Προοπτικές της κοινωνικής Ευρώπης μετά την κρίση

Abstract

The recent world economic crisis (the “Great Recession”) has given rise to much scepticism about the capacity of the European social model to guarantee a high level of social cohesion in adverse conditions. This paper examines the validity of this notion. It is structured in three parts. The first part reviews the social consequences of the crisis in Europe. The second part assesses the effectiveness of European social and labour market policies in mitigating these consequences. The third part examines the prospects of social Europe after the crisis. The paper concludes that the social effects of the current economic crisis have been softer than those of past crises of a similar magnitude, which can be attributed (at least partly) to the institutional robustness of European systems of social protection and labour market regulation.