Building Social Europe Through the Open Method of Co-Ordination

The Open Method of Co-ordination (OMC) is a multi-dimensional challenge for policymakers, as well as social actors, researchers and other players. The aim of Building Social Europe through the Open Method of Co-ordination is to describe the role of the OMC as an instrument for the governance of Europe's social dimension from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The underlying issues addressed concern its potential as an instrument of Europeanisation, as well as how the Member States influence EU policy formation. The complexities of national policy-making processes in the area of employment are scrutinised by researchers from different EU countries who seek to understand how, if at all, OMC employment is integrated into Member States' policies. Furthermore, the complex adaptational pressures of the EU on the reform of national public pension schemes (the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Italy) are analysed. The editors devote their efforts to understanding the national-European dynamics of OMC in the areas of employment, social exclusion and pensions. The book is a first step towards a theoretical framework that explains the dynamics of OMC. Contents: Caroline de La Porte/Philippe Pochet: Introduction - Caroline de La Porte/Philippe Pochet: Supple Co-ordination at EU Level and the Key Actors' Involvement - Kerstin Jacobsson/Herman Schmid: Real Integration or just Formal Adaptation? - On the Implementation of the National Action Plans for Employment - Gael Coron/Bruno Palier: Changes in the Means of Financing Social Expenditure in France since 1945 - Malin Junestav: Labour Cost Reduction, Taxes and Employment: The Swedish Case - Josep Gonzalez-Calvet: Employment Policies in Spain: FromFlexibilisation to the European Employment Strategy - Caroline de La Porte/Philippe Pochet: Public Pension Reform: European Actors, Discourses and Outcomes - Karen M. Anderson: The Europeanization of Pension Arrangements: Convergence or Divergence? - Caroline de La Porte/Philippe Pochet: Conclusion.