| Review of: | The European Social Fund and the EU: flexibility, growth, stability by Jacqueline Brine |
|---|---|
| Reviewed By: | Brian Burkitt |
| Reviewed in: | Political Studies Review |
| Date accepted online: | 04/03/2004 |
| Published in print: | Volume 1, Issue 2, Pages 196-301 |
Europe
This book aims to give prominence to an area of policy - that involving the European Social Fund (ESF) - which is frequently overshadowed by more visible measures both at European Union and national level. The ESF's connections to other policies are explained, especially as they relate to the EU's development. The author's methodology rests upon a chronological analysis of social policy documents from the Treaty of Rome to the Treaty of Amsterdam. Brine documents how the discourse concerning the ESF's role has changed over time, reflecting evolving assumptions about the nature of EU integration and the purpose of social policy within it. The book emphasizes the ESF's flexibility, which enabled it to become both a proactive instrument of Commission policy and a redistributor of resources. The major reforms in the ESF's operation and its focus are discussed. This will be particularly interesting to students of social and economic regeneration. It emphasizes that the ESF's evolution was shaped by tensions between the Commission and member states.
This account is a valuable description of how the ESF and the wider EU work. However, the goals of EU integration are accepted without critical evaluation. The book also contains unsubstantiated assertions: for instance, the statement on page 85 that 'the process of globalization continued, and the role of the nation state became more and more questionable', is never subjected to analysis. Therefore, this book is an indispensable compendium of the ESF's history and its changing objectives, but, by accepting without question the EU's self-projected role, it fails to reflect Britain's increasing Euroscepticism over the past decade.