Frank VandenBroucke - Responsibility and the demands of solidarity - Defending the welfare state in hard times
European welfare states are under pressure: increasing defence spending adds to budgetary pressures confronting many European governments, whilst new social and health-related challenges require new reform efforts (such as the growing number of citizens living with incapacity benefits). In this lecture, I will return to fundamental questions that shaped social policy in European welfare states and the EU over the last 40 years, notably the issue of ‘personal responsibility’ versus ‘solidarity’ and ‘moral hazard’ as a limit to the organisation of solidarity. These questions apply both to interpersonal relations between citizens in a welfare state and to relations between political entities, such as the EU and its member states. I shall highlight long-term trends and swings in the ideational debate on welfare state solidarity, personal responsibility and moral hazard. On that backdrop, the question is: what is an adequate conception of responsibility and solidarity that answers the challenges of contemporary welfare states and allows a robust defence of welfare state solidarity?
Watch the full lecture here
About the speaker
Frank Vandenbroucke is Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, Belgium
This seminar took place on 21 January 2026