Social security systems are experiencing a profound change all over Europe, due to internal as well as to external reasons, such as changes in society, in the labor markets, and globalization. The normative dimension of these changes is often overlooked. This book takes the first step in filling the gap, concentrating on security as a general principle of European social security law (GPSoc), explaining what this principle means and how it works. The book reflects the way in which legal comparison can be used to gain a better understanding of social security law. It brings together detailed reports from 14 European countries and analyzes the effects of security on legislative, as well as on administrative, action. It not only provides detailed information about the institutions and the instruments through which social security works in practice, but also offers a better understanding of its normative basis. This basis is fundamental. It explains the role which social security plays in modern societies, since it is, after all, a core element of the Nation State which holds these societies together in times in which they can no longer be based on religion or social class.
Within the European Union, social security basically remains a national field of competence. The lack of common norms has paved the way for a large disparity in social protection between EU Member States, which is not conducive to the European single market. Moreover, it may lead to an increase in poverty and social exclusion in some regions and intensify economic competition between Member States on the basis of labor costs. At the same time, almost all EU Member States are bound by one or more international social security instruments developed by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and by the Council of Europe. The most important instrument, ILO Convention No. 102 on Minimum Standards of Social Security, was adopted in 1952 with a view to promoting the right to social security for everyone, to guide nations in the development of their social security systems, to create higher standards, and to prevent an imbalance in markets caused by unequal social costs. From the perspective of two case studies, this book addresses the question whether the standards are still suitable to meet their objectives 60 years after their creation. For example, can they still be used as a benchmark for the development of social security systems? Do they contribute to better social protection? And do they provide a common basis for social security within the EU context? The study starts with an in-depth analysis of the international standards, followed by the case studies of the Czech Republic and Estonia. The country studies provide a description of the national social security systems and a comparison of these systems with international standards. The last part of the book comprises conclusions and discussions regarding the applicability and adequacy of the international standards in the two countries, which are, however, also relevant to other EU Member States. (Series: Social Europe - Vol. 28)
Social Security Law is an up-to-date, critical, yet authoritative account of the British social security system and its legal framework. It sets out the principal features of the main social benefits, giving a detailed exposition of the legal basis of entitlement to each benefit. It then takes the reader several steps further in placing the understanding of social security law into its wider social, political, historical and European context.
Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations Volume 108 The progressive expansion of the phenomenon of posting of workers – the practice whereby a worker is sent for a limited period of time to another Member State in order to provide a service – is a formidable bone of contention in the conflict between a fully integrated internal market economy and Member States’ aims to protect domestic social standards. This book challenges the recently adopted Directive (EU) 957/2018, which came into effect in July 2020, by examining the relevant EU regulatory framework and investigating the actual quantitative dimension of the posting phenomenon and its real impact on the EU labour market. In the process, the author exposes a serious misalignment of the legal framework provided for by the new Directive with the EU values and principles of equality, solidarity and fair competition. Drawing on a wide variety of sources – including Court of Justice case law, Advocate Generals’ opinions, Eurostat data, Commission documents and reports, and academic literature – the author provides in-depth analyses of such elements of the problem as the following: proper definition of the concepts of ‘posting’ and ‘posted worker’ in EU law; host country’s discretion in relation to the part of domestic regulation it can impose on posted employees; misconceived clash between social rights and economic freedoms; coordination of national social security systems; proliferation of unlawful and fraudulent practices; ‘regime shopping’ and exploitation of existing regulatory loopholes; misleading association of posting with issues of ‘social dumping’ and ‘unfair competition’; orientation of political influence during the drafting process of relevant EU legislation; expected controversial economic impact of Directive (EU) 957/2018; concrete realisation of the EU values and principles of equality, solidarity and fair competition; and definition and pursuit of a ‘European social model’. Normative arguments developed in the course of the analysis put forward viable recommendations for future improvements in the field. The Union’s commitment to the development of a ‘European social model’ cannot avoid taking into account the matters of equality, solidarity and fair competition. In this sense, given the increasing prominence of the free movement of services in shaping a European labour market characterised by an ever-growing degree of mobility, this book’s analysis of the phenomenon of posting of workers may serve as a litmus test of political and legislative action at EU level. In its dual analytic and normative aspect, the book takes a giant step towards future discussions and developments in the area of intra-EU labour mobility. It will be welcomed by legal practitioners in labour and social security law and industrial relations, legal scholars, EU institutions and agencies, businesses and trade unions.
