The unpatriotism of the economic constitution? Rights to free movement and their impact on national and European identity

Abstract: Instead of the political reading of the EU Constitution adopted by advocates of constitutional patriotism, this article examines the European economic constitution. The four single market freedoms can be used by the Court of Justice to strike down Member State laws which represent deeply held aspects of national cultural identity. The article examines whether the court does in fact act in this way and proceeds to argue that the issue of identity protection does not stop with the court. In those policy areas where the court is more interventionist, and its case-law is perceived as an identity threat, one is likely to find binding Treaty-based derogations. Where, in contrast, the effect of the court's case-law poses less of a threat, one is more likely to see non-binding declarations. The article examines a number of policy areas in which specific cultural derogations and declarations are to be found, including abortion, property acquisition, football and alcohol control.

The EU economic and social model in the global crisis: Interdisciplinary perspectives:Interdisciplinary perspectives

This book addresses the viability of the EU economic and social model within and after the global economic crisis. It identifies four key issues which warrant further discussion: (1) the asymmetry of the legal and policy framework of the euro and potential recalibration; (2) substantive tensions between the EU 'economic constitution' and its normative aim of social justice and impacts on national policy; (3) the role of civil society, including the two sides of industry in overcoming these tensions and (4) the EU's global aspirations towards the creation of a viable socio-economic model. Its chapters offer two perspectives on each of the four main issues. In drawing these debates together, the book provides a broad understanding as well as starting points for future research. Bringing together different disciplinary approaches, ranging from legal studies to political economy, sociology and macroeconomics, it is a valuable contribution to the debate on the European social model and introduces new insights by focusing on legal and political tensions, the impact of the financial crisis and other economic contexts as well as global dimensions. 

Re-embedding economic and social constitutionalism: Normative Perspectives for the E

This chapter proposes a social re-embedding of European constitutionalism by offering a coherent interpretation of EU constitutional principles as contained in the initial articles of the Treaties and the EU’s economic and social constitution as developed by the Court of Justice. It starts from the assumption that European integration is not merely an inter-state endeavour, but also a process that affects social and economic actors, in other words societies all over Europe. It may well ultimately engender a European society – if we are prepared to conceive of a poly-centric society, consisting of diverse components from a wide range of regions, social actors and cultures. Proceeding from the assumption that constitutionalism can be a relevant notion for such a holistic approach to European integration, the chapter develops elements of European constitutionalism relating to socio-economic reality. As national constitutional law, European constitutional law is presented as necessarily incomplete. European constitutionalism will thus have to offer modes of adapting open norms to an ever changing and developing societal reality. The chapter outlines a framework for such constitutionalism which, at the same time, offers opportunities for reconciling the social and economic dimensions in the European integration project through a re-configured notion of constitutionalism.

A Constitution of Social Governance for the European Union

This chapter considers the EU’s socio-economic constitution under the lens of humaneness. It argues that the EU’s unique socio-economic constitution demands equilibrium of socio-economic integration instead of widening the gap between economic integration at EU levels and social integration at national levels. While the EU lacks the legislative competences to achieve this equilibrium, the constitutional principle still prevails. Indeed, the EU competences reflect its own values as well as the socio-economic constitutions of its constituent Member States. These frequently do not allow for total state-governance of social spheres such as working life, education, care or other social services. Instead, societal actors are given scope to (co-)govern these spheres at national levels. Accordingly, the apparent tension between the EU’s socio-economic values and principles and its limited competences in the social policy field can be resolved through a dynamic interpretation of the EU Treaties towards a “constitution of social governance”. This interpretation reads the Treaties as authorising governance by societal actors. The chapter connects the idea of humanness to the ideals of social governance at EU level and proposes two options for practical application of the concept. These are rules for trans-national labour markets based on European collective labour agreements and a European higher education sector developed by agreements between universities.

A Constitution of Social Governance for the European Union

his chapter considers the EU’s socio-economic constitution under the lens of humaneness. It argues that the EU’s unique socio-economic constitution demands equilibrium of socio-economic integration instead of widening the gap between economic integration at EU levels and social integration at national levels. While the EU lacks the legislative competences to achieve this equilibrium, the constitutional principle still prevails. Indeed, the EU competences reflect its own values as well as the socio-economic constitutions of its constituent Member States. These frequently do not allow for total state-governance of social spheres such as working life, education, care or other social services. Instead, societal actors are given scope to (co-)govern these spheres at national levels. Accordingly, the apparent tension between the EU’s socio-economic values and principles and its limited competences in the social policy field can be resolved through a dynamic interpretation of the EU Treaties towards a “constitution of social governance”. This interpretation reads the Treaties as authorising governance by societal actors. The chapter connects the idea of humanness to the ideals of social governance at EU level and proposes two options for practical application of the concept. These are rules for trans-national labour markets based on European collective labour agreements and a European higher education sector developed by agreements between universities.

