The Horizontal Social Clause of Art. 9 TFEU and Its Potential to Push the EU towards Social Europe

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
VVclav mejkal
Keyword(s):  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

Exploring European Social Policy. By Robert R. Geyer. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2000. 272p. $50.00 cloth, $14.99 paper.

2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 256-257
Author(s):  
William Walters
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Dimension ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Interest ◽  
Short History ◽  
European Social Policy ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

Social scientific interest in "social Europe" pales in compar- ison with the attention that has been directed toward the economic and political dimensions of the European Union (EU). This is perhaps hardly surprising; for much of its relatively short history, the system that is today the EU has been almost exclusively economic in its focus. Only since the 1980s has the project of European integration acquired a significant social dimension. Given this imbalance, Robert Geyer provides a welcome and timely addition to the litera- ture.

The Limits of Social Europe: EU Law and the Ordoliberal Agenda

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 613-649 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gareth Dale ◽  
Nadine El-Enany
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Centrifugal Forces ◽  
Political Union ◽  
Privileged Access ◽  
Global Economic Crisis ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

Since the global economic crisis began in 2007, the EU's response has been an attempt to muddle through, but it is generally recognized that more far-reaching changes to its structures are inevitable in the long term. One possible trajectory is towards disintegration; another is towards an increasingly “multi-speed” Europe—possibly accompanied by a splintering of the Eurozone whereby one or more smaller countries depart. A third possibility is closer union. Many would agree with the proposition that if destructive centrifugal forces are to be kept at bay, the next step for the EU must be political union, including a fiscal and transfer union—one that requires countries of the developed core supporting their brethren struggling at the periphery. Through this fraternal process, the EU will be able to achieve a new constitutional moment, a moment of refoundation in which its “social” soul is rediscovered. No longer will corporate lobbies be granted privileged access to the offices of Brussels. Powerful and democratically accountable institutions will be constructed, and geared around one of the EU's defining values: Solidarity.

Freedom to conduct a business and EU labour law

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 172-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Giubboni
Keyword(s):  
Case Law ◽  
Alternative Interpretation ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

Critical-contextual analysis of case law of the European Court of Justice on employers’ contractual freedom – Fundamental right to be immunised against the alleged disproportional protection enjoyed by employees – Progressive ideological overthrow of the original constitutional assumptions of the founding treaties – Prominent example of ‘displacement of social Europe’ – Court of Justice’s case law on the relationship between freedom to conduct a business and labour law – Neoliberal understanding of the freedom of enterprise – Alternative interpretation of Article 16 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights

Creating perspectives, negotiating social Europe

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Otto Jacobi ◽  
Judith Kirton-Darling
Keyword(s):  
Social Security ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Social Security Systems ◽  
Security Systems ◽  
Social Dialogue ◽  
Wage System ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

In this introduction to the eight reports on different sectoral dialogues, the coordinators of this issue provide an inventory of the different forms of social dialogue in the EU. It is argued that trade unions have hitherto made insufficient use of the opportunities offered by social dialogue but that the sectoral social dialogue offers a forum for unions to cooperate with employers to develop policies to safeguard Europeanised industries. Two fields of action are identified as being particularly suitable for Europe-wide campaigning: common rules for the European labour market, including a European minimum wage system, and a ‘citizens insurance’ to sustain social security systems.

The Rise of Populist Right-wing Parties in the 2014 European Parliament: Election and Implications for European Integration

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 406-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Mei Luo
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Political Trust ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Election Results ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

The 2014 European Parliament (EP) election resulted in the rise of populist right-wing parties (PRPs). This paper aims to answer: why PRPs were able to rise in the 2014 EP election; what messages were delivered by the election results regarding European integration; and whether or not policy-makers addressed the messages correctly with the right policy responses? After examining the competing interpretations, this paper argues that a deep disillusionment and crisis of trust in the political establishment, which derived from the long neglect of deteriorating distributional justice and fairness in European integration, which became acute after the euro crisis mismanagement, explains the 2014 EP election results. This paper, accordingly, argues that policy redirection of EU economic governance and the addressing of a ‘social Europe’ are required to regain political trust. After assessing the policy responses taken by the EU, an economic Europe is expected to revive, but the required social Europe will still remain absent.

scholarly journals Trade Unions and “Europe”: Are the Members Out of Step?

