scholarly journals Free Movement as a Threat for Universal Welfare States?

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 388-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bent Greve

The free movement of workers has been a cornerstone of the European Union since it was founded in 1957. A gradual improvement of rights to groups other than workers has implied that rights related to free movement have already had an impact on universal welfare states’ social security arrangements, especially in the area of pensions. Given the enlargement of the past 10 years and a strong increase in inter-EU migration this impact might even increase. This article, using Denmark as a case study, looks at how, over time, free movement may lead towards convergence and thereby Europeanization of welfare states in Europe. It focuses especially on the pressures brought to bear on the universality of the Danish welfare state, thereby moving it away from one of the distinctive characteristics of the Nordic welfare state model: the universal access to benefits. It also raises the question of whether or not recent developments are once again opening the debate on social dumping in Europe.

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Belinda Brucker Juricic ◽  
Mario Galic ◽  
Sasa Marenjak

This paper reviews the recent literature on skill and labour shortages in the labour market with special emphasis on the construction sector in the European Union Member States, foreseeing the Construction 4.0 era. The free movement of people is one of the rights of all citizens of the EU which also includes the free movement of workers. Labour shortages in the EU are expected to increase in the future due to a declining population and an ageing workforce. In order to recognize and forecast labour shortages, EU Member states use a variety of instruments but they do not answer as to whether it is possible to use migrant labour to appease those shortages. There are several systems used to classify labour shortages in the EU Member states. Most of the countries classify labour shortages in relation to different sectors or occupation groups as well as by skill levels, but in some Member States, classification is made according to the type of employment. Instruments used to measure labour shortages significantly differ from country to country. Several criteria are used for creating lists of shortage occupations and most of the criteria include demand side and supply side criteria. A majority of the Member States are facing labour and skill shortages in various sectors and the construction sector is not an exception. As total employment in the construction sector decreased, so did the share of employed migrants. Labour shortages in the construction sector can be eased by the availability of a labour supply willing to accept unqualified and low-paying jobs. The construction sector seeks low-, medium-, and high-skilled individuals and is most likely the sector where most of the incoming migrants will be working, which has an impact on the development and implementation dynamic of Construction 4.0.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Del Sol ◽  
Marco Rocca

The European Union appears to be promoting at the same time both cross-national mobility of workers and an increased role for occupational pensions. There is, however, a potential tension between these two objectives because workers risk losing (some of) their pension rights under an occupational scheme as a consequence of their mobility. After long negotiations, the EU has addressed this issue through a minimum standards Directive. Shortly before the adoption of this Directive, the Court of Justice also delivered an important decision in the same field, in the case of Casteels v British Airways. By analysing the resulting legal framework for safeguarding pension rights under occupational schemes in the context of workers’ mobility, we argue that the application of the case law developed by the Court of Justice in the field of free movement of workers has the potential to offer superior protection compared to the Directive. We also highlight the fact that the present legal framework seems to afford a much fuller protection to the intra-company cross-national mobility of workers employed by multinational companies, while also seemingly favouring mobility for highly specialised workers.


Author(s):  
Fabrício José Rodrigues de Lemos

A INTEGRAÇÃO ECONÔMICA E O REGIME JURÍDICO DO EURO  ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE EURO  Fabrício José Rodrigues de Lemos* RESUMO: Em um mundo de relações econômicas cada vez mais complexas, as nações se veem compelidas a formalizar uniões em torno de objetivos comuns, de maneira a fazer frente à acirrada concorrência internacional. Nesse sentido, buscam a formação dos chamados espaços econômicos integrados. Para isso, são necessários diversos requisitos, tais como a livre circulação de mercadorias, a liberdade de estabelecimento, a livre circulação de trabalhadores e de capitais. Entretanto, para que seja atingido o estágio mais aprofundado da integração econômica, além das exigências já exemplificadas, se constata imprescindível a instituição de moeda única. Nesse sentido, o artigo pretende, a partir de reflexões históricas e filosóficas acerca da implantação da zona do Euro, fazer apontamentos sobre a integração econômica existente na União Europeia, detalhando o regime jurídico da moeda única europeia, para, ao final, tecer considerações sobre o futuro do mercado comum europeu. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Integração econômica. Zona do Euro. Regime jurídico. União Europeia. ABSTRACT: In a world of increasingly complex economic relations, nations find themselves compelled to formalize unions around common goals, in order to cope with the fierce international competition. In this sense, they seek the formation of the so-called integrated economic spaces. Thereunto, several requirements must be met, such as the free movement of goods, freedom of establishment, free movement of workers and capital. However, in order to achieve the furthest stage of economic integration, in addition to the requirements already explained, the institution of a single currency is imperative. In this sense, the article intends to give pointers, from historical and philosophical reflections about the implementation of the Euro zone, on the existing economic integration in the European Union, detailing the legal regime of the single European currency, to, at the end, weave considerations about the future of the common European market. KEYWORDS: Economic integration. Eurozone. Legal regime. European Union. SUMÁRIO: Introdução. 1 Reflexões Históricas e Filosóficas acerca da Implantação da Zona do Euro. 1.1 Implantação da Zona Monetária Comum e o Critério de Convergência. 1.2 Conceito de eficiência em Richard Posner e a maximização da riqueza e do bem-estar social. 2 Regime Jurídico na Zona do Euro. 2.1 Integração regional e o Mercado Comum Europeu. 2.2 Considerações sobre o futuro do Mercado Comum Europeu. Considerações Finais. Referências.  * Mestrando em Direito Público, na Linha de Pesquisa Sociedade, Novos Direitos e Transnacionalização, pela Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Bacharel em Direito pela Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Integrante do Núcleo de Direitos Humanos da Unisinos (NDH). Advogado. 


