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The European Employment Strategy (EES) – also known as the “ Luxembourg process” – has just celebrated its fifth birthday. Given this strategy’s importance for the creation of a social Europe , it is high time for an evaluation and for some critical questions to be asked. This book thus aims to identify the main strengths and weaknesses of the EES, considered from the standpoints of efficiency and justice. It also analyses the strategy’s impact on both overall policy approaches and specific measures designed to combat unemployment and enhance labour market participation.

The subject is approached from two complementary angles, examining on the one hand the nature and impact of the regulatory framework devised in the context of this European strategy and assessing, on the other, the contents and key concepts proposed. Some of the questions to which answers are sought are the following: Why should “europeanisation” of the social model be necessary? What would be the ideal distribution of powers and competences between the various levels of governance? What kind of regulatory framework might allow sufficient respect for the diversity of labour market, cultural traditions and institutional arrangements without leading to an excessively weak mode of regulation? What role should the EU be playing in relation to the internationalisation of the economy and the monetary system? What values are embedded in the employment paradigm promoted by this strategy? What is the range of political and institutional instruments deployed? To what extent are changes observable in the national strategies governing employment policies for young people, women and older people? And to what degree do the goals proposed by the European Employment Strategy go beyond the existing national policies?

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