【精品】Globalization and the Reform of European social models.pdfVIP

JCMS 2006 Volume 44. Number 2. pp. 369–90 Globalization and the Reform of European Social Models* ANDRÉ SAPIR Université Libre de Bruxelles (ECARES) and Bruegel Abstract Globalization implies changes that create both threats and opportunities. The challenge for Europe is to become flexible in order to avail of the opportunities this brings and surmount the threats. This requires reforming labour market and social policies. When thinking about such reforms the notion of a single ‘European social model’ is largely irrelevant. There are four different European social models, each with its own performance in terms of efficiency and equity. The Nordic and the Anglo-Saxon models are both efficient, but only the former manages to combine equity and efficiency. The Continental and Mediterranean models are inefficient and unsustainable; they must therefore be reformed. Introduction Notwithstanding considerable other achievements, the EU’s economic system is increasingly failing to deliver a satisfactory growth performance. As my co- authors and I argued in the 2003 report An Agenda for a Growing Europe (Sapir et al., 2003), the EU’s growth problem is a symptom of an economy stuck in a system of mass production, large firms, existing technology and long-term employment patterns that is no longer suitable in today’s world characterized by rapid technological change and strong global competition. The report insisted that Europe needs to undertake massive economic and social reforms in order * This article was prepared as a background document for presentation at an informal Ecofin meeting in Manchester on 9 September 2005. It was previously published by Bruegel as a working paper, «http://www. ». © 2006 The Author(s) Journal compilation © 2006 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA 370