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The renewed Lisbon Strategy and social exclusion policy
Author(s) -
Dieckhoff Martina,
Gallie Duncan
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2338.2007.00460.x
Subject(s) - social exclusion , lisbon strategy , cohesion (chemistry) , inclusion (mineral) , social policy , political science , economic system , development economics , economic growth , economics , sociology , economic policy , european union , social science , chemistry , organic chemistry , law
In the light of its manifest mid‐term failure to make progress towards its key objectives, the EU introduced in 2005 a major ‘relaunch’ of its Lisbon Strategy for economic, employment and social development. The core aspect of this was ‘prioritisation’, involving an increased focus on growth and jobs. This raised the issue of whether the pursuit of greater competitiveness would lead to a downgrading of the importance of the original social objectives of the programme. In its focal concern on the fight against social exclusion, the EU's strategy involved both employment and social objectives. These emphasised in particular the creation not only of more but of ‘better jobs’ and the pursuit of actions to reinforce ‘social inclusion’ and ‘social cohesion’. This article considers whether a significant shift did occur in policy emphasis and the implications of the Lisbon reform for progress in reducing the risks of social exclusion. It reviews first the basic changes in the formulation of the strategy and then examines in turn the effectiveness of its policy initiatives with respect to employment, the quality of work and social inclusion.