The Effectiveness of the European Social Model

The FNR lecture series in European and comparative labour law “The Effectiveness of the European Social Model” is hosted from December 2017 to June 2018 by Associate Prof. Luca Ratti and will consider ways to update and enrich the legal foundations of social Europe.

The series is organised by the Research Unit in Law in cooperation with the Luxembourg National Resarch Fund (FNR).

In April 2017, the EU Commission officially presented the European Pillar of Social Rights (C(2017) 2600 final), after having consulted academics, legal experts, and social partners on its content (COM(2016) 127 final).

The Pillar contains rights and principles on fundamental issues related to labour law and social security, including: active support to employment, a European minimum wage, fair working conditions, fair protection against dismissals, secure and adaptable labour contracts, a minimum income; as well as social protection in general.

At the Social Summit for Fair Jobs and Growth in Göteborg on 17 November 2017 the document became the objective of the Interinstitutional proclamation on the European Pillar of Social Rights.

All the proposals contained in the Pillar pose a crucial question: how can they be made effective and enforceable?

This Lecture Series aims at focusing on the effectiveness, or efficacy, of the entire “system” of labour law in Europe.

It broadens the scope of investigation, as well as the layers of research on the ESM, including European policies on employment and occupation, the individual and collective rights deriving from the EU legislation, and the judicial remedies conceived to enforce those rights.

By contemplating, and extrapolating from, the experiences of a selection of EU Member States (Belgium, UK, Austria, Italy, and Luxembourg), this Lecture Series will gather prominent academics, judges, and practitioners to understand how labour law and policies have been put in place in the EU and how effective they are.

The Lecture Series will consist of six lectures, given over the course of eight months, will use a transnational and comparative methodology, and will be entirely bilingual (English or French, according to the legal environment and concepts explored by the relevant lecturer).

The planned lectures will be grouped around three main themes:

The European policies on employment and occupation
The individual rights deriving from the EU legislation
The judicial remedies to enforce those rights

After or during each Lecture, participants will enjoy a reception cocktail during which they will have a further occasion to discuss ideas with each other, and particularly have a one-to-one conversation with the invited lecturer.