2010 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Hyman
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Constitutional Treaty ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Alternative Vision ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

In 2005 the “Constitutional Treaty” designed to restructure the governance of the European Union (EU) was rejected in popular referendums in France and the Netherlands. Subsequently only in Ireland was a referendum held on the Lisbon Treaty, which reinstated most elements in the previous version, in June 2008. Again a negative result threw the EU into crisis, though a second Irish vote in October 2009 yielded a different result. The “no” votes reflected a familiar pattern of popular rejection of initiatives on European integration. This article provides an overview of such referendums in western Europe, focusing in particular on the role of national trade unions in popular votes on EU accession and on Treaty revisions. It discusses trade union intervention in a dozen countries which held referendums since the Single European Act in the 1980s (and in the United Kingdom, which did not). It is evident that while mainstream trade unions (or at least their leaders) have usually endorsed the integration process, in most countries where referendums have been held their members have voted otherwise. This has been particularly evident among manual workers. Sometimes popular attitudes have been strongly influenced by narrowly nationalistic arguments, but rejection has often been based on “progressive” rather than “reactionary” grounds. In particular, the justified view that the EU in its current direction is encouraging a neoliberal, pro-capitalist drift in social and economic policy has underlain a left-wing critique of further integration. But having assented to the underlying architecture of actually existing Europeanization, unions have rarely shown the will to mobilize offensively around an alternative vision of social Europe. This has left the field open to right-wing nationalists (and to fringe left-wing parties with only a limited electoral base) to campaign in the “no” camp during referendums. Popular attitudes are malleable, but it requires a major strategic re-orientation if unions are to reconnect with their members in order to build a popular movement for a genuinely social Europe.

Round Table. From Lisbon to Porto: taking stock of developments in EU social policy: Social Europe 2.0? New prospects after the Porto Social Summit

2021 ◽  
pp. 102425892110610
Author(s):  
Maurizio Ferrera
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Round Table ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Lisbon Strategy ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
Adjustment Variable ◽  
Year 2000 ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

The sequence of crises in the 2010s entirely changed the socio-economic context that had inspired the Lisbon strategy in the year 2000. EU policy veered towards austerity and social policy became an ‘adjustment variable’. Since the mid-2010s, however, a slow process of rebalancing has gained ground, culminating in the adoption of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) in 2017. The Porto Summit has confirmed the centrality of the Pillar for a new Social Europe. To appreciate fully the EPSR’s potential, it is necessary to focus not only on binding measures but also on EU incentives and actions aimed at promoting (and partially funding) concrete access to social rights. Especially through the ‘guarantee’ instrument, the EU can play a bigger and more effective role in the sphere of social citizenship, without stumbling into the political obstacles associated with hard law.

Brexit and its Implications for European Integration

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 519-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Mei Luo
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Euro Crisis ◽  
60Th Anniversary ◽  
Eu Governance ◽  
Eu Policies ◽  
Treaty Of Rome ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Social Europe

On the eve of 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the UK voted to withdraw from the EU (so-called Brexit). The implications for European integration and EU policies are far from clear and require further investigation. This paper aims to answer: what does Brexit imply for European integration? What messages were sent to the EU from the UK referendum? Did EU leaders interpret these messages and implications correctly and did they respond with the right policy? After examining the competing interpretations, this paper argues that the sharp divisions between different socio-economic classes shown in voting behaviour highlight the imperative of addressing economic inequality and distributive injustice, which are rooted in the structural flaws of EU governance and have been aggravated by the mismanagement of the Euro crisis. To move European integration forward and to keep a ‘political Europe’ sustainable, a ‘social Europe’ making an ‘economic Europe’ more inclusive and fair is required.

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