so than was anticipated 10 years ago.” (p. vi). And it is the description of how this influence evolved and can evolve, as a result of growing shared concerns and challenges among member States, that I found the book most interesting and stimulating. Indeed it seems generally taken for granted that if there should be any influence – it is through EU Commission increasingly encroaching on national sovereignty – a trend that is strongly opposed by member States, particularly in the broad area of social policy. The authors however show how impetus can be given by the EU to improve national policy-making and by increasing cooperation among member States by emulating successful policies and practices and cooperation with the EU Commission to strengthen the EU social dimension and its visibility, including the much debated Open Method of Coordination (OMC). The EU has in fact created a new environment for member States’ social protection systems. The EU competition, single market and economic policies, the basic four freedoms of movement (labour, capital, goods and services), the European Monetary Union (EMU) and EU enlargement exert an impact on social protection systems. To turn this new environment into a positive opportunity requires a greater emphasis on shared social values, which the book illustrates. The book analyses how member States react and respond to these EU developments, assessing the impact of recent EU developments on national social protection systems, and how governments’ responses to different EU Commission proposals, recommendations and policies reflect their institutional structures and social protection reforms, and their perception and vision of the future of the European social model (ESM). The analysis of national basic attitudes and responses (support, resistance or indifference) relates to four areas relevant to social protection in which Government responses and EU policies can be considered as mutually reinforcing, namely: policy processes (Lisbon Strategy, Social Policy Agenda, OMC and demographic change); the interplay between internal markets and social policy (the Services Directive and Services of general interest), and the socio-political implications of the EMU and of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007. The analysis improves the understanding of the processes of Europeanization and, the authors argue, could make it possible to formulate a stronger platform for future debate on European social protection policies. The bulk of the book is devoted to country studies that reflect the diversity of membership, to which 11 of the 14 chapters are devoted, namely the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the UK. The first chapter offers a synthesis of the evolving perspectives of EU policies in social protection in the four areas, noting that there is already strong evidence at EU level of Europeanization of social protection – with the Council of ministers and the Commission being increasingly active in this area, sharing information, proposing guidelines and …