This book examines how national labour market and social welfare policies have been influenced by the European Employment Strategy and the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) processes on Social Protection/Inclusion.

Martin Heidenreich is Founding Director of the Jean-Monnet Centre of Europeanization and Transnational Regulations and Jean-Monnet-Professor of European Studies in Social Sciences at the University of Oldenburg, Germany.

Jonathan Zeitlin is Founding Director of the European Union Center of Excellence and Professor of Sociology, Public Affairs, Political Science, and History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.

Introduction Martin Heidenreich and Jonathan Zeitlin. The Open Method of Coordination: A Pathway to the Gradual Transformation of National Employment and Welfare Regimes? Martin Heidenreich. Neither Convergence nor Frozen Paths: Bounded Learning, International Diffusion of Reforms, and the Open Method of Coordination Jelle Visser. Unemployment Protection Reform in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, and the UK: Policy Learning through Open Coordination? Minna van Gerven and Mieke Beckers. The Open Method of Coordination and National Social Policy Reforms in Belgium and France: Window Dressing, One-Way Impact, or Reciprocal Influence? Marie-Pierre Hamel and Bart Vanhercke. Joining the European Employment Strategy: Europeanization of Employment Policy Making in the Baltic States Kerstin Jacobsson and Charlotte West Soft. Europeanization? The Differential Influence of the European Employment Strategy in Belgium, Spain, and Sweden Mariely López-Santana. North, South, East, West: The Implementation of the European Employment Strategy in Denmark, the UK, Spain, and Poland Mikkel Mailand. The Micro-Politics of the Open Method of Coordination: NGOs and the Social Inclusion Process in Sweden Kerstin Jacobsson and Håkan Johansson. Europeanization of Domestic Employment and Welfare Regimes: The German, Italian, and French Experiences Jenny Preunkert and Sascha Zirra. The Open Method of Coordination and Reform of National Social and Employment Policies: Influences, Mechanisms, Effects Jonathan Zeitlin