Hoorcollege 2 European labour law
European social policy
Social dimension of the EU
• Additional to the economic dimension?
• Shared competence: measures of EU social policy: both national and Union level
• Multi-level system of governance
Question that keeps coming back: If the labour law dimension, which represents (to a
certain aspect) the social dimension, only a secondary dimension is (economic) or is it really
an important dimension in the European Union policy?
If you go to an academic conference and you discuss your own labour law (national) then
you get the feeling that the discussion why there are so many differences in different
countries according to labour law, you here very often that it is connected to culture. It’s a
cultural choice. Why some countries have very strict dismissal protection? It’s a believe to
have welfare and to be good in society. In other countries it’s a believe to be flexible with
your employers. It’s better for society, cause there is more room for the open market of
employers which is better for the internal market and the economics. So this raises
questions, like:
• Does the EU have a social policy?
We are discussing European labour law and social policy, but there are scholars that
say that there is no such thing as social policy, that it doesn’t exist. That it is an Utopia
idea.
• Link between EU social policy and the internal market?
• What is the European Social Model?
Very often mentioned by the commissioners that are responsible for social affairs. They,
the European social commissioners, are working on the European Social Model and
that model has to be evenly balanced. We will come back to this. Subjects that fall
under the Model are:
o Protection of employers;
o Not let the market play free;
o Good employment etc.
But what it is precisely is very difficult to say. At the end of the semester we will come
back to this question and hopefully will be able to answer.
Overview
• Historical development
• Structures and mechanisms
Historical development
Neo-liberalism
• 1957-70’s
Jean Monet said in the beginning, the first step we have to take is: you are going to
have economic cooperation. That the first big thing of creating a larger Europe. And the
basic treaty was to create an internal market on the bases of the treaty of Rome (1957).
Treaty of Rome, which lay down the idea of the creation of the internal market, meaning
there will be free movement, fair competition in the six bounding states (France, Italy,
Belgium, Germany, The Benelux and The Netherlands). First step was economic
cooperation, but there was not many labour law. It did not exist, it wasn’t the ambition to
have that in the treaty. Is was a laissez-faire idea: we will see what will happen. But, you
can find some embryonic forms of social policy attention.
• Embryonic social policy (beginning of social policy)
o Improved standard of living for workers:
European social policy
Social dimension of the EU
• Additional to the economic dimension?
• Shared competence: measures of EU social policy: both national and Union level
• Multi-level system of governance
Question that keeps coming back: If the labour law dimension, which represents (to a
certain aspect) the social dimension, only a secondary dimension is (economic) or is it really
an important dimension in the European Union policy?
If you go to an academic conference and you discuss your own labour law (national) then
you get the feeling that the discussion why there are so many differences in different
countries according to labour law, you here very often that it is connected to culture. It’s a
cultural choice. Why some countries have very strict dismissal protection? It’s a believe to
have welfare and to be good in society. In other countries it’s a believe to be flexible with
your employers. It’s better for society, cause there is more room for the open market of
employers which is better for the internal market and the economics. So this raises
questions, like:
• Does the EU have a social policy?
We are discussing European labour law and social policy, but there are scholars that
say that there is no such thing as social policy, that it doesn’t exist. That it is an Utopia
idea.
• Link between EU social policy and the internal market?
• What is the European Social Model?
Very often mentioned by the commissioners that are responsible for social affairs. They,
the European social commissioners, are working on the European Social Model and
that model has to be evenly balanced. We will come back to this. Subjects that fall
under the Model are:
o Protection of employers;
o Not let the market play free;
o Good employment etc.
But what it is precisely is very difficult to say. At the end of the semester we will come
back to this question and hopefully will be able to answer.
Overview
• Historical development
• Structures and mechanisms
Historical development
Neo-liberalism
• 1957-70’s
Jean Monet said in the beginning, the first step we have to take is: you are going to
have economic cooperation. That the first big thing of creating a larger Europe. And the
basic treaty was to create an internal market on the bases of the treaty of Rome (1957).
Treaty of Rome, which lay down the idea of the creation of the internal market, meaning
there will be free movement, fair competition in the six bounding states (France, Italy,
Belgium, Germany, The Benelux and The Netherlands). First step was economic
cooperation, but there was not many labour law. It did not exist, it wasn’t the ambition to
have that in the treaty. Is was a laissez-faire idea: we will see what will happen. But, you
can find some embryonic forms of social policy attention.
• Embryonic social policy (beginning of social policy)
o Improved standard of living for workers:
