Fundamental Labour Rights after the Lisbon Agenda. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" N. 36/2005

[From the Introduction]. This chapter is focused principally on current developments in European social and employment policies. The intention is to consider the original character of EU legal approaches in these fields and to investigate whether, using the notion of fundamental labour rights, there can be a beneficial expansion of this notion by means of a broader circulation of international sources. ‘Circulation’ is a notion grounded on the necessary interrelation – and in some cases the interdependence – of sources generated within different legal systems. A ‘pluralistic’ point of view, not new in Western European legal traditions, reappears in current legal discourse. The main objective of this chapter is to capture developments occurring within national and supranational legal orders, and to interpret their possible outcomes in terms of new entitlements both for individuals and for groups. The hypothesis on which this chapter is based is that the evolution of labour law at national level has been influenced by EU law, while maintaining its own dominant characteristics. This observation suggests that national diversities enrich the multi-cultural and multi-level legal environment in which law-making takes place. In the first phase of the so-called Lisbon strategy, national legislatures have been extremely active in furthering labour law reforms. Legislation adopted over the years has intervened significantly in the regulation of individual contracts of employment and, more broadly, has had an impact on the reform of national labour markets. If one bears in mind the original four pillars of the European employment strategy (EES), one soon realizes that there has been a convergence of national legislatures towards similar areas of intervention. A related argument is that national legislatures had a rather predictable canvas on which lines could be drawn and colours could be mixed

Il lavoro a tempo determinato nella giurisprudenza della Corte di giustizia europea. Un tassello nella ‘modernizzazione’ del diritto del lavoro. = Fixed-term employment and the European Court of Justice. A piece in the 'modernization' of labor law. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .INT - 52/2007

No abstract

Social law in the wake of the crisis. WP CSDLE “Massimo D’Antona”.INT – 108/2014

Current discussions originated by the crisis place social law at the crossroad of other critical evaluations and proposals. This paper looks at how in the wake of the crisis EU legal methods related to employment and social policies are undergoing changes. Following a well-established tradition at the University of Copenhagen, EU legal methods are enriched in interdisciplinary approaches. For this reason, actions and policies in areas wrongly perceived as ancillary to the integration of the market, should not be marginalised in a coherent theoretical framework. In this paper I select two main areas of reflection, starting from the observation that the economic and financial crisis has shaken the order of legal sources, raising issues of democratic legitimacy and accountability for all institutional actors. In a first step I look at the current state of EU social dialogue, one of the most original features in the evolution of market integration, according to Jacques Delors’ early intuitions, and not extraneous to the construction of a monetary union, as indicated in the Werner Plan.2 I follow this route in order to show that the lack of political consensus, accentuated by the crisis, caused a decline in the law-making process (articles 154-155 TFEU) and limited the quasi-institutional role of the social partners. Other processes were expanded, among all the European Semester, in which the social partners were not involved, as they should have been. I then observe some changes taking place in employment policies, which confirm the decline of the Open Method of Coordination (OMC). In a second step I look at the impact of austerity measures on fundamental social rights. The European Semester deals with an ex ante examination of Member States performances and attempts to rationalise ex post consequences. Recommendations sent to national governments follow a path not comparable to the regulatory technique enshrined in Title IX TFEU, despite the fact that they often interact with employment policies. Furthermore, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), agreed by Euro area Member States, gave rise to a complex procedure, to be initiated by the country experiencing serious economic instability. Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), signed by the Troika and the Member States concerned to grant financial support (art. 13.3 ESM), reiterated controversial emergency measures. The effects caused by all these manoeuvres are now under the scrutiny of courts and international organizations and reveal a fragmented picture, both in the choice of litigation and in the results to be achieved. Decoupling economic governance from respect of individual and collective social rights can give rise to infringements of art. 2 TEU, art. 9 TFEU, and of relevant articles in the Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR). New experiments in social law are in need of careful evaluation. The state of emergency cannot justify renouncing the rule of law

Transnational and European Ways Forward for Collective Bargaining. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .INT - 73/2009

Most European labour lawyers are currently engaged in a sharp war of words regarding fundamental social rights and their respective roles and functions in the coming new phase of European integration. Two main directions can be identified in the attempt to clarify the content of this debate and in order to look to the future as to new developments. The first has to do with the impact of the controversial rulings of the Court of Justice dealing with collective social rights. The enforcement of these judgments falls into the dangerous trap of proportionality principles and opens up difficult scenarios for judges and social partners alike at the national level when faced with overriding market freedoms.1 Some member states are already active in establishing new rules for the game in compliance with the Court’s judgments, while still reserving the autonomy of collective bargaining.2 The second direction is imposed by the economic and financial crisis. The word 'solidarity' appears in recent European sources, referring either to urgent measures that need to be adopted,3 or as a derogation of previous sources to provide immediate help to workers who have lost their jobs as a 'direct result of the global financial and economic crisis'.4 These two directions run parallel to each other, as collective social rights are, in the best consolidated European tradition, pivotal to the achievement of solidarity and social justice

Common places, new places. The labour law rhetoric of the crisis. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .INT - 92/2012

'Common places', as argued in this paper, may at times fulfil a persuasive function. This is the case of messages enshrined in Europe 2020. In the aftermath of an unprecedented economic and financial crisis they may sound like common places. European institutions have given precedence to measures on financial and budgetary stability, thus marginalising social and employment policies. The only promising developments, the 'new places' in labour law, must be searched in the new synergies among employment and cohesion policies. National and subnational levels of decison-making should be favoured in order to attain the delivery of new partnership agreements, supported by European structural funds

La costituzionalizzazione dell'Europa Sociale. Diritti fondamentali e procedure di soft law = The Constitutional Dimension of Social Europe. Fundamental Rights and Procedures of Soft Law. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" N. 16/2003

This paper offers a chronological overview of the most significant moments in the process of drafting the EU Charter of Fundamental rights. It argues for the extension and modernization of the current social policy

Di fronte all'Europa. Passato e presente del diritto del lavoro = Facing Europe. Past and Present of Labor Law. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" N. 12/2003

This paper offers a diachronic comparison of the regulations within the Italian Labor Law. It has the following goals: to evaluate to which extent the European Community Labor Law has influenced Italian Labor Law; and to analyze the role of Labor Law within European macroeconomic policies. The diachronic comparison reveals that the development of social and labor rights within the European context follows a separate and distinct pact from the economic integration. The evolution of social rights within the European policy is slow but continuous and strictly intertwined with complex institutional revision of the role of the states and the EU

Norme imperative nazionali ed europee: le finalità del diritto del lavoro. = Mandatory rules of national and European level: the purpose of labor law. WP C.S.D.L.E. "Massimo D'Antona" .INT - 44/2006

No abstract