Original scientific paper
Stealthy, Covert and Uninvited? Commission’s “Activism” in the Implementation Convergence of Social Services of General Interest in the European Union
Christopher J. Smith
; consultant, formerly senior researcher at Nordregio, Stockholm, Sweden
Daniel Rauhut
; PhD, Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Urban and Regional Research, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
The broad aspirations of social policy in the EU continue to be the preserve of the Member States as the particular histories, ideas, and institutions upon which national social policies are based remain quite heterogeneous. A process of convergence is nevertheless discernible in respect of policy implementation. The reasons for this relate to the nature of the European integration process but should not be confused with the broad adoption of a notional “European Social Model”, the harmonisation of national policies or, more generally, with the classical approach to EU policy making in the social field. This paper instead explores how the implementation typology on Social Services of General Interest produced by Humer et al. (2013) can be understood in relation to the way in which the European Commission has continued to act as a “purposeful opportunist” by employing “policy entrepreneurism” in the context of the various “new
governance” approaches associated with EU social policy.
Keywords
services of general interest; social services of general interest; social services
Hrčak ID:
149566
URI
Publication date:
16.9.2015.
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