Array

Abstract

This paper reviews the social inclusion issue at the level of the European Union. The main idea of the EU social policy is how there can be created new ways for everybody’s well being, this meaning creating an European social model for an European active welfare state. The objectives of social policy are targeting not only the promotion of employment but also the improvement of living and working conditions, an adequate social protection, social dialogue, human resources development, all of that in order to permit a high and stable level of employment and to combat any kind of exclusion. The European Commission is encouraging cooperation between social partners in issues such as vocational training at European level, as well as the initiative to draft a multi-annual program for social dialogue. The European social systems are nowadays considered to be competitive, having real net costs comparable to those of the USA but with a more equitable distribution of the benefits and a similar level of productivity. All these results have been achieved mainly due to the political commitment of the EU to implement economic and social reforms.