Directives are one of several instruments that are used in EU social policy. This chapter puts them into perspective, outlining the wider context of the EU's social dimension over time and the important role played by Directives. The main finding is that the role of binding regulative action has not been diminished, despite the debates on the open method of co-ordination (OMC). Therefore, we argue, studying social Directives is crucial not only for understanding the past, but also the present and, very likely, the future of European social integration.

Competences and decision modes

The 1957 EEC Treaty basically left social policy in the hands of the member states. The Treaty did not provide for an outright Europeanisation of social policies since too many national delegations had been opposed to such a move. The dominant philosophy of this Treaty was that welfare would be provided by the economic growth stemming from the economics of a liberalised market, and not from the regulatory and distributive capacity of public policy (see, for example, Leibfried and Pierson 1995; Barnard 2000). It is indicative of the Treaty's pro-market bias that its only explicit legislative competence in the field of social policy related to the free movement of workers, which for the most part even allowed measures to be adopted on the basis of qualified majority voting (Articles 48–51 EEC Treaty).

However, the European Community's action capacity was incrementally increased in day-to-day politics.