1,721,149 research outputs found
The Lisbon Strategy, Europe 2020 and the Crisis in between
No full textThis chapter provides a brief overview of the Lisbon strategy, its political and economic rationale, and its main advancements and limits. It is organised in three parts. The first part summarises the politico-economic reasoning at the basis of the Strategy and the expected improvement of the EU governance. Expectations advanced by policymakers and experts are analysed. The second part of the chapter focuses on the social dimension of the recent economic and financial crisis. This is conceived as the sum of the global challenges the EU is facing and the Lisbon Strategy was supposed to deal with. Finally, the third part summarises “shadows” and “lights” of the Lisbon Strategy. Some open questions on the design of the new Europe 2020 Strategy are proposed. The key findings in assessing the Lisbon project are summarised through seven critical points to deal with in order to understand the potential of the new Europe 2020 Strategy
The White Paper on pensions: A critical reading
No full textThe present review provides a critical reading of the recent White paper on pension by the European Commission. The review sheds light on both advancement and limit progress in the EU approach to pension reforms. The main shortcomings are related to the lack of attention to inequality and the redistribution of old age protection across social and occupational groups
Pensions in Europe, European Pensions
No full textPension policy represents in many respects the corner stone of the contemporary European
welfare states. And its reform has emerged as a key issue in most of the European countries.
This book aims at improving the knowledge of the long-term and more recent evolution
of retirement programmes and their regulation at national and supranational level. It gives
detailed information about pensions in nine Western and Eastern European countries
(Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden and UK). In parallel it
develops the study of the European Union action in the field, through regulation, the
Stability and Growth Pact and the Open Method of Coordination.
What does history tell us about the evolution of pensions? Is it a story of stability or
change? Is there any convergence between European pension models? And then what
is the role of the European Union in the field?
This book provides answers to these questions and gives scholars, students and policymakers
a comprehensive description of national retirement programmes as well as
theoretical analysis of the reform politics, output and outcomes with a focus on national
and European dynamics
The EU and the Crisis: Key analytical questions to address
No full textThe present article sheds light on the state of the EU
through three different analytical perspectives. The first has to do with the institutional tensions we have experienced in the last years.
The crisis has impacted the European Union just after the conclusion of the lengthy and complex work of revising the Treaty. Once the Lisbon Treaty started to be implemented, an extraordinary number of new problems meant that decision makers needed to revise the legal foundations of the Union (Fabbrini 2011). The second analytical topic is more related to recent trends in the EU governance.
The EU has been in fact an extraordinary laboratory for new
modes of governance in recent decades. Especially since the end of the 1990s, new forms of regulation and coordination have been proposed and tested through the EU. Thirdly, the crisis has jeopardised the policy package that has characterised the Union and in particular the Eurozone in recent years
The New Pension Mix in Europe: Reform trends, policy and political challenges, open research questions
No full textThe paper aims at guiding the reader through the review of pension reforms. Section one gives an overview of the key research questions addressed here. Sections two to four take stock of the comparative literature on pensions. They provide background information the present volume will innovate (update and/or revise) on the base of the evidence of the most recent policy and political dynamics. More in particular, section two provides a summary of two decades of pension reforms in EU members. The focus here is on the end result of reforms (in terms of revised pension models) and outcomes (cost-containment and the safeguarding of social adequacy). Reforms have reflected a general move towards an increasingly complex pension mix (what we label the ‘new’ pension mix), where retirement schemes belonging to the first, second and third pillars contribute to the protection of citizens and workers. Section three shows that reformed pension systems have to face huge socio-economic challenges that put pressure on their long-term sustainability. Section four concludes by introducing some of the issues at the core of the analysis of the politics of the new pension mix in Europe
Il modello sociale europeo è morto? Politiche sociali e relazioni industriali tra austerità e integrazione europea
No full textIl presente articolo ha l’obiettivo di riprendere il dibattito in atto, affrontando due quesiti di ricerca tra loro connessi. Il primo ha a che fare con il futuro dello stesso MSE, a fronte delle sfide socio-economiche rese ancor più stringenti dalla crisi. Una larga parte degli osservatori mettono apertamente in dubbio la sua capacità di sopravvivenza. Il secondo quesito riguarda l’interazione tra il MSE e il processo d’integrazione europea. Molti analisti sono ormai concordi nel sottolineare che le tensioni relative al modello di sviluppo in Europa non sono il risultato del quadro economico di tipo recessivo, quanto piuttosto della difficile coesistenza tra politiche sociali nazionali e integrazione economica guidata dall’Unione europea (UE). Nelle prossime pagine analizzeremo i termini del dibattito centrato sul legame tra difesa delle tutele sociali (insite nel MSE), crisi e integrazione europea. La prima sezione introduce i termini oggetto di analisi: il MSE e il processo d’integrazione europea (soprattutto nelle sue ultime tappe). La seconda sezione illustra nel dettaglio le due ipotesi proposte dal dibattito scientifico e politico appena richiamate. La terza sezione presenta una breve rassegna delle riforme introdotte e i principali risultati in termini di spesa e tutela dei diritti sociali e del lavoro. Questa evidenza empirica permette una prima serie di riflessioni sullo stato di salute del MSE e sulla sua revisione in atto, affrontando i quesiti di ricerca e verificando le ipotesi avanzate. Nella quarta e ultima sezione proponiamo alcuni commenti a conclusione dello studio
Pension Reform in Europe. What has happened in the wake of the crisis?
