Social Law and Policy in an Evolving European Union

Description

Social law and policy have been moving increasingly into the mainstream of the European Union. There have been important changes to the Treaty framework for enacting social policy, bringing the role of the social partners to the fore. New Treaty provisions for adopting discrimination legislation have highlighted the potential role of the EU in combatting aspects of social exclusion, and in challenging disturbing phenomena such as racism and xenophobia. Social policy is increasingly linked to the emerging notion of Union citizenship. The arrival of the single currency in 1999 is now matched by a more pro-active EU-level policy on employment and the labour market. The analyses in this collection address these and other questions against the backdrop of the longstanding controversies over the nature and scope of EU social policy, including the UK's opt-out from certain provisions between 1993 and 1997, and the ongoing debate about whether EU social policy has, or should have, a social or an economic rationale.

Jo Shaw is Professor of European Law at Leeds University and is the author and editor of numerous books, including EU LAW (Macmillan).

Whilst academic, the book touches on a number of areas under the social policy banner and will be a useful research tool. -- The Review Editor * EU and Arbetsratt, June 2002 * This collection of essays, edited by Jo Shaw is, therefore, a timely, as well as an erudite, wide-ranging and provocative set of reflections on social law and policy in an evolving European Union. It is testament to the richness of its contributions that many fit under multiple headings. The chief delight of a good edited collection, such as this one, is that its contributors collectively deploy an extraordinarily wide range of insights of a theoretical, contextual and comparative nature. These essays provide rich food for further thought on the past, present and future of E.U. social policy. -- Claire Kilpatrick, University of London * Public Law, July 2002 *