Social Europe and European Economic and Monetary Union

• Department of History
• The Alcide De Gasperi Research Centre

A conference organised in the framework of the EURECON project, which has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 716849).

The interrelation between 'Social Europe' and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is a longstanding issue of debate. The impact of austerity policies adopted in response to the crisis of the Eurozone in the 2010s on welfare systems, wages, employment levels and public services indicate that monetary union and social policies may be antithetical. Conversely, trade unions in the run-up to the Maastricht Treaty perceived the making of EMU as an opportunity. Whether contradictory or complementary, an imbalance exists in the making of 'Social Europe' and monetary union prior to Maastricht, with the latter being more advanced than the former.  The aim of this conference is to explore the interrelation between Social Europe and monetary union, and to open up a conversation between different historiographical traditions, including the history of ideas, social history and economic history.

Photo credits: EC - Audiovisual Service