The ‘Europeanisation ’ of Social Exclusion: British Adaptation to EU Co-ordination

The Labour government came to power in 1997 pledging to tackle social exclusion and to end child poverty within a generation. The European Union has also committed to making a decisive impact on poverty and social exclusion within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy of economic and social policy reform. To this end, the EU has adopted an ‘open method of co-ordination ’ intended to stim-ulate reflection, and to promote action, on member states ’ policies and strategies to tackle social exclusion. The aim of this article is to analyse and assess this attempt to ‘Europeanise ’ policy-making in the United Kingdom (including the devolved institutions) in the field of social exclusion. For 18 years, the poorest people in our country have been forgotten by government. They have been left out of growing prosperity, told that they were not needed, ignored by the Government except for the purpose of blaming them. I want that to change. There will be no forgotten people in the Britain I want to build. (Tony Blair’s first speech as prime minis-ter, 2 June 1997, Southwark, London) The number of people living below the poverty line and in social exclu-sion in the Union is unacceptable. Steps must be taken to make a deci-sive impact on the eradication of poverty... (Presidency Conclusion, Lisbon European Council, March 2000)