European Social Unease: A Threat to the EU?* RENÉ CUPERUS** T his essay is an attempt to resolve the caricatured dispute between the Anglo-Saxon liberal model and the Continental European social model. 1 The economic necessity of reforming and modernizing the out­dated policy systems of social security, health care, and pensions is unde­niable. Current trends in globalization, immigration, and demography require far-reaching adjustments. There is no doubt that modernization and innovation are needed in order to make the European model eco­nomically and socially competitive in accordance with the new global »rules of the game.« However, the procyclical modernization of policy systems in response to modernization is not without political and social risks. Indeed, we live in perilous times. This essay focuses on the widening gap between the political and pol­icy elites and large groups – if not the majority – of the population in con­tinental European welfare states. There is enormous unease in many Western countries; trust in institutions and politics is at a record low; and there is a crisis of confidence and a crisis of political representation. 2 Dis­turbingly, this great distrust and considerable unease can be encountered not only in countries which have become»manic depressive« as a result of reform postponement(the German disease), but also in countries which have actually carried through reform programs, such as Denmark, * This essay has been written for the project»The Future of the European Social Model,« a project of Policy Network in tandem with the uk Presidency of the European Union. See for more information: www.policy-network.net or www.progressive-governance.net. ** With special thanks to Frans Becker, deputy director of the Wiardi Beckman Stich­ting. 1. Cf. Katinka Barysch,»Liberal versus Social Europe,« in: Centre for European Reform Bulletin , 43(August–September 2005), p. 1. 2. M. Elchardus and Wendy Smits, Anatomie en oorzaken van het wantrouwen , vub­press(2002); Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau( scp ), De sociale staat van Nederland 2005. 21minuten.nl, Report of McKinsey and Company, 2005. ipg 1/2006 Cuperus, European Social Unease: A Threat to the EU? 65