Introduction

The European Union (EU) social model promoted primarily by the new ‘soft instruments’ of the ‘Social Open Method of Coordination’ (Social OMC) is built around the idea of social solidarity between and within nations of the EU. At the same time, since social policy is based on the principle of subsidiarity, the success of the Social OMC depends on ‘national solidarities.’ It is also confronted both at the EU and national level with other issues/agendas of the EU, such as hard instruments of economic/market integration. Focusing on how the Social OMC is forged within the national understanding and level of solidarity in the Czech Republic, and on influences upon the design and implementation of policies in social inclusion, this chapter argues that the general principles and objectives of the Social OMC have been redefined within national policies and national understandings of solidarity principles, which have been strongly influenced by prevailing neoliberal policy discourse within Europe. This discourse has emerged in the context of political practices of blaming marginalised groups and is mirrored in attitudes among the public. As a result of these mainstream discourses, policies and practices, people endangered by social exclusion are marginalised in policy making, while the policy approach based on blaming and sanctioning reinforces the barriers that result in their social inclusion. The ongoing economic recession has made the processes of social marginalisation even stronger, although some bottom-up policy initiatives of NGOs have acted as catalysts for the improvement of social capital and solidarity. The reinvention and reconstruction of the boundaries of solidarity seems to be an urgent, however uneasy, precondition for the implementation of the Social OMC.

Many commentators regard the success of the EU social model as a necessary pre-requisite for the success of the European integration project itself (for example Scharpf, 2002; Jacobsson and Schmid, 2002; De la Porte and Pochet, 2002 and others). National as well as transnational solidarity in the field of social policy seems to be a precondition for the creation of a ‘cohesive society’ whose members can form a ‘community of risk’ within the uncertain world. Pooling of risks as well as levelling of living conditions and smoothing of social inequalities at the EU level could help to contribute to the strengthening of linking social capital and social cohesion.