The current economic and financial crisis erupted several years ago. Its effects impacted deeply upon society, in which legal rules and social patterns have developed to enable the establishment of ...civilisation, justice and peace. Over time it has become more and more obvious that policy, financial and economic actors have adopted austerity measures as a main tool to solve the ensuing problems, and that these measures have hit social policy standards sometimes dramatically. Recent analyses have dealt with several aspects of this issue. This book focuses on one important element: the impact on collective labour law. It seeks to add to the debate by presenting mainly legal arguments derived from different sources and backgrounds, examining the EU and ‘Troika’ measures, the economic and political background and the sometimes dramatic consequences of austerity measures on democracy, collective bargaining and the right to strike. Against the framework of EU law, the relevant ILO Conventions, (Revised) European Social Charter and European Convention on Human Rights provisions, the non-compliance of these measures is analysed and demonstrated. The book is also dedicated to procedural questions, and in particular, how legal approaches may be used to challenge austerity measures.
On December 1, 2009 the Treaty of Lisbon entered into force. Although often described as primarily technical, it significantly amended the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) and the old EC Treaty ...(now the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU). This book explores what the Treaty means for social law and social policy at the European level. The first part of the book considers in detail how the general framework looks, at a time of financial crisis, for new foundations for Europe's social market economy. It questions the balance between fundamental social rights and economic freedoms, analyzes the role of the now binding Charter of Fundamental Rights, maps the potential impact of the horizontal clauses on social policy, and addresses the possibilities for social partners to enlarge their role in labor law and industrial relations. The second part, on the social framework of the Treaty, focuses on the development of the EU's competences. It evaluates the consequences of the new general framework on social competences, analyzes the evolution of the principle of subsidiarity and its impact in the new Treaty, looks at the coordination of economic policies in the light of fundamental rights, and discusses the adoption in the Treaty of a new architecture for services of general interest.
This collection addresses the potential of the European Social Charter to promote and safeguard social rights in Europe. Drawing on the expertise of the ETUI Transnational Trade Union Rights expert ...network from across Europe, it provides a comprehensive commentary on these fundamental rights. Taking a two part approach, it offers an in-depth legal analysis of the European Social Charter as a new social constitution for Europe, investigating first the potential of the general legal frame in which the Charter is embedded. In the second phase a series of social rights which are related to the employment relation are examined in particular in light of the jurisprudence of the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR), to demonstrate the crucial but difficult role of the Charter's supervisory bodies to secure the respect and promotion of social rights and national level, bearing in mind the reciprocal influence of other international social rights instruments. This examination is timely, given the pressure exerted on those rights during the recent period of economic crisis. Furthermore, in the light of the predominantly economic vision of Europe, such analysis is crucial. The collection is aimed at stimulating academic scrutiny and raising awareness amongst practitioners and trade unions about this important and equally necessary anchor of the social dimension of Europe in legal and political practice.
