ABSTRACT

Starting in the 1980s, competitive pressures and the ideology of competitiveness have shaken and transformed traditional models of development, public policy, and governance in Europe.

This edited book carries out a comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and innovative analysis of the relationship between competitiveness and solidarity in the contemporary European Union. It offers an original contribution to the scholarly debates on the current developments and challenges of welfare states, social and economic policies, and forms of governance in the European Union. Bringing together an international team of cutting-edge scholars in the social sciences and the humanities, Competitiveness and Solidarity in the European Union sheds light on the conceptual richness and policy relevance of these relationships, pointing to important avenues to make the European Union more economically successful and socially fairer.

This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of European Union studies and, more broadly, of EU Law, Public Policy, Economics, Sociology, Political Science, Geography, and Contemporary History.

chapter 1|13 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|26 pages

Competitiveness, solidarity, and their relationship

A theoretical framework

chapter 3|14 pages

European competitiveness

Competition, cooperation, solidarity

chapter 5|26 pages

Competition, cooperation, and solidarity in EU law

A federal perspective

chapter 6|27 pages

Harnessing competitiveness for social and ecological goals

High-road competitiveness is necessary and feasible

chapter 7|23 pages

The social and solidarity economy sector

A bottom-up alternative?

chapter 8|33 pages

Social capitalism is a thing of the past

Competition-driven Landnahme and the metamorphosis of the German Model

chapter 9|17 pages

Competitiveness in public hospitals

The case of France

chapter 10|20 pages

Competitive solidarity and regional development

The case of Italy

chapter 11|21 pages

Competitive solidarity and regional development

The case of Poland

chapter 12|24 pages

The road towards a genuine Economic and Monetary Union

More competitive and fairer

chapter 13|25 pages

Striking a balance between competitiveness and social fairness

What can we expect from the European Pillar of Social Rights?

chapter 14|3 pages

Conclusion