European Welfare Competence and Legitimacy & The Different National Welfare System
Prologue
The concept of welfare state is now become a globally popular concept. Many countries throughout the world are now trying to make their regime a regime that have a welfare system running on it. Because the welfare system can be a measurements in measuring the developing and developed index of a country. Talking about the welfare system one thing that we should know that the welfare system originated from European countries. This welfare system first used in Europe is in order to maintain the social condition of the system therefore the welfare system is needed. Therefore, the world is “citing” the welfare system from Europe although they vary in consideration of vast cultures therefore need to be customized. This paper will give an exposition of the European welfare system and its legitimacy to the European people. And this paper will also give the differentiation of welfare systems in each states and nations and will try to categorize the kinds of welfare system in many circumstances.
European Welfare Competence and Legitimacy
The main point of the European welfare competence is to build the welfare system in the regionally international level or the regional level of Europe. It is not an easy thing regarding the differences and gaps between the old EU countries and the new EU countries. The major of old EU countries had developed the welfare systems in good governance because of their accumulated capital, while the center and eastern Europe which were communist countries that had not possessed the capital. This is a challenge for the European Union as a regional intergovernmental organization to provide “welfare” to the welfare systems across the EU countries. This case of regionalization of the welfare system was and still is supported by the EU under the leadership of Jacques Delors in the European Commission, and was continued to the Maastricht and Amsterdam Treaty to promote the social policy in Europe. In what circumstance? In balancing the main agenda of the European Union in advance which to create a borderless supranationalistic regional organization where there are no more trade barriers, so the freetrade regime could be established. In this circumstance the social policy for social protection is needed by the organization to balance the free trade and the social protectionism in Europe.[1]
What about the legitimacy? Which one is more popular? The national welfare system or the European welfare system? If we traced back to the origin when the welfare system became a very popular system, one thing that can be learned that welfare system was like “healing herbal” for the European citizen in the post-war era.[2] Just like the post-war settlement after the war. This welfare system was first intended by the people so the states may protect them from the previous massive devastation of war, in the term of welfare system. So the legitimacy of the European Institution such as EU was and is less widely accepted.[3] Therefore the discourse of the discussion in this agenda is so long debatable.
The Different National Welfare System
Although the welfare system originated throughout the stabilizing state postwar settlement of Europe after the second world war, the types and structure how the systems work are vastly different. In the article by Linda Hantrais called “Welfare Policy” she stated that the first person that made the classification of the European welfare system was Titmuss in 1974. Titmuss stated that there were three types of the welfare system they are “Residual Welfare System” which was exemplified by the United States of America, and the “Institutional Welfare System” which was exemplified by the Nordic Countries, and the “Industrial Achievements Welfare System” which was exemplified by the West Germany. Another scholar who did the classification of the welfare systems of the European Countries is Esping-Andersen. He also made some classification even if there were critics to his works that is now no longer relevant. One thing that the Esping-Andersen missed in his classification was that he ignored the regime shifting factor. For example the United Kingdom in the early postwar era, she was a social-democratic regime but she became liberal in 1980s. This regime shifting factor makes the prediction of the future and current welfare system of a single or structural states in Europe almost impossible. But lesson learned is that in considering the differences of each national welfare systems, the things that must be considered are, the political constellation, cultural aspects, economic aspect and growth, and of course the regime-shifting factor. This means that the classification of the differentiation of welfare systems of states in Europe must be flexible and adaptable in some changes like regime-shifting factor.[4]
Conclusion
The differences in the national welfare systems are vast, and they can not be classified under specific circumstances and must be comprehensively nurtured. Therefore in constructing the European Welfare system, of course in a good intention such as to wipe inequality and poverty out, EU like it or not has to face barriers such as custom of each states, political and legal system, and so on. Therefore EU must not only make their organization in a form of semi-supranational but in absolute supranationalism so the regional integration that sustained by the supranationalism can re-sustain the forming of European regional welfare system.
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