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This paper explores the logical and historical determinants of European integration and reflects on the potential and dangers this presents for labour movement renewal. Through the principle of ‘subsidiarity’ a regulatory gap has been established between political mobilisation at the national level and neo-liberal regulation at the European level. The historical determination of this form is traced through an exploration of the social struggles against neo-liberalism that have developed within member states and transnational mobilizations that bridge this regulatory gap by linking resistance across national boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'European social model' is a phrase often heard in European discourse. This article describes the remarkable shift in meaning that the term has experienced in the last two decades. While it was first invented to symbolise Delors's vision of a social-democratic Europe, it was then increasingly used to legitimise a predominately neoliberal integration process, before becoming a justification for the cutting back of existing welfare systems. The popularity of the European social model, however, still stems from the fact that it articulates an alternative to US-style free-market capitalism. The concept is therefore also used by left forces in order to formulate their vision of an alternative Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]