THE DEFENCE OF THE EUROPEAN VALUES AND SOCIAL MODEL BEFORE THE CHALLENGE OF GLOBALIZATION.

This paper has a clear objective. To reflect about the question: Is the Social Europe fit for globalization? This reflection will be organized in three parts. In first we present the institutional framework of reference: The Welfare State. In the second we try to offer a panoramic about the Welfare State in the European Union across the time. We deal with the concept of European Social model and with the social statistics of the different Member States in the E.U. We try to answer to another intermediate question: do exist really the European Social Model? The third part of the paper we deal with the main question: the Social Europe and the globalization challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]