Den europeiska unionen och välfärden

Sammanfattning: The integration of the European Union has reached the core of the welfare states. Since 2001 an open method of coordination has been used to improve the level of welfare in the member states. The aim of this thesis is to examine the level of democracy in the writing of the national action plans which are part of the OMC social inclusion. A vast number of participants have been involved in the process and there are different views on how representative democracy and network governance relates to each other. I use theories about governance and democracy to first examine if the OMC is a new mode of governance in the European Union, and in the next step examine how democratic it is concerning the actors involved and the procedures. The method used is content analysis when I search for particular actors and procedures in the NAP reports. I find that depending on the view on democracy it can be seen as more or less democratic but that the lack of involvement from the parliaments and the opposition in the processes can be seen as a democratic deficit. Words: 8602