CONSIDERATIONS ON THE IMPACT OF THE EU ENLARGEMENT TOWARDS CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE ON THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL MODEL
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Authors:
• Constantin Viorel MIHAI, email: oi_medc@amposdru.mmssf.ro, Afiliation: Ph.D. candidate, Faculty of History, University of Bucharest -
Keywords: EU enlargement, European social model, central and eastern Europe
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Abstract:
While the European Union keeps taking pride in putting forward the existence of a European Social Model, no study or project was carried out in order to foresee the enlargement effects on this model and mainly how the latter could be successfully implemented by the new Member States, having regard to their own characteristics. It is no coincidence that the references to the European Social Model multiplied during the period when the EU was facing its own enlargement. More and more questions were raised concerning the new Member States convergence capacity, as regards Central and Eastern Europe countries in particular, with all the European Union social rules. The trends in the new Member States, as well as their convictions or their lack of conviction, concerning the European Social Model, have major implications on the tomorrow’s social Europe. In which direction is it heading in an enlarged 25 or 27 nations European Union? This study is aimed at answering at this question having regard, in particular, to the economical and social characteristics of the new Member States and to the possible sources that might give rise to blockings in the social field.