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'Social Europe' has various meanings. It may refer to the current intervention of Europeanauthorities in the fields of social protection and employment legislation, as a complement orsometimes as a substitute to national institutions interventions. The role of Europeanauthorities is clearly stated in European Treaties that assert that MS remain responsible fortheir social protection. At the same time, the logic of European construction, the risinginterdependence of economies, the interconnection of economic and monetary issues leadEuropean authorities to tend to increase their role in social issues and to pilot 'themodernisation' of national social protection systems.But social Europe may also refer to a political project, aiming at increasing the power ofEuropean authorities in social areas: there would be a social Europe like there is today aneconomic or monetary Europe. This social Europe would lead to unify gradually Europeansocial systems. This would imply a transfer of sovereignty which would be questionable sincethe role of social partners would be reduced and there would be no guarantee on the content ofthis social Europe, possibly moving towards a liberal or social-democrat system. SocialEurope may imply a step back in social democracy in Europe. At the same time the explicitrecognition that Social Europe exists and that it should be managed in an open and democraticway, could be a progress as compared to a situation of constrained convergence.Last, Social Europe may refer to a political project aiming at deepening the European SocialModel, by unifying social protection, redistribution and employment legislation towards thetop. This could take place through the gradual introduction of social norms in each country athigh and progressively similar levels. But there is no consensus in Europe on the content ofthis social Europe (.).

This editorial introduction highlights fundamental issues of financialisation in Europe, with particular focus on the interlinkages with recent and ongoing crises. Following an overview of core axes of current discussion in the literature, the editors present the contributions to the special section, and conclude with an outlook on the relevance of continued discussions of financialisation. ; For more than three decades, increasing financialisation has been a core feature of the European economy. This process does not only lead to economic instability, but also to social inequality. A driving force of financialisation in Europe are the internal market institutions of the European Union, aggravated through the introduction of the Euro and the programmes for rescuing the common currency.

This article tries to identify some common traits of the welfare states of Italy, Spain, Por tugal and Greece, with special attention to in stitutional and political aspects.

COLOGNE WILL PLAY HOST this summer to the summits of both the European Union and the G8. For 3 weeks Cologne will be the centre of attention as world leaders meet to plan the next stage of their neo-liberal strategy and their opponents demonstrate resistance to these policies and themselves meet to develop alternatives to combat the increasing divide between rich and poor, between powerful and powerless. This resistance is increasingly manifest at local, regional and global levels and organisations are developing which express these tendencies. One such organisation is the pan-European Euromarch campaign against unemployment, job insecurity and social exclusion and this article aims to document its emergence and development and to begin to analyse its significance and potential.