Introduction

Implementing the European Social Agenda has been skewed by two major handicaps. The first well-known handicap is that the definition of ‘European competencies’ has been narrowly circumscribed and framed in relation to national prerogatives. The second handicap, which has had more far-reaching effects, is that, until now, its general orientation has been determined by a different agenda, namely ECB and ECOFIN monetary and economic policy, which is less concerned about social issues per se (social justice, equality, expenditures suited to needs) than about their impact on the public deficit and employment rates. Yet, for reforms to be sustainable, they must reconcile economic objectives with social aims in a delicate balance. Our thesis is that, in order to attain such a balance in an unfavourable political context, Europe's social agenda must be based on a social theory of its own. There must be a clear connection between theory and policy, and the implications of the theory must likewise be clear-cut. It must give prospective actors a well-defined, mobilising role and provide a specifically European definition of social progress.

The capability approach, as developed by Amartya Sen, could well be this theory, provided it is adapted to the construction of social Europe. This chapter will develop two main arguments in its favour, the first factual, the second, political. To begin with, the capability approach offers solutions suited to work transformation. Work is changing, demanding flexibility and autonomy; its practice raises the issue of effective freedom and contradicts the logic of subordination.