Even though the founding fathers of the EU had expected social progress to evolve naturally from the economic progress generated by the Common Market, for many years the Single European Market and the European Monetary Union largely eclipsed the social dimension of the EU. It is only since March 2000, when EU Heads of State and Government adopted the Lisbon Strategy, that social policy has truly become a specific focus of attention for EU cooperation. In this Chapter, the main emphasis is on the Lisbon Strategy and the EU social processes that were launched in this context, and more particularly the Social Inclusion Process, but the Chapter begins in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome. We believe that it is important to understand the origins of EU cooperation in social policy, and the extent to which the current processes have roots in the past. Such a long-run historical perspective reduces the danger of being over-influenced by today's immediate political pressures.

The long road towards EU cooperation in social policy

In March 1957, when signing the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community, the then six EU Heads of State and Government resolved to ensure both the economic and the social progress of their countries by developing a Common Market, in the optimistic belief that the economic progress resulting from economic integration would automatically translate into social progress.

In the early days of the European Communities, social policy received little attention, and the Community institutions were provided with very limited powers in the social field. Social policy was, to a large extent, a means towards achieving other objectives. The restructuring of the coal and steel industries, through the European Coal and Steel Community, involved social measures in aid of training and to finance adjustment. There was concern with removing barriers to labour mobility and ensuring that differences in the costs of social protection did not prevent competition in the supply of goods. But in January 1974, the EU Council of Ministers (hereafter the Council) adopted its “Resolution concerning a social action programme” (Council, 1974). Since the adoption of this text, the Council has established various programmes to combat poverty and social exclusion.