"Searching for a European culture: finding clues in EC social policy"

Springer, Beverly. (1993) "Searching for a European culture: finding clues in EC social policy". In: UNSPECIFIED, Washington, DC. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

[From the Introduction]. It is not the purpose of this paper to enter the theoretical lists, but rather to skirt the controversy by taking one subject area of EC policy and trying to discover why the policy takes the form that it does. The assumption is that if we look at the totality of one category of EC policy -- including both its accomplishments and its failure -- we may find in the residue some traces of common norms and values that underpin EC policy and provide it with a more stable base than short term national interests. Interest in this quest began during a decade spent studying the formation of social policy in the EC. (Springer 1992) During the course of the study, it became apparent that the formation of the policy was a slow and frequently frustrating process. Proposals that were years in the making remained in the waiting room of the Council agenda neither winning acceptance nor rejection. In contrast a few policies went from drafting to acceptance in less than two years. Why the difference and also why did the British so frequently play the spoiler role? Perhaps the most important question is why has the EC persisted in trying to draft some types of policy over a period of many years despite failure to achieve concrete results. If answers to these questions lead to a discovery of patterns that extend over years, then the findings may indicate that something beyond the interests of particular governments shapes EC social policy and that something may be common values and norms.

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