European social models refer to the social policies of European countries, which at the national level strive to achieve social goals that generally concern overcoming social risks, alleviating poverty and improving the lives of citizens. Although there is no universal European social model, the social policies of European countries share certain common characteristics such as the strengthening of solidarity and social cohesion, the fight against discrimination, universal healthcare, unemployment insurance through social welfare programs, „free“ education and encouraging the development of civil society. However, although there are common characteristics, different European countries focus on different elements and can therefore be divided into five models: Nordic or Social-democratic, Continental, also called the Corporate-conservative/Christian-democratic model, AngloSaxon, i.e., the Liberal model, Southern European model, also known as the Mediterranean model and the Transitional, that is, the Post-socialist model, which also includes the Republic of Croatia. The aims of the paper are to determine both the positive and negative sides of implementing the mentioned social models and to conclude whether there is a universal, best model, that would therefore be useful to apply in every European country or would it be better if the models were formed as a result of various economic and social factors that are characteristic for certain group of countries within the continent.