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There seems to be a broad consensus in Europe that there is a European Social Model (ESM), typical of European societies and that this model should be protected and developed. But the ESM is an ambiguous notion: is it a simple description of the actual state of European societies? Is this a normative concept? Is it consistent with contemporary evolution marked by economic globalization and liberalization? Is this a political project? Section 1 provides an assessment of 'the European Social Model'. This model has different patterns among EU-15 countries. The generally adopted classification (Esping-Andersen, 1990) sets out four social models in Europe: liberal, continental, Scandinavian and Mediterranean. Are the four models variants of a single ESM? Section 2 compares their economic and social performances. The best economic performances are obtained by the Liberals and the Scandinavian countries; Scandinavian countries have also the best social performance. The economic performances of continental model countries are poor. Are they condemned to evolue to the liberal model, or can they move towards the Scandinavian model? Can this model be implemented in all larger open, heterogeneous and with high unemployment countries? Section 3 discusses the need to adapt the ESM to new economic and social challenges: the ageing of populations, the rising trend in health spending, the change in family structures, the rising trend in social exclusion, the persistence of mass unemployment in some countries, of low fertility rates in some others. The section presents the actual debates, national or European, about reforms of pension system, health system, unemployment benefits, family policy and anti-poverty flight. Section 4 presents the actual situation of 'Social Europe'. This expression may refer to the current actions of European Institutions. It may also refer to a political project: increasing gradually the level of Europe's intervention in social fields. But the objective may be to 'modernise social protection', i.e. to reduce its field and costs, or on the contrary to progressively implement common social norms in all Member States in order to reach a high and similar social protection level. The single market makes it more and more difficult for national protection systems to coexist. The respective roles of national and European institutions in the evolution of the ESM (or ESMs) are discussed. The current European strategy - the social Agenda and the Open method of coordination (OMC) - remains disconnected from national debates and reforms. Can they become more democratic and more powerful? The conclusion presents two views on the future of the ESM. The first suggests a new architecture of welfare states in Europe, inspired by the Scandinavian model, so the impact of social protection as a productive factor increases. The second stresses the importance of guaranteeing social cohesion in the Member States, by reducing income inequalities and ensuring a high level of social protection. Yet, the improvement of the European economic framework and the development of the Social Europe are not technical issues. They require a major change in the economic policy thinking and a new alliance between social classes concerned about full employment and social cohesion.

There seems to be a broad consensus in Europe that there is a European Social Model (ESM), typical of European societies and that this model should be protected and developed. But the ESM is an ambiguous notion: is it a simple description of the actual state of European societies? Is this a normative concept? Is it consistent with contemporary evolution marked by economic globalization and liberalization? Is this a political project? Section 1 provides an assessment of 'the European Social Model'. This model has different patterns among EU-15 countries. The generally adopted classification (Esping-Andersen, 1990) sets out four social models in Europe: liberal, continental, Scandinavian and Mediterranean. Are the four models variants of a single ESM? Section 2 compares their economic and social performances. The best economic performances are obtained by the Liberals and the Scandinavian countries; Scandinavian countries have also the best social performance. The economic performances of continental model countries are poor. Are they condemned to evolue to the liberal model, or can they move towards the Scandinavian model? Can this model be implemented in all larger open, heterogeneous and with high unemployment countries? Section 3 discusses the need to adapt the ESM to new economic and social challenges: the ageing of populations, the rising trend in health spending, the change in family structures, the rising trend in social exclusion, the persistence of mass unemployment in some countries, of low fertility rates in some others. The section presents the actual debates, national or European, about reforms of pension system, health system, unemployment benefits, family policy and anti-poverty flight. Section 4 presents the actual situation of 'Social Europe'. This expression may refer to the current actions of European Institutions. It may also refer to a political project: increasing gradually the level of Europe's intervention in social fields. But the objective may be to 'modernise social protection', i.e. to ...

