The European Union and social policy

This chapter outlines the development and role of the European Union as the world’s largest multi-state governance organisation. The chapter first explores at the origins and development of the EU, including the key points of growth in membership and in policy. In the chapter’s next section, we explore the structure of the EU, including questions around how far we can consider the EU to be a democratic body and the ways in which the EU makes social policy. Following this, the chapter explores some of the difficulties the EU has faced in recent years, focusing particularly on Eurozone crisis and the growth of nationalism and Euroscepticism, including the 2016 Brexit vote and 2019 political decision to exit the EU from the UK. The chapter then looks specifically at several aspects of European social policy, including the importance of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and social policy directed at families, the elderly and disabled people, and around education and training. The chapter finishes with a brief look at the future of the European Union in a changing world and then summarises the key learning.