Social Europe in the throes of enlargement

Social Europe has become a major issue in the debate on the referendum on the draft Constitutional Treaty in France. In order to better understand these challenges, in a context of intense questioning on the future of Social Europe, we must first specify its boundaries and its content by means of an analysis of the European social model. This analysis will firstly take a political, sociological and historical approach, then will follow a legal route, by emphasising the evolving character of the body of European legislation. In this way, we will be able to analyse the causes of the current ‘crisis’ better, by establishing the reasons and outlining some roads to reorganisation.