The New European Social Area: Development Trends and Policy Options

The end of the Cold War opened up prospects of a "common European house." There are signs of increasing interlinkages between the economic & political changes in the Eastern European countries in transition & in EU member states. Social structures & processes are becoming interwoven in three central aspects of this emerging European social area: in economic integration of Eastern & Western Europe; in migration; & in the repercussions for major fields of policy, particularly wages, welfare, & tax policy. Because responsibility for welfare & tax policy remains largely in national hands, these areas are being exposed to increasing pressures of competition in the borderless European (not so much global) economy. They become means to safeguard & improve national competitiveness. Thus far, low-wage competition from Eastern Europe has not really played a major role. The primacy of such cost-cutting policies promotes social polarization in Western Europe. What is needed is an alternative integration policy that relies on different speeds & shared fundamental values, & that must include basic social rights. 37 References. Adapted from the source document.