Anna Kyriazi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Political Sciences of the University of Milan. She holds a PhD in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute. Her research interests include comparative European politics and public policy, with a particular emphasis on Eastern and Southern Europe.

Joan Miró is Assistant Professor in EU Politics and Policy at Pompeu Fabra University. He is a member of the JHU-UPF Public Policy Center, Departament de Ciències Polítiques i Socials, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), and the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM). His research interests lie in European integration, particularly the socioeconomic governance of the EMU, social policy, and international political economy.

Marcello Natili is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Milan and a member of the ESPAN - Expert Network for Analytical Support in Social Policies. His research interests are in the field of comparative welfare states analysis, and include labour market and social inclusion policies, European social governance, eco-social policy and politics, and the Southern European model of welfare capitalism.

Stefano Ronchi is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Political Science of the University of Milan. His research interests include comparative welfare state analysis, labour market policies and the politics of EU social policy.

a. List of Figures b. List of Tables c. List of Interviews

1. Introduction: beyond the social crisis of Europe?

2. Understanding crisis social politics and policymaking in the EU

3. Between social protection and polity maintenance: a political history of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund

4. The Youth Guarantee: the gradual institutionalisation of a residual EU social policy

5. A case of EU social policy failure: the European Framework Directive on Minimum Income

6. Social policy expansion in the field of intra-EU labour mobility: the revision of the Directive on the Posting of Workers

7. The European minimum wage directive: territorial dynamics and the gradual structuring of partisan conflicts in the EU polity

8. Compensating for the net-zero transition: the politics of establishing the Just Transition Fund and Social Climate Fund

10. Eroding or supporting national welfare states? European social governance after the introduction of the Recovery and Resilience Facility

11. Conclusions: comparative insights into the politics of the social crisis of Europe