EU:s socialpolitiska riktning : En klassificering av EU:s välfärdsregimstillhörighet

Sammanfattning: The introduction of the European union’s pillar of social rights has marked a new chapter in EU social policy. The social policy of the union has been seen to affect the national welfare state of its members causing convergence between member states. Given that welfare politics is a salient issue of the electorate, this thesis aims at finding out what type of welfare regime is most prevalent in EU social pillar policy in order to identify the direction the EU is pushing its member states. By using a content analysis to examine policy initiatives within the scope of the social pillar through the lens of the theoretical framework of Esping-Andersen’s three worlds of welfare regimes, this thesis identifies a considerable prevalence of a social democratic welfare regime. Especially given the sizeable occurrence of universalism and defamiliarization in the analysed material. This shows that policy convergence between the member states will entail a considerable role of the state, universal welfare services and promoting female participation in the labour market.