No full textThe present contribution provides a summary of reforms in Europe. We look in particular at the fate of the pension paradigm that dominated the last decades: the so-called pension privatization. Such a paradigm consists of the full or partial replacement of social security pension schemes with pension systems based on individual, private pension savings accounts. This model has been implemented in many countries. From the 1980s, Europe too has seen the spread of pension privatization.The recent economic and financial crisis has represented a hard test for that paradigm
L'analisi comparata delle politiche di welfare: una riflessione metodologica
No full textGli autori del paper affrontano in particolare tre questioni di carattere metodologico e analitico, legato agli studi del welfare. La prima concerne l’oggetto di analisi. La seconda questione riguarda l’utilizzo sempre più esteso delle strutture concettuali (classificazioni, tipologie e tassonomie) che hanno caratterizzato tanta parte della letteratura comparata sul welfare. Il terzo ed ultimo punto ha a che fare con un quesito retorico ormai classico nello studio comparato: cosa è realmente comparabile? Tale quesito ha assunto nuova visibilità a causa dei mutamenti politici che hanno caratterizzato l’Europa negli ultimi due decenni.La fine dei regimi comunisti nell’Europa centro-orientale ha infatti dato nuova linfa a studi comparativi in grado di coprire un numero sempre maggiore di paesi. Nella prima sezione dell’articolo affronteremo il tema dell’oggetto di analisi (regime di welfare vs. programma di policy). Sulla scorta dei principali contributi della letteratura comparata in materia di politiche sociali, cercheremo di illustrare gli aspetti positivi e i rischi metodologici e analitici derivanti da tale scelta. Nella seconda parte, la nostra attenzione si concentrerà sulla definizione di classi, tipi e tassonomie relativi alle politiche sociali. Analizzeremo le ragioni del successo di tali strumenti concettuali e i limiti analitici ad essi conseguenti. Infine, richiameremo i principali contributi che hanno abbandonato il sentiero degli studi comparati nell’ambito dell’Europa occidentale per tentare comparazioni più ampie comprendenti i paesi post-comunisti
RAPPORT DE L’ATELIER « SITUATION DE BIEN-ETRE DES AINES »
No full textLe thème « Situation de bien-être » - au centre de ce rapport - est lié au fait que le vieillissement actif et la pleine participation des aînés sous-entendent d’avoir un revenu convenable. Des pensions adéquates, mais aussi d’autres ressources telles que des revenus patrimoniaux et le fait d’être propriétaire de son logement, sont également très importants (aussi sous l’angle de la carrière et d’une approche ‘du cours de la vie’). Dans ce contexte, le rôle du système des pensions est quand même crucial. Il doit garantir une protection efficace contre le risque vieillesse, dans un cadre de viabilité financière de longue durée.
Sur base des interventions durant l’atelier, les pages suivantes proposent un résumé des enjeux traités. Il s’agit tout d’abord d’exposer une réflexion sur les défis et les progrès déjà réalisés en Belgique. Le cas suédois sera proposé comme possible bonne pratique (en termes de gestion du vieillissement de la population à travers des pensions adéquates et viables), mais aussi comme système sujet à une série de défis majeurs. Sur la base de ces deux cas, on proposera un résumé du débat
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