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Cini: European Union Politics 2e

Chapter 17

Britain and the Social Chapter

The Social Chapter was intended to implement 'the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Right' originally proposed by Vasso Papandreou, then the European Commissioner for Social Affairs and Employment. The Charter specifies, inter alia, the rights to free movement in the EC, maximum working hours per week, free association in trade unions, professional training, gender equality, minimum health and security provision, minimum working age and pension rights, and protection of disable workers. Describing it as a 'socialist charter', Mrs. Thatcher refused to sign up to the Charter in December 1989.

At the 1991 summit meeting in Maastricht, the British Prime Minister John Major followed Thatcher's hard line on the issue. After some tough negotiations, it was agreed among the member states that the Social Chapter would be a separate protocol attaching to the Maastricht Treaty from which Britain was able to opt out. It was based on this opt-out that the UK Parliament ratified the Maastricht Treaty in 1992.

The controversy over the Social Chapter later became an important issue during the campaigns of the British general election in 1997. On the one hand, the Conservative party argued that the Social Chapter would burden British industries with new rules and regulations and bring extra labour costs. On the other hand, the Labour party claimed that adopting the Social Chapter would not threaten British competitiveness because most companies had already offered their employees standards in excess of those required by the Chapter. As the Labour Party won the election, Britain signed the Social Chapter which then became an integral part of the Amsterdam Treaty.

However, it is necessary to point out that the Labour Government has implemented the Social Chapter in a half-hearted way in the UK. More attention was paid to the policy change in Brussels. In an interview with the Economist in 2000, the Prime Minister Tony Blair claimed that Britain's emphasis on jobs and employability had 'shift the whole focus of the European Commission' on the Social Chapter.

Web Links

Activities of the European Union: Employment and Social Affairs
europa.eu.int/pol/socio/index_en.htm

Active Social Policies European Network, an interactive platform providing information on active social policies in Europe.
aspen.fss.uu.nl/en/index.php

The Network for European Social Policy Analysis
www.espanet.org/

Social Platform, an alliance of representatives, European federations and networks of NGOs active in the social sector
www.socialplatform.org/

Further Learning Resources

Esping-Andersen, Gosta (1999), Social Foundations of Postindustrial Economies, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Giddens, Anthony (1998), The Third Way , Cambridge : Polity

Leibfried, Stephan and Pierson, Paul (eds.) (1995), European Social Policy: Between Fragmentation and Integration, Washington DC: The Brookings Institution.

Pierson, Paul (2000), 'Three Worlds of Welfare State Research', Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 33, No 6/7, pp. 791-821.