ABSTRACT
The purpose of the final chapter is to explore the consequences of the European Union’s (EU) current trajectory of commodification within the European social dimension for EU citizens and the broader process of European integration. It argues that the process of European integration suffers from a social deficit on two fronts. First, that technocratic governance in the form of the European Semester has hollowed-out democracy within the EU. In this regard, European neoliberalism is underpinned by a drift towards authoritarianism, even though the political elite pretend otherwise. Second, as a result, the EU does not produce the kind of policies that EU citizens want. The chapter therefore serves to highlight the severity of the problems faced by the EU and the need for it to change the course of European integration beyond tokenistic policy reforms with catchy headlines that continue to commodify individuals.
