1. The impact of the financial and economic crisis on European welfare policy – The new governance of European policy Anna Michalski Department of Government Uppsala University

2. Approaches to European welfare policy welfare policy Intrinsic dimension Extrinsic dimension European economic integration European policy coordination (Lisbon strategy/Europe 2020 (EU legislation) (EU structural funds) Varying welfare state models among EU states

3. Why policy coordination? EMU: the continuation of the “constitutional asymmetry Lisbon strategy –EU ”governance architecture” on the meta level –Concern for competitiveness and welfare challenges in the Euro area: missing micro- economic instrument –Anchored in voluntarism, national agency, and concurrent public management thinking –OMC backed up by mutual learning

4. Outcomes of Lisbon Heavily criticized for no/little impact on situation in member states but Ideational convergence Institutional isomorphism De-politicization and centralization Potential negative effect on constitutional actors in the member states in terms of democratic governance

5. EU Crisis response Explanatory mechanisms: Path dependency Crisis solution mode A barrage of institutional and procedural reforms of EU economic governance

6. European semester Argument: –a strengthening (more coercive) policy coordination in welfare policy –Governance towards more centralization and bureaucratization –Uneasy relation between Community method (coercive) and a hardened policy coordination (SBG, Europe 2020, MIP) Direct link to national level –Creating a direct link to national budgets (Euro area) –Creating a link between EU institutions and national parliaments

7. Challenge of democratic governance Influence on governance dynamic in OMC processes: from dynamic learning to functional problem solving? Impact of obligations enshrined in rescue packages: a case of economic custodianship? Political tension between Euro area countries (rescue funders vs. rescue receivers) Interaction between Euro countries and non- Euro countries Impact on democratic policymaking on European and national levels a form of cooperative federalism?