The attractiveness of the European and American social models for new members and candidate countries of the European Union

A joint conference on the attractiveness of the European and American social models for new members and candidate countries of the European Union, 7 - 8 May 2007, Berlin, Germany

On the occasion of the German EU Presidency, this conference is jointly organised by the Social Science Research Center (WZB), Berlin, and the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Dublin.

Objectives

The main purpose of the debate is to find out what makes the American or the European social model attractive to new Member States and candidate countries of the EU. After enlargement, much reference has been made to distinctions in foreign policy between "old" and "new" Europe; many observers described the new Member States as "Atlanticists" pursuing external security policies similar to the United States. The conference will consider to what extent this may also be true in the field of public policies.

Note: A preliminary programme [pdf, 421kb] is available

Participants

The conference brings together academics, policy makers, and policy pundits from across the Member States of the European Union and from the United States. In addition to the main speakers and theme-specific discussants a high-level panel of public policy experts has been invited to join in the discourse on the relative merits of the social models which currently find favour in the free world.

Participation is by invitation only.

Contact details

Information liaison officer: Teresa Renehan (+353 1 204 3126)