Redesigning the Spanish and Portuguese welfare states: the impact of accession into the European Union

Article is part of a special issue entitled 'Spain and Portugal in the European Union. The first fifteen years'.
Article abstract:

Despite the fact that the normative issued by the European Union regarding the regulation of social protection policies is scant, becoming a member of such a supranational institution can be expected to have influenced the redesign of welfare states. This contribution assesses to what extent the enlargement of the EU toward the south has impacted on the reform of social policies. In particular, it focuses on the cases of Spain and Portugal. The discussion includes both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis. From the quantitative point of view, it assesses the evolution of financing and expenditure trends. From the qualitative point of view, it analyses direct and indirect effects of EU membership on social policy, and considers the development of social policy in the domestic sphere in relation to the European Social Model. The concluding section discusses the influence of both external and internal interests and challenges in the redesign of the Spanish and Portuguese welfare states.