Social History of European Integration

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Social History of European Integration
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The Meaning of Social Europe

• Employment and Workers Rights
• Health and Safety (Job-Related especially)
• Free movement of persons
• Related to Immigration
• Womens Issues
• Equality in the Workplace
• Environment

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Landmarks of EC/EU Social Policy

• Social Fund (Treaty of Rome 1958)
• Assimilated to Structural Fund 1989-93
• Womens Equal Pay/ Equal Treatment/ Social
  Security Directives (1975-78)
• Schengen Agreement (1985)
• The Social Charter (1992)
• Employment Policy (Amsterdam 1997)

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Hot Topics

• Immigration and Schengen
• Worker Issues
• Wages and Benefits
• Trade Unions and Workers Participation
• Environment

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The Story of Immigration

• First Phase 1960-1973
• Migration for temporary employment
• Active recruitment (peak 1968-73)
• Source of migrant labor Mediterranean
• European Mediterranean (southern Europe) Italy,
  Spain, Greece, Yugoslavia, Portugal
• North Africa and Turkey

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The Story of Immigration (contd-1)

• Second Phase 1974 early 1980s
• From temporary to permanent immigration
• Restrictive measures by European governments
• Temporary migrants from southern Europe return
• Temporary migrants from North Africa and Turkey
  settle and become permanent
• Family reunion (eg, wives join husbands)
• Feminization of immigrant population
• Immigrant communities emerge within Europe around
  mosques, schools, leisure and sports clubs, and
  political associations

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The Story of Immigration (contd-2)

• Third Phase mid-1980s 1990s
• Refugees and asylum-seekers
• Illegals
• Criminals of all kinds drug-traffic, terrorists,
  common criminals

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Schengen

• Agreements of 1985 and 1990
• Originally Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands,
  France, Gerrmany
• Currently all EU except Britain and Ireland
• Schengenland
• Freedom of movement within borders
• Common border policy for externals
• Cooperate in fight against crime

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Worker Issues in the EC/EU

• Unemployment dilemma since 1973
• Underlying challenge of structural change
  movement away from manufacturing economy and
  labor force
• Immigrants become a threat
• Differing National Policies
• Working conditions, especially security of
  employment
• Industrial relations (worker-employer)
• Benefits
• Worker participation in decision-making (core of
  industrial democracy)

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Worker Issues (Contd-1)

• Britain, Germany, and France compared
• Britain
• Wages set by collective bargaining (decentralized
  unions)
• More employer freedom to hire and fire
• Minimal (no) worker participation
• Strong health and safety protection for workers
• Germany
• Social partnership preferred over adversarial
  relations between labor and management
• Thick layer of government-imposed protections for
  workers (especially job security) and worker
  benefits (coddled)
• Strong participation of workers in decisions
  codetermination

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Worker Issues (Contd-2)

• France
• Tradition of ideological division among unions
  and ideological conflict with employers and
  government
• Weak unions, low membership rates
• Weak worker participation in decisions
• Strong protections, especially for families and
  women
• Differing common policy approach
• Britain minimal common standards
• France and Germany raise all to their costly
  levels
• Some broader trends
• Challenge to welfare state and benefits from
  1980s on, as too expensive and hindering
  competitiveness
• Decline of union power, either by design
  (Margaret Thatcher) or by declining membership
  and political appeal
• Europe (EC/EU) regarded as a new opportunity for
  workers shift from anti-Europe to pro-Europe by
  many unions

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Social Dimension/ Social Charter

• Follow-up to SEA
• Social aspects or social implications of
  completing the Internal Market
• A level playing field for Internal Market
  competition, thus part of its implementation?
• A protection against the social costs of market
  freedom?
• Inconsistent with the Internal Market?

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Social Dimension/Charter (contd)

• Resistance led by Britain
• Social Charter of the 11
• Protocol to (rather than in body of) Maastricht
  Treaty on European Union (signed 1992)
• Enables British opt-out
• Britain joins Social Charter in 1997 as part of
  body of Amsterdam Treaty

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Websites

• http//img.uoregon.edu/euro410/
• Europa
• Commission DGs
• Curia