The concept of 'economic activity' in the EU treaty: from ideological dead-ends to workable judicial concepts. Research Paper in Law 06/2011

[From the Introduction]. The economic rules, or put more ambitiously, the economic constitution of the Treaty,1 only apply to economic activities. This general principle remains valid, even if some authors strive to demonstrate that certain Treaty rules also apply in the absence of an economic activity,2 and despite the fact that non-economic (horizontal) Treaty provisions (e.g. principle of nondiscrimination, rules on citizenship) are also applicable in the absence of any economic activity.3 Indeed, the exercise of some economic activity transcends the concepts of ‘goods’ (having positive or negative market value),4 workers (even if admitted in an extensive manner),5 and services (offered for remuneration).6 It is also economic activity or ‘the activity of offering goods and services into the market’7 that characterises an ‘undertaking’ thus making the competition rules applicable. Further, it is for regulating economic activity that Article 115 TFEU, Article 106(3) TFEU and most other legal bases in the TFEU provide harmonisation powers in favour of the EU. Last but not least, Article 14 TFEU on the distinction between services of general economic interest (SGEIs) and non-economic services of general interest (NESGIs), as well as Protocol n. 26 on Services of General Interest (SGIs) confirm the constitutional significance of the distinction between economic and non-economic: a means of dividing competences between the EU and the member states. The distinction between economic and non-economic activities is fraught with legal and technical intricacies – the latter being generated by dynamic technological advances and regulatory experimentation. More importantly, however, the distinction is overcharged with political and ideological significations and misunderstandings and, even, terminological confusions.8

Intervenção direta do estado no domínio econômico: contribuição para uma delimitação das esferas pública e privada a partir da Constituição Federal Brasileira de 1988.

A Constituição Federal Brasileira de 1988, primeiro texto constitucional após o regime militar no país, é um texto plural, pleno de significados e ambivalências, resultado de um esforço na busca de consensos em uma assembleia constituinte heterogênea num país democraticamente jovem. A abrangência de significados da Magna Carta precisa, portanto, a fim de ser aplicada às realidades também plurais e heterogêneas de um país enorme como o Brasil, ser interpretada à luz dessas mesmas realidades, sempre situadas e datadas. Nesse diapasão, a dedução dogmática da esfera legítima da atuação estatal no domínio econômico só pode ser apreendida através da técnica ponderativa, levando em conta o fato da constituição econômica encravada no texto da Lei Maior estabelecer como regra o desenvolvimento da atividade econômica pela livre iniciativa da sociedade. Sob o signo da emancipação da sociedade e da liberdade de empreender por um lado, e da obrigação do Estado garantir as condições da liberdade e do posicionamento estratégico do Brasil no cenário geopolítico e econômico mundial de outro, serão relidas as modalidades interventivas estatais como a prestação de serviços públicos, as atuações monopolistas e em regime de concorrência com a iniciativa privada, produzindo um quadro com as condições que justifiquem a presença do Estado na economia, servindo de guia dinâmico para a elucidação das fronteiras sempre contingentes entre as esferas pública e privada no domínio econômico.

Releitura sistêmico-teórica das relações entre direito, política e economia: a crise de 2008 como ponto de inflexão para a emergência do constitucionalismo societal

O trabalho busca na teoria dos sistemas de Niklas Luhmann, tal como desenvolvida por Gunther Teubner, Marcelo Neves e outros doutrinadores, elementos para explicar as relações entre os subsistemas jurídico, político e econômico na sociedade contemporânea. Com base nas ferramentas teóricas obtidas, revisa o conceito de constituição econômica como a relação de acoplamento estrutural entre o direito e a economia, e a Constituição do Estado como a relação de acoplamento estrutural entre o direito e a política. As crises econômicas são então explicadas pelas tendências inflacionárias na produção de símbolos e pelos choques entre racionalidades sistêmicas parciais. A crise de 2008 consolida a constatação de que a globalização restringe a capacidade de influência da política e do direito sobre o sistema econômico desterritorializado. Em vista disso, propõe-se a adoção da teoria do constitucionalismo societal de Teubner como proposta para a democracia no século XXI; através dela, é possível reconhecer a constitucionalização no interior de cada subsistema social e o desenvolvimento de foros de razão pública internos, nos quais a política pode ser desenvolvida de forma autônoma em relação à política institucionalizada do Estado. Finalmente, vê-se como o combate à crise econômica invariavelmente redesenha os papéis dos Poderes de Estado, reconhecendo certa liberdade ao Executivo, embora isso não signifique ausência de quaisquer freios e contrapesos.

Financial Taxes and the Sand in the Wheels of Financialization:Legal Challenges for the EU Directive Implementing Enhanced Cooperation in the Area of Financial Transaction Tax

One of the many results of the Global Financial Crisis was the insight that the financial sector is under-taxed compared to other industries. In light of the huge bailouts and continued subsidies for financial institutions that are characterized as too-big-to-fail demands came on the agenda to make finance pay for the mega-crisis it caused. The most prominent examples of such taxes are a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) and a Financial Activities Tax (FAT). Possible effects of such taxes on the economic constitution and increasingly in particular on the European Single Market have been discussed controversially over the last decades already. Especially with the decision of eleven EU member states to adapt an FTT using the enhanced cooperation procedure a number of additional legal challenges for implementing such a tax have emerged. This paper analyzes how tax measures of indirectly regulating the financial industry differ, what legal challenges they pose, and what their overall contribution would be in making the financial system more stable and resilient. It also analyzes the legal arguments against enhanced cooperation in this area and the legal issues related to the British lawsuit against the Commission’s Directive proposal in the European Court of Justice on grounds of the extra-territoriality application of tax. The paper concludes that the feasibility of an FTT is legally sound and given the FTT’s advantages over a FAT the EU Directive should be implemented as a first step for a European-wide FTT. However, significant uncertainties about its implementation remain at this stage.

European Labour Law, 3rd edition

This textbook on European Labour law adds to the existing literature in two aspects. First, it is written in such a way that readers who are versed in EU law and labour law, as well as those who only know national labour law can profit. Secondly, it analyses the EU's contribution to labour law from comparative and EU integration perspectives, taking a critical approach to the EU's so-called economic constitution as shaped by its Court of Justice.

Intervención del estado colombiano en el sector solidario

Esta investigación describe la manera cómo interviene el Estado Colombiano en la promoción, protección y fortalecimiento de las formas solidarias, partiendo del respeto a los principios de autonomía, autodeterminación y autogobierno en que éstas se fundan.