The book examines whether small jurisdictions (states) are confronted with specific issues providing social security and how to deal with these issues. How is social security law impacted by the smallness of the jurisdiction? First, the author examines the key concepts 'small jurisdiction' and 'social security' as he understands them in the present research. He then pays some attention to the relation between social security and social security law and subsequently makes an excursion to explore the notion of legal transplants. In the second part, the author first examines the main features characterizing small states according to the general literature on small states, focusing on features which may be relevant to social security. He also includes an overview of the (limited) literature dealing with the specific social security issues small jurisdictions have to deal with. In other words, the second part provides the reader with the status quaestionis. In the third part, the author takes a look at the social security systems of 20 selected small jurisdictions. He does so according to a uniform scheme, in order to facilitate their comparison. These 20 case studies allow him in a next part to test the correctness of the statements made in Part 2. In the fourth part, he compares the social security systems of the 20 small jurisdictions. He draws conclusions as to the main question, but also to test the validity of the current literature on the topic as described in Part 2. Special attention goes to the use of legal transplants for the definition of the personal scope of social security arrangements. In the concluding part of the book, the author formulates some suggestions for the benefit of the social security systems of the small jurisdictions, based on his research.
The social security of the European Union (EU) has become of vital significance for persons living or working in a EU Member State. The creation of the European Economic Area and near accession of the candidate Members (East European countries) has further increased the relevance of this law. This book describes EU social security law, beginning with the rules relevant to migrant workers. Coverage includes Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EC. The book analyses the contributions of these judgments to the developments of coordination law and to the realisation of the objective of free movement of workers. In this respect the relation of the Regulation and the EC Treaty, which is shown in for instance the Kohll and Decker judgments, is analysed. Special attention is paid to the Proposal for Simplification and Modernisation of Regulation 1408/71. A second main part of EU social security law is the law on equal treatment of men and women. The Court of Justice issued several main decisions, of which the Barber judgment is a wellknown example. Since then, the case law has been further developed and this book helps the reader to understand the present state of affairs. A separate chapter analyses the combat against social exclusion of the EU and the instruments developed for this purpose. This is the completely revised and updated fourth edition of an authoritative book.
The Law of the European Union is a complete reference work on all aspects of the law of the European Union, including the institutional framework, the Internal Market, Economic and Monetary Union and external policy and action. Completely revised and updated, with many newly written chapters, this fifth edition of the most thorough resource in its field provides the most comprehensive and systematic account available of the law of the European Union (EU). Written by a new team of experts in their respective areas of European law, its coverage incorporates and embraces many current, controversial, and emerging issues and provides detailed attention to historical development and legislative history of EU law. Topics that are constantly debated in European legal analysis and practice are touched on in ways that are both fundamental and enlightening, including the following: .powers and functions of the EU law institutions and relationship among them; .the principles of equality, loyalty, subsidiarity, and proportionality; .free movement of persons, goods, services, and capital; .mechanisms of constitutional change – treaty revisions, accession treaties, withdrawal agreements; .budgetary principles and procedures; .State aid rules; .effect of Union law in national legal systems; .coexistence of EU, European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and national fundamental rights law; .migration and asylum law; .liability of Member States for damage suffered by individuals; .competition law – cartels, abuse of dominant position, merger control; .social policy, equal pay, and equal treatment; .environmental policy, consumer protection, public health, cultural policy, education, and tourism; .nature of EU citizenship, its acquisition, and loss; and .law and policy of the EU’s external relations. The fifth edition embraces many new, ongoing, and emerging European legal issues. As in the previous editions, the presentation is notable for its attention to how the law relates to economic and political realities and how the various policy areas interact with each other and with the institutional framework. The many practitioners and scholars who have relied on the predecessors of this definitive work for years will welcome this extensively revised and updated edition. Those coming to the field for the first time will instantly recognize that they are in the presence of a masterwork that can always be turned to with profit and that helps in understanding the rationale underlying any EU law provision or principle.
In the past decades the coordination of social security provisions of the European Union have become of vital importance. This book gives a clear overview of the main lines and main developments of this significant part of EU law.
This detailed Commentary explores the boundaries of social rights at a European level through analysis of the Revised European Social Charter (RESC), the most comprehensive regional document on social rights. The Commentary considers the treaty as the counterpart of the European Convention on Human Rights, examining how it sets out fundamental rights in the social field. It focuses primarily on the rich jurisprudence developed by the Charter’s monitoring body, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR).
Digitalisation and the changing world of work are calling into question the standard employment model as a basis for social security systems. Whilst a growing number of publications deal with the consequences for industrial relations and labour law, social law is still being left out of most research projects on digital work. This book aims at widening the perspective. It concentrates on the two most important questions in the context of social protection in a digitalised world, namely access to social protection systems and their future financing, putting emphasis on platform work. It gives an overview of different national approaches to these questions, it analyses the respective solutions in a comparative manner, and it puts them into a transnational context. By bringing together case studies from Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, France and Estonia and addressing the specific reform challenges for EU standard setting, EU coordination and the relation to tax law, the book provides new insights on what a "Social Law 4.0" should look like.
