EU Enlargement versus Social Europe? - 9781840646450

EU Enlargement versus Social Europe?The Uncertain Future of the European Social Model\nAuthor(s): Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, United Kingdom\nImprint: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd\nISBN-13: 9781840646450, 978-1840646450\nSynopsis\nThe decision to enlarge the European Union by ten (eventually thirteen) countries has surprisingly not been accompanied by much discussion of the implications for Social Europe. This has led to criticisms that enlargement is a purely economic process that will sweep aside important social considerations:\n\nWill the much lower labour costs and social standards in the applicant countries - especially those from Central and Eastern Europe - lead to 'unfair' competition or 'social dumping'?\nWill this process in turn encourage current EU member-states to run-down their own social provisions in order to be able to compete with the newcomers?\nDo the specific features of this new accession wave - the largest.