This volume sets out to explain the conditions that have favoured the expansion of the European social dimension during the turbulent decade of 2010–20, when Europe was confronting strong countervailing pressures, including the euro crisis, the refugee crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study begins by diagnosing a widespread, although slow-burning, crisis across the European Union (EU) resulting from the cumulation of social problems and the systemic tension between EU market integration on the one hand and nationally bounded welfare states and the other. Eight in-depth case studies analyse the political dynamics behind a variety of EU social initiatives aimed at addressing the consequences of free movement of workers, youth unemployment, poverty, eroding wages, environment and climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic. To identify the specific drivers of EU social policymaking empirically, the authors have reconstructed the struggles over concrete policy proposals as they unfolded in the European multilevel setting.

The volume introduces a novel analytical framework for interpreting the transformation of the EU social dimension in times of crisis, when some degree of social co-ordination becomes crucial to bond deeply different (welfare) states together. This in-depth study offers an invaluable analysis for researchers, academics and professionals interested in the functioning of the European polity.

The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Anna Kyriazi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Milan. She holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute. Her research interests include comparative European politics and public policy, with a particular emphasis on Eastern and Southern Europe.

Joan Miró is Assistant Professor in EU Politics and Policy at Pompeu Fabra University. He is a member of the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center, Departament de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), and the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM). His research interests lie in European integration, particularly the socioeconomic governance of the EMU, social policy, and international political economy.

Marcello Natili is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Milan and a member of the ESPAN - Expert Network for Analytical Support in Social Policies. His research interests are in the field of comparative welfare states analysis, and include labour market and social inclusion policies, European social governance, eco-social policy and politics, and the Southern European model of welfare capitalism.

Stefano Ronchi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Political Science of the University of Milan. His research interests include comparative welfare state analysis, labour market policies and the politics of EU social policy.