Family and Education Policies and Public Healthcare Within the European Community Until the Early 1990s

Abstract

The article focuses on the process of shaping social policy in the European Economic Community as well as the factors conditioning it in the fields of family support, education and public healthcare. It covers the period from the inception of the EEC to the signing of the Treaty on European Union in 1992 in Maastricht. The characteristic feature of Community social policy in mentioned-above areas was monitoring global trends in social issues and determining the EEC desired direction of aspirations along with defining general standards in the area of social policy. It was concluded that the further harmonious development of the Community would not be possible without making arrangements to solve problems common to all the Member States, such as unfavorable demographic projections, the need for adjusting the methods of education and training to the changing trends in the labor market or the epidemiological threats to the health of European citizens.