123 School Work

European social policy and EU expansion

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  1     Introduction
  Since the contract of the European economic union was signed in 1957, there is increased conscience for social questions on the supranational level. The globalisation of markets and the mobility of people, as well as the fact that the same or similar problems occur in many countries, make a common solution for social political questions unavoidable.
  The EU states do not go for a planned and wanted social union, but they experience that the Europeanization of political branches includes social policy more and more and that social problems can not be treated separately anymore.
  On the one hand the EU aims a deeper integration, but on the other hand enlargement of the union. The question is if the EU can cope with an enlargement with states which have less developed social systems while it is itself concerned to modernize the existing social systems of the current member states.
  
  1.1     Purpose of the Paper
  This paper will investigate the impact of the planned European Enlargement to the Middle and Eastern European countries on European Social Policy. One of the most frequent questions when societies are undergoing change is, how these changes will affect society. Therefore it is important to investigate, how an eastward enlargement of the EU influences social life in the member states as well as the applicant countries. The paper should help to understand the impact of the enlargement and its importance in general...