2020 ◽  
pp. 507-528
Author(s):  
Marios Costa ◽  
Steve Peers

This chapter examines the social rights that arise as part of free-movement rights under Articles 21, 45, 49 and 59 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It highlights the extensive interpretation given by the Court of Justice (CJ) to these rights ensuring equality of treatment for those migrants who are economically active. As well as dealing with the provisions in the Citizens’ Rights Directive (CRD) (Directive 2004/38) and Regulation 492/2011 on the free movement of workers, the chapter deals briefly with the provisions relating to social security and EU citizenship.


Author(s):  
Margot Horspool ◽  
Matthew Humphreys ◽  
Michael Wells-Greco

This chapter examines the free movement of workers, family members and non-active persons, and freedom of establishment, and places this within the framework of citizenship of the European Union. The free movement of workers is one of the original four freedoms in the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community. Free movement of workers was essential for the construction of an internal market, and for several decades the freedom to move within the Community maintained its strict link with economic activity.


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Bambra

The nature of welfare regimes has been an ongoing debate within the comparative social policy literature since the publication of Esping-Andersen's ‘Three Worlds of Welfare’ (1990). This article draws upon recent developments within this debate, most notably Kasza's assertions about the ‘illusory nature’ of welfare regimes, to highlight the health care discrepancy. It argues that health care provision has been a notable omission from the wider regimes literature and one which, if included in the form of a health care decommodification typology, can give credence to Kasza's perspective by highlighting the diverse internal arrangements of welfare states and welfare state regimes.


2001 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
DIONYSSIS G. DIMITRAKOPOULOS

Institutions are more than mere agents of their creators. They produce unintended consequences by means of their autonomous action. In the context of the European Union (EU), supranational institutions, such as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Commission produce such consequences, even in areas where no direct or overt transfer of powers has taken place, while performing the roles assigned to them by their creators. Using a case study regarding the protection of the free movement of workers, this article demonstrates that supranational institutions circumscribe the use of executive discretion by national governements by blurring the line between ‘safe’ and other issues, that is, the line that distinguishes between the ‘two faces of power’.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 469-480
Author(s):  
Alexandre Coutinho Pagliarini ◽  
Maria Fernanda Augustinhak Schumacker Haering Teixeira

This research has as general objective to analyze the guardian role exercised by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE) for the protection of the Fundamental Community Right to the free movement of workers within the scope of the European economic bloc and the importance of the migratory flow for the maintenance of the said block. The spouse of this article previously analyzes the emergence of the European Communities and the need for the defense, reconstruction and stabilization of Europe after the end of the Second World War, as well as dealing with the Treaties of Paris and Rome, propellants of the European Communities, characterized as an autonomous legal system and of great importance for the development of European primary law. Then, he discusses the movement of workers within the European Union (EU) and the right of the European citizen to look for a job, to work, to settle or to provide services in any EU Member State, and then to address the issue of the role of the worker. CJEU as guardian of the fundamental European Community law on the free movement of workers. After the analysis of recent judgments of the European Court of Justice, the need to protect the free movement of European workers, with due regard to the founding treaties of the European Union, remains necessary for the proper maintenance of the European bloc European Union. The methodology used in the research is critical reflexive, which operates through the bibliographic review and the analysis of concrete cases assessed by the CJEU.


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