The issue starts from the observation that since the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) there have been a series of new social initiatives at the EU level, with several others in the making. This resurgence of the social dimension of the EU raises a number of questions that form the basis for this special issue. In what way and to what extent has the EU social dimension indeed been strengthened since the adoption of the EPSR? To what extent are newly adopted social policies actually likely to contribute to improving people’s lives, and in particular the lives of those who face precarious working or living conditions? What explains the broad political support of the centre-left and centre-right for this social turn? Does the increased weight given to social goals and policies mean that there is a rebalancing of the economic and the social dimensions of the EU and that the EU’s economic model is changing? And what can or should be done to substantially strengthen the social dimension of the EU?

Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research

Read the issue here: Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research (Vol. 29, issue 2).