Falkner, Gerda --- "The European Union and social policy" [2004] ELECD 169; in Liebscher, Klaus; Christl, Josef; Mooslechner, Peter; Ritzberger-Grünwald, Doris (eds), "The Economic Potential of a Larger Europe" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004)

Book Title: The Economic Potential of a Larger Europe

Editor(s): Liebscher, Klaus; Christl, Josef; Mooslechner, Peter; Ritzberger-Grünwald, Doris

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843769620

Section: Chapter 24

Section Title: The European Union and social policy

Author(s): Falkner, Gerda

Number of pages: 9

Extract:

24. The European Union and social
policy
Gerda Falkner1

This brief statement will first outline the division of social policy compe-
tences between the European Union and its member states. I will then
analyse the incremental development of EC/EU2 social regulation and
activities to highlight that there are indicators for a kind of `political union'
even far beyond `economic and monetary union'.


1. THE DISTRIBUTION OF COMPETENCES
BETWEEN THE EEC AND ITS MEMBER STATES

The founding fathers of European integration apparently intended social
policy competences to basically stay a national affair.
The 1957 EEC Treaty did not provide for an outright Europeanization of
social policies since too many delegations had opposed this. Nevertheless,
the Treaty contained a small number of concessions for those delegations
who argued for more political `intervention' in the area. These were mainly
the provisions on equal pay for both sexes (Art. 119 of the EEC Treaty),
maintaining `the existing equivalence between paid holiday schemes' (Art.
120 of the EEC Treaty), and the establishment of a `European Social Fund'
(Art. 123­128 of the EEC Treaty). Two of the three above-mentioned con-
cessions (that is equal pay and the Social Fund) rose in importance during
the process of European integration while the issue of equivalent paid
holiday schemes was not taken any further. The other provisions of the
original Treaty's Title III on `social policy' included some solemn social
policy provisions, yet without empowering the EEC to act.
Yet in other areas of EEC ...