Европейският Съюз Се Нуждае От По-Голяма Социална Устойчивост В Книгата “Интердисциплинарни Изследвания”, Издателски Комплекс На Унсс, С., 2017[The European Union needs more social sustainability, in "Interdisciplinary Studies, UNSS Publishing House, Sofia, 2017]

Over the last few years the European Union has experienced crises. It is sufficient to mention, for instance, Brexit or the defeat of Matteo Renzi in Italy’s referendum. Populism and Euroscepticism have been growing. One reason for this is social discontent. The question then arises - how is it possible to have social discontent in one of the most economically developed parts of the world with such a high GDP per capita? In order to understand this phenomenon, we need to approach the notion of "poverty" within the framework of Europe. It is true that the poor in the EU are not deprived of food and essential necessities, as is the case in some other regions of the world, but they consider themselves as poor and underprivileged because they are neglected by society, they cannot find realization, they are turned into passive users of social security benefits. To resolve this issue is not to increase social assistance but to develop policies and programs that are mainly oriented towards the needs of people - education, medicine, culture. In the EU, these policies remain within the exclusive competence of national states. This creates great inequalities. Four different social models have emerged in the EU – Scandinavian, Continental, Mediterranean, and recently the Globalization model, which is least related to the traditions of the European social market economy, but seems to be gaining ground. If the European Union wants to achieve greater sustainability, it has to focus more on the social aspect of its activities and expand its competences in the social affairs and to develop a single EU social model.