Criticism of the EU’s social deficit has become more vivid than ever following the socially regressive handling of the 2008–10 financial and debt crisis. In 2010, Fritz Scharpf famously argued that the EU ‘cannot be a social market economy’ owing to its institutional architecture, legal features, and collective action issues. The COVID-19 pandemic has nevertheless led to a new agenda combining investment, social concerns, the green transition and more fiscal solidarity. However, a lot remains to be done, it is argued, to bridge the social gap. A three-pronged model is outlined to conceive of the EU’s role in enhancing national, inter-national and transnational social cohesion. The paper furthermore points to where the EU’s action must be intensified to make significant progress on the way to a competitive and social market economy. In many respects, the hard political battles remain to be fought.

中文翻译：

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可以证明沙普夫是错的吗？将欧盟塑造成下一代有竞争力的社会市场经济

在对 2008-10 年金融和债务危机的社会倒退处理之后，对欧盟社会赤字的批评比以往任何时候都更加生动。2010 年，Fritz Scharpf 著名地辩称，由于欧盟的制度架构、法律特征和集体行动问题，欧盟“不能成为社会市场经济”。然而，COVID-19 大流行引发了一项新议程，将投资、社会关切、绿色转型和更多的财政团结相结合。然而，有人认为，要弥合社会差距，还有很多工作要做。概述了一个三管齐下的模式，以设想欧盟在增强国家、国际和跨国社会凝聚力方面的作用。该文件还指出，欧盟必须在哪些方面加强行动，才能在通往竞争性和社会市场经济的道路上取得重大进展。