The 18th edition of Social policy in the European Union: state of play reports on recent European Union (EU) and national social policymaking, with contributions from leading scholars pointing at attempts to move out of the multiple crises hitting the European Union since 2008. The formidable challenges confronting the EU in 2016 have put its survival at risk. Despite some progress, the EU’s socio-economic governance is still not satisfactorily addressing macroeconomic, fiscal and social challenges in a balanced way. This book has two parts. The first addresses ‘high-level’ politics during 2016, going beyond social policy stricto sensu. It includes an analysis of the labour market determinants of Brexit, EU responses to the refugee crisis and the public consultation preceding the publication of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The second part deals with ‘day-to-day’ policies in a number of social policy areas during the past year. These discuss recent developments in the European Semester, the state of EU sectoral social dialogue, healthcare, work-life balance and active aging policies.

Part I High-level politics: between integration, disintegration and differentiated integration Chapter 1 : The present and future of the European Union, between the urgent need for democracy and differentiated integration Chapter 2 : Brexit, the UK labour market and the lessons for Social Europe Chapter 3 : Europe and the migration crisis: migrants’ rights sacrificed on the altar of security? Chapter 4 : Towards a European Pillar of Social Rights: from a preliminary outline to a Commission Recommendation Part II Day-to-day policymaking in the European Union Chapter 5 : The EU’s economic governance in 2016: beyond austerity? Chapter 6 : The relaunch of European social dialogue: what has been achieved up to now? Chapter 7 : Healthcare regulation: an obstacle to cross-border trade in services? On the muffled application of the EU Single Market Strategy and CETA Chapter 8 : Towards new work-life balance policies for those caring for dependent relatives? Chapter 9 : An ageing active population in Europe: challenges, policies and practices Conclusions Social policy in the EU: high hopes but low yields The European Union in 2016: key events List of abbreviations List of country codes List of contributors