This volume brings together theoretical, empirical and comparative accounts of the European Social Model (ESM) and transitional labor market policy. It is divided into four parts. Part One (Transitional Labor Markets and the European Social Model) contains theoretical accounts of the ESM, including a discussion of the impact of transitional labor market policies on the European Employment policy implications for European social and employment policies from research on transitional labor markets.Part Two (The European Employment Strategy and Transitional Labor Markets) is devoted to an economic as well as legal assessment of the European Employment Strategy from the transitional labor market perspective. It also evaluates new forms of governance both in European and member state policies, including discussions of flexicurity policies. In Part Three (National Transitional Labor Market Policies in Europe) country studies of labor market reforms in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and France assess their contribution to an emerging ESM. Finally, Part Four (Comparative Transitional Labor Market Policies in Europe and Beyond) contains comparative accounts of the ESM, including welfare and labor law aspects as well as industrial relations in Europe and worldwide.