European Economic Governance. And what is about the Social Dimension?
The European Union still has a long way to go before it acquires a European economic government. With its new economic governance it is currently trying to persuade the member states to introduce a more rigorous kind of fiscal discipline and a set of reforms designed to enhance its competitiveness. However, this policy continues to turn a blind eye to important issues. The fact is that the European debt crisis could easily develop into a massive social crisis. In the current Spotlight Europe - “European Economic Governance. And what is about the Social Dimension?” - Thomas Fischer and Sarah Hoffmann of the Bertelsmann Stiftung highlight the dilemma facing the EU and its member states. The authors suggest that in the short term a “social investment pact” and a less complicated approach to the European Structural Fund could provide assistance for member states hit hardest by the crisis. A social Europe, Fischer and Hoffmann believe, “which does justice to the interests of EU member states from which solidarity can be expected and of those which are dependent on it thus becomes a difficult and nonetheless necessary balancing act.”