MICHAEL GOLD is a Senior Lecturer in European Business & Employee Relations and Director of Graduate Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK.

• IntroductionOverview of EU employment policy; Michael GoldEmployment promotion; Bernard CaseyFlexicurity: solution or illusion?; Anne GrayEqual opportunities; Helen BadgerEmployment protection; Edward BensonOccupational health and safety; Phil JamesEmployee participation; Peter CresseySocial dialogue; Mark CarleyVocational education and training; Jason Hayes, Helen RainbirdSocial security; Philippa WatsonAppendicesList of directives and other legal instruments cited in the textList of cases cited in the textSelected Articles from the Treaties establishing the European UnionCommunity Charter for the Fundamental Social Rights of WorkersBibliography and referencesIndex.

Michael Gold's book is wonderfully timed, providing deep understanding of what will come to be regarded as a critical and at the same time very definite phase in the development of European Union employment policy, culminating in the crisis of neo-liberalism. It shows how policy has moved from the heyday of regulation of the 1990s - with the various directives concerned with employee participation, working time and equal treatment - to the soft law accompanying the Open Method of Coordination introduced through the Lisbon Agenda. Just as with Michael's previous The Social Dimension of the early 1990s, this book represents a comprehensive, detailed and at the same time critical assessment by key experts of EU social policy, one which is especially valuable for its focus on particular aspects - ranging from equal opportunities and occupational health and safety to vocational education and training and employee participation - and for its insights into current debates such as flexicurity and social security. Linda Clarke, Professor of European Industrial Relations, Westminster Business School, University of Westminster, UK