Europe is seen as the engine of public policy on gender equality, particularly through Member States' implementation of EU law into national law. Straddling legislative components and soft law instruments (such as a cross-cutting approach and promoting "best practices"), EU gender equality policies represent a vantage point for analyzing the Europeanization process. We shall begin by discussing the specificity of national situations before analyzing the transnational dimension of the EU law on non-discrimination. We shall then look at European equality policies by looking at current debate including: issues surrounding the European employment Strategy, connections between hard law and soft law, gender equality and Europeanization. In affirming the "principle of equal pay, without discrimination based on sex", Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome embodies the founding dimension of gender equality in the European project. In this way, EU texts - from the Common Market to the internal market, and then to integration - place gender equality at the crossroads of economics, law and politics. After highlighting how diverse the situation is in different countries, we will present the ways in which European policy on equality addresses.

Europe is seen as the engine of public policy on gender equality, particularly through Member States' implementation of EU law into national law. Straddling legislative components and soft law instruments (such as a cross-cutting approach and promoting "best practices"), EU gender equality policies represent a vantage point for analyzing the Europeanization process. We shall begin by discussing the specificity of national situations before analyzing the transnational dimension of the EU law on non-discrimination. We shall then look at European equality policies by looking at current debate including: issues surrounding the European employment Strategy, connections between hard law and soft law, gender equality and Europeanization. In affirming the "principle of equal pay, without discrimination based on sex", Article 119 of the Treaty of Rome embodies the founding dimension of gender equality in the European project. In this way, EU texts - from the Common Market to the internal market, and then to integration - place gender equality at the crossroads of economics, law and politics. After highlighting how diverse the situation is in different countries, we will present the ways in which European policy on equality addresses.

The debate on public finances' sustainability has long focused on the conditions for the accumulation of debt. This implied that, empirically, the analyses revolved around estimations of dynamic versions of the debt accumulation equation, through unit root tests and cointegration tests between e.g. revenues and primary expenditures, or debt and deficit. Bohn (2007, Journal of Monetary Economics), has forcefully argued in favour of a stronger focus on theory. The model of this paper shows to which extent and under which conditions earlier results considering fiscal policy in an endogenous growth setting are modified if government spending is not entirely tax-financed. Therefore the model uses Barro's (1990, Journal of Political Economy) production function and Blanchard (1985, Journal of Political Economy)-type consumers to assess fiscal sustainability and the determinants of long-run (or potential) growth, in presence of productive capital services. The main conclusion is that, provided public spending is not too high, it will be growth-enhancing. This feature does not hurt fiscal sustainability if taxes are adjusted appropriately. We also calibrate the model to show that the current level of public capital is low in France, the UK and the USA.

The debate on public finances' sustainability has long focused on the conditions for the accumulation of debt. This implied that, empirically, the analyses revolved around estimations of dynamic versions of the debt accumulation equation, through unit root tests and cointegration tests between e.g. revenues and primary expenditures, or debt and deficit. Bohn (2007, Journal of Monetary Economics), has forcefully argued in favour of a stronger focus on theory. The model of this paper shows to which extent and under which conditions earlier results considering fiscal policy in an endogenous growth setting are modified if government spending is not entirely tax-financed. Therefore the model uses Barro's (1990, Journal of Political Economy) production function and Blanchard (1985, Journal of Political Economy)-type consumers to assess fiscal sustainability and the determinants of long-run (or potential) growth, in presence of productive capital services. The main conclusion is that, provided public spending is not too high, it will be growth-enhancing. This feature does not hurt fiscal sustainability if taxes are adjusted appropriately. We also calibrate the model to show that the current level of public capital is low in France, the UK and the USA.

The application of the policies prescribed by the Washington Consensus in developing countries is the subject of a vast literature. What is much less known is that there exist only one pure laboratory experiment implementing the Washington Consensus in the western world: Europe. The aim of this paper is to show that Europe has gone very far in the internalisation of the Washington Consensus; in fact, it has devised constitutionally a form of government that has no choice but to implement it. What appears then clearly is that this attempt was not a success story (.).

