Abstract

The chapter considers the social dimension of Central European enlargement and addresses the question of how effective the implementation of the European Strategy for Employment (EES)can be in the context of economies that are still in the process of moving from a ‘central planning system’ to a mainly ‘neo-liberal driven system’. In particular, it examines how and the extent to which the labour markets of the future Member States are adapting to the EES and the results obtained by Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) in comparison to the current EU Member States in achieving the objectives of the Strategy. The study also assesses whether the EES is well suited for CEECs’ labour markets.
The chapter concludes by maintaining that the future Constitutional Treaty should include a series of new provisions that strengthen the current framework of the EES and which create the conditions for improving the distribution of competence between the European Union (EU) and the Member States and also between vertical and horizontal levels of policymaking in the area of EU social policy.