Aims

To help students understand the various models of social protection.
To help them understand the key elements of 'typical' models of social protection in
Europe.
To help them identify, and make a comparative analysis of, the main differences between
these models, and their specific effects.

Main themes

An examination of various models: universality or professionalisation, insurance
assistance, individualisation household, funding, and management.
A comparative analysis of the macro economic and macro social elements of systems:
public finances, deductions and re distribution, consumption, and populations covered.
A comparative analysis of methods of financing and management, and of the revenue and
expenditure of typical systems.
A comparative analysis of the main policies and mechanisms of social protection: replace
income and guarantees in respect of health, old age, family and disability.

Content and teaching methods

The course first identifies the place of social security in the European Union in the
context of basic texts (i.e. the Treaty of Rome, the Single European Act and the Treaty on European Union) and, against this backdrop, analyses the action of the Commission (coordination of legislation, concentration of policies, and social dialogue). The notion of social security is then identified in the light of the legislative instruments of the ILO and the Council of Europe while the initial key models are also identified together with their characteristics.
A global analysis of today's various systems is then carried out by reference to the
initial models based on transversal questions such as administrative organisation, financing, and actors, responsibilities; it is complemented and illustrated by financial and statistical data. A range of specific fields are studied in detail: health, old age, survivors' benefits and unemployment benefit (i.e. branches that together account for 80% of the cost of social protection in Europe). A comparison of the field of application, and of conditions and benefits, will then be carried out with the texts of European recommendations for 1992 serving as a guide for the analysis; it will be complemented by a qualitative and quantitative comparison.
The course concludes with the social protection of people who move within the European
Union. Issues discussed in the Union on the future of social protection form part of the whole analysis.

Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)

Documentation will be made available to students, who can have it copied: the main texts
Published by DG V of the European Commission, particularly the MISSOC comparative tables and the report on social protection in Europe (most recent versions).
This course forms part of a study programme given in the evening and/or on Saturdays.

Other credits in programs