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Book summary European Labour law and Social Policy
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Summary of 22 pages for the course European Labour Law and Social Policy at UVT (Summary of the book)
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Literature European Labour Law and Social PolicyLecture 1: Historical context, structure and sources
Chapter 1: 1.1 – 1.4 except 1.2.6 Book ELL
Sources of European Labour Law:
- European Union Labour Law
- the instruments of the Council of Europe (CoE), European Social Charter (ESC), European
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECHR).
- International Labour Organization (ILO)
- United Nations
International Labour Organization (ILO) = has 185 member states and is a tripartite
organization, consisting of representatives of employers, employees and member states.
They have made more than 200 conventions such as freedom of association of trade unions
and the right to collective bargaining.
United Nations = They have adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Right
(ICCPR) and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
The European Economic Community (EEC) treaty of 1957 = The principal objective of
European Cooperation was an economic one to establish a common market to further the
economic progress of the 6 participating countries. The key elements were the four
freedoms:
Free movement of goods, workers, services and capital
Another social policy included in this treaty was that women should be paid equally as men.
Introduction of social policy measures in the 1970’s = In the 70’s there was much inequality
in Europe and also a recession. Economic developments and social progress didn’t always go
hand in hand. European leaders started to realize that action in the social field and a
monetary union was needed. The European Commission launched its social action
programmes aimed at improving employment, living and working conditions.
1990’s = This was the time that social policy instruments were slowly getting developed.
However, unanimity was needed for treaty provisions to be approved. They could also be
blocked by the veto of the Council of Europe.
Treaty of Maastricht in 1992 = Proposal to introduce more powers for social policy
instruments. It was a proposal officially known as the Treaty on European Union, marked as
the beginning of a stage in the process of creating an everclosed union among the people of
Europe. It laid the foundation for the Euro (single currency) and expanded cooperation
between 12 European countries that signed it. European citizenship was created, allowing
Europeans to move freely, a common foreign and security policy was established and closer
cooperation between police and judiciary.
Another thing is the subsidiarity principle, which states that the EU may make laws if they
,cannot be sufficiently achieved by the member states and the member states are obligated
to follow them. (Subsidie = ondersteuning, hulp, bijstand, kan tijdelijke bijdrage zijn van
overheid of niet-commerciele organisatie ten behoeve van een start van een activiteit).
TEU = treaty on European Union, concerns the constitutional law of the Union plus the
foreign and safety areas. It is one of the primary treaties of the European Union, alongside
the TFEU and the TEU forms the basis of EU law, by setting general principles of the EU’s
purpose, the governance of its central institutions as well as rules on external, foreign and
security policy.
TFEU = Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, also referred to as the treaty of
Rome. This treaty brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC). It
forms the constitutional basis of the European Union together with the TEU.
The TEU and TFEU have the same legal force
EU-legislation = EU-wetgeving, is laid down in either regulation or directive. They are
adopted through the ordinary legislative procedure.
Regulation = (Regulatie) This has general application, which means it is binding in its entirety
and it is directly applicable in all member states of the EU. Therefore, a regulation doesn’t
have to be transposed into national legislation.
Directive = (Richtlijn) A directive can be binding, but it is up to the authorities of a country
what they choose to be the form and methods to implement the directive. This instrument
therefore, leaves the national authority intact. Directives must be transposed in national
legislation. They have an implementation period, usually of a couple years, within which they
must be implemented.
Special roles for partners = A characteristic point of legislative procedures on labour law is
that European Labour Law gives social partners (employers’ and employees’ organizations at
European, national, sectoral and undertakings level) an important role.
Roles:
1) Their role is regulated. A member state can leave it to a social partner (for instance the
management of an organisation) to introduce necessary measures to transpose or
implement a directive or decision. This is national level.
2) Agreements by social partners can be implemented by means of a directive.
Regulation of EU social policy = Social policy can be regulated in two ways:
Hard law = By means of legislation, this refers to actual binding legal instrument and law.
Hard law gives member states and international actors actual binding responsibilities and
rights. The term is common in international law where there are no sovereign governing
bodies. Hard law means binding laws.
Soft law = Refer to quasi-legal instruments which do not have any legally binding force, or
whose binding force is somewhat weaker than the binding force of traditional/hard law.
These can have different varieties (e.g. recommendations and conclusions).
, Enforcement (handhaving) of European Labour Law has several dimensions:
- Member states may be unwilling to apply or implement part of the EU law when they think
it is undesirable, expensive, unpractical or unclear.
- National labour law systems and their enforcement systems differ from Member State to
Member State.
- National actors such as agencies/employers judges) are often unaware of European Labour
Law rules and there is a general tendency to only look at national rules.
- Some provisions result from a compromise after long discussions during drafting and can be
rather vague.
The infringement procedure = The two institutions responsible for the enforcement of EU
legislation are the Court of Europe and the European Commission. The most powerful
instrument is the infringement procedure that the Commission can initiate against a
Member State. If a member state doesn’t obey EU law the procedure starts:
1) There comes a letter of formal notice by which the Commission allows the Member State
to present its views on breach.
2) The Member State can take measures to comply with EU law. If the Commission is
satisfied, the procedure stops.
3) If there is no response to the letter, the Commission can refer to the Court of Justice. This
can also happen if the Member State interprets the EU law.
The Preliminary procedure = This is an institutionalized mechanism of dialogue between the
Court of Justice and European Union and national courts.
Doctrine of indirect effect = Sometimes a directive can have a direct effect, if member states
are negligent or unwilling to implement a directive correctly or in a timely manner.
Doctrine of direct effect = Provisions in the EU law only have direct effect if they are
sufficiently clear and unconditional and not dependent on other implementing acts.
Lecture 2: Fundamental rights
Book ELL Chapter 1.2.6 + material on Canvas
The gradual recognition of fundamental rights:
The acceptance of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of workers in
1989 was the first milestone in the integration of fundamental rights. This Community
Charter contains 12 fundamental social rights of workers in the areas of freedom of
movement, association and collective bargaining, equal treatment, health protection and
safety at the workplace. The charter was meant to serve the 11 members as a reference
point for taking fuller account in future of drawn.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union in Nice 2000 = All fundamental
rights protected in the Union were brought together in the charter in order to underline the
importance of these rights for the Union. It was a confirmation of the already existing
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