Judge-made law has played a crucial role in the process of European
integration. In the vertical dimension, it has greatly reduced the range of
autonomous policy choices in the member states, and it has helped to expand
the reach of European competences. At the same time, however, “Integration
through Law” does have a liberalizing and deregulatory impact on the socio-
economic regimes of EU member states. This effect is generally compatible with
the status quo in “Liberal Market Economies”, but it tends to undermine the
institutions and policy legacies of Continental and Scandinavian “Social
Market Economies”. Given the high consensus requirements of European
legislation, this structural asymmetry cannot be corrected through political
action at the European level