Social services play an essential role within the European society, promoting and ensuring the increase of the capacity of vulnerable persons to participate actively in the life of society and they guarantee the respecting of the fundamental rights of the European citizens proclaimed by the Community legislation. In the realized study, there have been identified the most important characteristics and standards of the social services established through the European Union legislation, which states undertake to transpose within the national social policies in order to develop and improve the national social service systems.