The application of the policies prescribed by the Washington Consensus in developing countries is the subject of a vast literature. What is much less known is that there exist only one pure laboratory experiment implementing the Washington Consensus in the western world: Europe. The aim of this paper is to show that Europe has gone very far in the internalisation of the Washington Consensus; in fact, it has devised constitutionally a form of government that has no choice but to implement it. What appears then clearly is that this attempt was not a success story (.).

International audience ; A model which formalizes the interplay between green consumer culture and sustainable technology is used to revisit the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. The theory includes (i) green preferences formed through cultural transmission which involves rational socialization actions, (ii) innovation endogenously directed to sustainable or unsustainable sectors depending on culture through market size effects. The model captures an important feature of sustainable innovation processes which is the existence of path dependency. The approach allows to examine implications for both market-based instruments (i.e., environmental taxes) and non-monetary interventions (i.e., environmental education). The two types of policies are either complements or substitutes depending on the substitutability between clean and dirty goods. Finally, an important disregarded issue is examined: the political sustainability of environmental taxes.

International audience ; A model which formalizes the interplay between green consumer culture and sustainable technology is used to revisit the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. The theory includes (i) green preferences formed through cultural transmission which involves rational socialization actions, (ii) innovation endogenously directed to sustainable or unsustainable sectors depending on culture through market size effects. The model captures an important feature of sustainable innovation processes which is the existence of path dependency. The approach allows to examine implications for both market-based instruments (i.e., environmental taxes) and non-monetary interventions (i.e., environmental education). The two types of policies are either complements or substitutes depending on the substitutability between clean and dirty goods. Finally, an important disregarded issue is examined: the political sustainability of environmental taxes.

International audience ; A model which formalizes the interplay between green consumer culture and sustainable technology is used to revisit the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. The theory includes (i) green preferences formed through cultural transmission which involves rational socialization actions, (ii) innovation endogenously directed to sustainable or unsustainable sectors depending on culture through market size effects. The model captures an important feature of sustainable innovation processes which is the existence of path dependency. The approach allows to examine implications for both market-based instruments (i.e., environmental taxes) and non-monetary interventions (i.e., environmental education). The two types of policies are either complements or substitutes depending on the substitutability between clean and dirty goods. Finally, an important disregarded issue is examined: the political sustainability of environmental taxes.

International audience ; A model which formalizes the interplay between green consumer culture and sustainable technology is used to revisit the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. The theory includes (i) green preferences formed through cultural transmission which involves rational socialization actions, (ii) innovation endogenously directed to sustainable or unsustainable sectors depending on culture through market size effects. The model captures an important feature of sustainable innovation processes which is the existence of path dependency. The approach allows to examine implications for both market-based instruments (i.e., environmental taxes) and non-monetary interventions (i.e., environmental education). The two types of policies are either complements or substitutes depending on the substitutability between clean and dirty goods. Finally, an important disregarded issue is examined: the political sustainability of environmental taxes.

International audience ; A model which formalizes the interplay between green consumer culture and sustainable technology is used to revisit the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. The theory includes (i) green preferences formed through cultural transmission which involves rational socialization actions, (ii) innovation endogenously directed to sustainable or unsustainable sectors depending on culture through market size effects. The model captures an important feature of sustainable innovation processes which is the existence of path dependency. The approach allows to examine implications for both market-based instruments (i.e., environmental taxes) and non-monetary interventions (i.e., environmental education). The two types of policies are either complements or substitutes depending on the substitutability between clean and dirty goods. Finally, an important disregarded issue is examined: the political sustainability of environmental taxes.

International audience ; A model which formalizes the interplay between green consumer culture and sustainable technology is used to revisit the trade-off between economic growth and environmental preservation. The theory includes (i) green preferences formed through cultural transmission which involves rational socialization actions, (ii) innovation endogenously directed to sustainable or unsustainable sectors depending on culture through market size effects. The model captures an important feature of sustainable innovation processes which is the existence of path dependency. The approach allows to examine implications for both market-based instruments (i.e., environmental taxes) and non-monetary interventions (i.e., environmental education). The two types of policies are either complements or substitutes depending on the substitutability between clean and dirty goods. Finally, an important disregarded issue is examined: the political sustainability of environmental taxes.