This unique book offers a comprehensive systematization and overview of the EU´s emerging ‘acquis’ and practice of Collective Labour Law. Although the core aspects of Collective Labour Law lie outside the EU’s competence to regulate, the laws and industrial relations systems of Member States are undoubtedly influenced by the EU, and the involvement of Social Partners, i.e. representatives of employers and workers, is essential for many aspects of EU law and policy.

The current economic and financial crisis erupted several years ago. Its effects impacted deeply upon society, in which legal rules and social patterns have developed to enable the establishment of civilisation, justice and peace. Over time it has become more and more obvious that policy, financial and economic actors have adopted austerity measures as a main tool to solve the ensuing problems, and that these measures have hit social policy standards sometimes dramatically. Recent analyses have dealt with several aspects of this issue. This book focuses on one important element: the impact on collective labour law. It seeks to add to the debate by presenting mainly legal arguments derived from different sources and backgrounds, examining the EU and 'Troika' measures, the economic and political background and the sometimes dramatic consequences of austerity measures on democracy, collective bargaining and the right to strike. Against the framework of EU law, the relevant ILO Conventions, (Revised) European Social Charter and European Convention on Human Rights provisions, the non-compliance of these measures is analysed and demonstrated. The book is also dedicated to procedural questions, and in particular, how legal approaches may be used to challenge austerity measures.

This extensively updated second edition explores how individual European labour law systems combine to produce a distinctly European transnational system.

Complementing the highly successful online German Law Journal, this new publication aims to deepen and develop some of the issues discussed in the Journal as well as to take up new questions and directions of commentary. Focusing on pressing legal questions of socio-political relevance, it offers scholarly articles, reports, book reviews and selected statutes or court decisions in English translation in all fields of German and European Law. The main objective is to offer border-transcending and interdisciplinary research into fast moving areas of the law, often involving a complex array of institutional, political, and private actors.

In its Green Paper about the need for labour market reform, the European Commission argued that the increasing diversity of 21st century working relationships means that existing labour law is no longer adequate. This report brings together the evidence from a wide range f experts and representative bodies about these issues as they affect the UK labour market. It finds that the evidence does not support the Commission. The consensus is that the relatively light regulation of the UK labour market is advantageous and that problems of social disadvantage and structural unemployment are better addressed by measures aimed at tackling poor skills and social inequality rather than changing labour law. The report therefore recommends that efforts at EU level should focus on the promotion and sharing of good practice, rather than the introduction of new legislation.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this monograph on Council of Europe not only describes and analyses the legal aspects of labour relations, but also examines labour relations practices and developing trends. It provides a survey of the subject that is both usefully brief and sufficiently detailed to answer most questions likely to arise in any pertinent legal setting. Both individual and collective labour relations are covered in ample detail, with attention to such underlying and pervasive factors as employment contracts, suspension of the contracts, dismissal laws and covenant of non-competition, as well as international private law. The author describes all important details of the law governing hours and wages, benefits, intellectual property implications, trade union activity, employers’ associations, workers’ participation, collective bargaining, industrial disputes, and much more. Building on a clear overview of labour law and labour relations, the book offers practical guidance on which sound preliminary decisions may be based. It will find a ready readership among lawyers representing parties with interests in Council of Europe, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative trends in laws affecting labour and labour relations.

This book explores the normative and legal evolution of the Social Dimension - labour law, social security law and family law - in both the EU and its Member States, during the last decade. It does this from a wide range of theoretical and legal-substantive perspectives. The past decade has witnessed the entering into force of the Lisbon Treaty and its emphasis on fundamental rights, a new coordination regulation within the field of social security (Regulation 883/2004/EC), and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the so-called Laval Quartet. Furthermore structural changes affecting demographics and family have also challenged solidarity in new ways. The book is organised by reference to distinct 'normative patterns' and their development in the fields of law covered, such as the protection of established groups, the position of market functional values and the scope for just distribution. The book represents an innovative and important interdisciplinary approach to analysing EU law and Social Europe, and contributes a complex, yet thought-provoking, picture for the future. The contributors represent an interesting mix of well-known and distinguished as well as upcoming and promising researchers throughout Europe and beyond.

This volume makes a contribution to the ongoing lively discussion on European constitutionalism by offering a new perspective and a new interpretation of European constitutional plurality. The book combines diverse disciplinary approaches to the constitutional debate. It brings together complementing contributions from scholars of European politics, economics, and sociology, as well as established scholars from various fields of law. Moreover, it provides analytical clarity to the discussion and combines theory with more practical and critical approaches that make use of the constitutional toolbox in analysing the tensions between the different constitutions. The collection is a valuable point of reference not only for scholars interested in European studies but also for graduate and post-graduate students.

In the realm of European employment law, tension exists between the concepts of 'economic policy' and 'social policy.' During recent years, a growing tendency to emphasize the 'economic' at the expense of the 'social' can be discerned. What this trend gives us'in the views of the leading figures in the field of European labour law and social policy whose considered analyses are presented in this volume'is a regime of 'grand declarations' about workers' rights, but with extremely limited enforcement potential. ,i>The Changing Face of European Labour Law and Social Policy presents some of the papers given at a series of colloquia sponsored by the Employment Law Research Unit at the University of Warwick in early 2002. In its assessment of the forces at work in European employment law today, these commentaries examine significant initiatives and issues, including:problems arising in the context of the Nice Charter;delivering 'equality' at the workplace under the new EU legal framework;the crisis facing workers' participation in practice;the prospects for trans-national collective bargaining;employment-related aspects of human rights under the ECHR; and,attempts to establish effective protections in relation to the working environment. Invaluable appendices include a report, as presented by the late Marco Biagi, of a high level group on reform of the European labour market; the text of the Social Policy Agenda, as approved at the Nice Summit of 2000; and the Commission's 'scoreboard' on the implementation of the Social Agenda as of 2002.With its down-to-earth analysis of the current status of the 'floor of rights' in the European work environment, The Changing Face of European Labour Law and Social Policy will be of inestimable value to all practitioners and scholars seeking to improve the quality of life for Europe's working population and the quality of regulation at the disposal of those charged with confronting the new challenges to social policy resulting from the radical transformation of Europe's economy and society.

Catholic Social Teaching and Labour Law explores the contribution that religious ethics makes to debates on justice in working life. Many faiths include beliefs about the significance of work to human development and the need for work to be performed under conditions that uphold dignity, equality, and solidarity . This book considers how the substantive provisions of labour law reflect prior ethical choices about how workers should be treated, and how beliefs from Catholicism influence these. This book provides a thorough account of the principles found in Catholic Social Teaching (CST), and how these impact human work and labour rights . It tests the contemporary relevance of its principles by applying them to current debates, using EU labour law as a case study. Specifically, it examines CST on the right to a just wage, the right to rest, worker participation, and equality and discrimination. The book finds that CST offers fresh insights on long-standing injustices in the labour market, such as low wages or poor working conditions, and also sheds light on emerging challenges such as ensuring rest in an era of digital connectivity. The book recognizes that tensions arise in areas where the Church's beliefs diverge from those that prevail in a secular understanding of human rights. This is particularly evident in debates relating to equality. It concludes that faith-based perspectives should be included in pluralistic dialogue on the future of labour law.