"This paper attempts to show the evolution of the European social policy and its contribution to the European integration process. The paper introduces the historical perspectives on social dimension of European integration from the Treaty of Rome to the existing Treaty of Lisbon. It covers the main European Social Policies and their objectives and shows how the Union's member States have never had a uniform view of how to go about establishing the social dimension of the European integration. The paper introduces key changes of the European social policies under the Treaty of Lisbon and assesses the impacts of the post-2009 euro crisis on the social dimension of the Community. It concludes by presenting the challenges that the Union's social policies face in this time of crisis and concluding with further research questions on the future of the EU social model."

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