Reference : « La longue marche vers l’Europe sociale »( "the long path towards social Europe)"de Jean-Claude Barbier, PUF, collection le lien social, 2008, ISBN 978-2-13-056401-0, Chez Amazon.fr, Chez Fnac.fr, Chez Eyrolles.com
According to the author, the European social policy is hampered by the
fact that modern social protection came into being in the late nineteenth century generally in a
national context, within the national community of the various European countries. It has even been a contributing factor to the foundation
of a nation. It also remains the context
in which social justice is politically
defined according to its common values. Some 30% of national gross domestic
product (GDP) of each country is devoted to social policy. The total EU budget
covers only 1% of the wealth of the EU. It is therefore not appropriate to
speak of a true European solidarity.
The transposition at a community
-decision level ,of what is fair or solidarity-minded in several social programs in Europe, is seen
as a source of uncertainty and the mere threat of it often leads to a rejection, as demonstrated by
the Dutch , Irish and French referenda not
to mention the previous Danish one.
Voting in such a context bears
more on national stakes and issues.
This major contradiction can’t be lifted without a considerable effort for
mutual understanding which will require many years. The utopia of a
"post-national" community requires addressing first the sharing of
cultures and languages. There is no other way to reverse that trend
Read
also George
Orwell: Politics and the English language (an essay, 1946)
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