Europe’s Social Revival: From Gothenburg to Next Generation EU

This European Policy analysis traces and reflects on the development of social policy and governance at EU level during and after the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) at the Social Summit in Gothenburg in November 2017. Scepticism initially abounded about the potential of this non-binding declaration and its lofty promises to instigate a substantive shift in ‘Social Europe’ in the shadow of the eurozone crisis. However, David Bokhorst and Sven Schreurs consider the long list of directives, recommendations, funding instruments and changes to the system of European socioeconomic governance adopted since Gothenburg, and they find, contrary to the initial scepticism, that the EU has, in fact, consolidated its role as a ‘holding environment for flourishing national welfare states’. Questions remain about the effective implementation of EU social policy commitments on the ground, but the authors argue that Social Europe is neither impossible nor a paper tiger with limited significance. Although political developments can be volatile and derail the continuation of the EU social agenda, their examination provides reasons for thinking that this revival of Social Europe will prove to be durable.