2 results
two - Structural reforms in Europe: a comparative overview
- Edited by Sotiria Theodoropoulou
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- Book:
- Labour Market Policies in the Era of Pervasive Austerity
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 12 April 2022
- Print publication:
- 28 February 2018, pp 15-42
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Summary
Introduction
The present chapter provides an overview of structural reforms (SRs) – measures to improve economic growth prospects and the ability of economies to adjust to economic shocks – introduced in Europe between 1999 and 2012 and, in particular, during the Great Recession (2008–12). Such a cross-policy analysis – including social protection (eg pensions), education policy, research and development (R&D) and public sector reforms – makes it possible to shed light on the complex interaction of the labour market policies that are at the core of this volume with social policies (aimed at welfare production and redistribution) and economic policies (aimed at economic production).
While the concept of SRs is highly debated in the literature and needs some revision of its normative roots, we consider it a good descriptive tool: it helps to trace reform trends in a number of policy areas and to understand the overall functioning of a socio-economic system. The present chapter proposes a new typology of SRs for a more detailed analysis of SRs trends in Europe.
Through the analysis of reforms between 1999 and 2012, we address two key questions: ‘Is there a common reform trend of a ‘race to the bottom’ in relation to social and employment rights?’; and ‘What has been the impact of the Great Recession? Do we see overall continuity or a shift between the pre- and post-crisis?’. In the following, we analyse five country clusters – Anglo-Saxon, Nordic, Continental European, Southern European and Visegrad countries, which are consistent with the different varieties of capitalism and employment regimes – and we provide evidence of diverse reform trends over time.
The present contribution is organised as follows. The second section presents the research questions at the core of the chapter and provides a brief review of the literature on socio-economic reforms in Europe over the last decades. The third section lays out the definition of SRs and the complementarity between socio-economic policies before and since the Great Recession. The fourth section provides an overview of SRs in the European Union (EU), with a focus on reform trends and outputs. The fifth section draws some conclusions.
Socio-economic reforms in Europe: common path or different strategies?
Recent contributions on the political economy of socio-economic reforms have followed a cross-policy perspective.
ten - The Europeanisation of the Italian welfare state: channels of influence and trends
- Edited by Ugo Ascoli, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy, Emmanuele Pavolini, Università degli Studi di Macerata, Italy
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- Book:
- The Italian Welfare State in a European Perspective
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 08 March 2022
- Print publication:
- 07 May 2015, pp 259-282
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Summary
Introduction
Over the past decades, the role of the European Union (EU) has been extremely important in influencing welfare reforms in Italy. Many in the literature (starting with Dyson and Featherstone, 1996) have treated Italy as the paradigmatic example of the Europeanisation of national welfare states. This is the case of the so-called Maastricht criteria in the run-up to European Monetary Union (EMU), which represented an explicit pressure on Italian governments to revise the system and put its cost under control. Beyond economic coordination and the launch of the EMU, many other instruments have allowed the EU to exert adjustment pressure on the Italian welfare state: from social regulation to the Open Method of Coordination (OMC), and from structural funds to EU regulations on the free movement of workers and services.
Several contributions have investigated the role of the EU in Italian welfare reforms in the past (Ferrera and Gualmini, 2004; Ferrera and Sacchi, 2005; Sacchi, 2007; Graziano and Jessoula, 2011). In this chapter, we look at the most recent evolution of the complex interplay between EU and domestic policymakers. We refer to Europeanisation as the process of ‘domestic adaptation to European regional integration’ (Graziano and Vink, 2008: 7). The chapter has both descriptive and analytical aims. It first maps the key European governance and policy instruments that have shaped welfare reforms in Italy since the 2000s. The composition of EU instruments has changed over time and, especially in the shadow of the crisis, new instruments have been added. We then refer to the channels whereby the influence – both direct and indirect – of the EU on the Italian welfare state has occurred. Then, we address the question of whether – and how – EU pressure has become greater, especially in the wake of the Great Recession and the Eurozone crisis. While we emphasise the constraining impact of the EU on national welfare policies (with an increased pressure for cost containment), we show evidence of the often neglected positive influence in terms of the modernisation of the Italian welfare system and its equality. Structural funds and policy coordination in the social field have provided support for domestic reformers to revise the Italian welfare state, and shaped reforms.