ABSTRACT
The underlying political theory of social policy is that the state, as custodian of the public good, has a responsibility for ensuring that its citizens have the opportunity to pursue their happiness. The first advocate of social policy in the recent history of Europe was the German statesman more noted for his doctrines of ‘blood and iron’ and his unrelenting pursuit of the creation of the German Empire, Prince Otto von Bismarck. In early discussion of economic integration among the Six, there was some concern that different levels of social security and of wages might give some countries a competitive edge over others. It was the situation much later described as ‘social dumping’. By the time it came to the drafting and adoption of the European Economic Community Treaty, caution was even more marked. The Preamble brackets together economic and social progress.
