Track 2: Europeanization and Globalization

WELMA explores the challenges associated with the freedom of movement within the European Union. The economic values on which europeanization and globalization are based, can create challenges for national societies in regards to both economic and social interests and the balance between them. 

People, goods and services migrate across borders within the European Union. Freedom of movement is the cornerstone of the internal market, which the EU is intended to enable and promote. In this context, the EU can ‘disrupt’ existing national welfare models by compelling EU Member States, including Denmark and the other Nordic countries, to rethink the organization of basic welfare benefits. EU law can thereby lead to small and larger changes in the organization of national welfare societies.

EU breaks down borders, and to some extent also encroaches upon areas where Member States are competent without having the competence to ‘reregulate’ those areas through harmonization. This creates a gap, which in itself is a challenge both for the Member States and for the EU as a whole.