ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses that there are two reasons why the development of social and employment policies should not be detached from the Europeanization process itself. First, Europe has been an essential benchmark as it is synonymous with good practices'. Second, various social and economic actors have used the appeal to Europe as a symbol of modernity and progress. The chapter focuses on the specific case of employment policies and labour policies in Spain, within the Europeanization. Europe as an aspiration' and a master symbol' has played a role of the foremost importance in the development of welfare in democratic Spain since the 1980s. Europeanization processes are polymorphic and vary greatly from country to country. Spain's model of social protection and risk institutionalization has changed considerably since the 1980s, largely as a result of the influence of economic and symbolic processes of European Union (EU) integration. Spanish social policy will continue to be shaped by the process of Europeanization.
