ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between the state and both the economic and the social field within the framework of European integration. More particularly, it emphasizes the centrality of the concept of competitiveness in the dynamics of these relationship. The argument of competitiveness, especially its invocation by the public authorities, crystallizes the transformations of the objectives and of the efficiency of public policy-making, confronted with the opening of national borders under the double effect of globalization and European integration. The state, while under economic constraints, does not lose its relevance to meet societal needs, but needs to adapt to this new environment. In this perspective, competitiveness does not mark the end of the state and its transformation into a ‘minimal state’ limited to police tasks. On the contrary, competitiveness is another expression of state power in its interaction with market forces: it constitutes the main argument for economic revitalization and for the ‘re-embedding’ of the economy in the state. The tasks of the state are reorganized between the national and European level, so that they can be carried out in the most efficient way according to the requirements of the liberal economy. In fact, the state tends to use the mechanisms within market structures to improve its economic performance. It thus changes from a Welfare State into a Competition State. However, such an evolution is only sustainable insofar as it guarantees a balance between economic performance and solidarity.
