The Public-Private Mix in Southern Europe: What Changed in the Last Decade?

Abstract

Welfare states are undergoing a process of transformation that redraws the balance between the public-private welfare mix under the pressure of rapid socio-economic and political changes. Southern European (SE) countries experienced an expansionary phase of social welfare over much of the 1980s, but soon faced serious fiscal constraints that became even more pressing when these countries embarked on the project to join the European Monetary Union. This considerably stalled the welfare state expansion trends of the 1980s and called for comprehensive social reforms. In this endeavour a common language for institutional change and policy reform developed, embracing guidelines, strategic options, benchmarking and other performance criteria, in the various fields of co-ordinated European strategies (e.g. equal opportunities, employment policy and social inclusion, pensions and health), which deeply affected research and policy agendas. Nevertheless, different starting points, socio-cultural patterns, institutional structures and reform capacities account for a variety of responses. In Spain, Italy and, to a lesser extent, Portugal negotiated agreements have been important vehicles of structural reform.