The Role of the Court of Justice in EU Labour Law: A Case Study on the Transfer of Undertakings Directive

The Role of the Court of Justice in EU Labour Law is a unique book that augments the discussion on the declining condition of labour law in Europe. While the research touches upon the whole EU social acquis, specific case studies are conducted on the directive on transfer of undertakings – a milestone for the emergence of labour rights at the EU level. How does the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) address the normative tension between economic and social values while interpreting labour norms? And, what are the dynamics and logic that drive its judicial reasoning? This book explores the judicial contribution to the making of EU labour law going beyond a classical labour law disciplinary perspective, and it engages in a thorough analysis of the judicial law-making that lies behind (and explains) the CJEU normative approach.

What’s in this book:

The book addresses and problematises fundamental issues undermining the adequacy of EU labour law, such as uneven bargaining power, labour as a commodity, and the asymmetric co-existence of workers’ rights and the market economy, and turns to the exploration of judicial law-making to seek insights on the following:

• What normative models underlie the approaches of EU institutional policymakers with respect to labour law?
• Does the CJEU have its own vision of the socioeconomic model to which the Union should adhere?
• How does the CJEU’s interpretative approach stand in relation to the transformation processes that regulators impose on labour law?
• Is the CJEU particularly attentive to the preferences expressed by national governments, especially those from the most politically influential states, or rather reflect the political pressure of the European Commission?
• What is the role of trans-judicial dynamics in shaping the CJEU’s reasoning in labour law cases?

The study is extraordinarily thorough, based on a wide range of policy documents, scholarly and doctrinal research, and the entire body of the CJEU’s case law on transfer of undertakings. The legal arguments that the CJEU has developed over the years are mapped and classified twice. First, according to their affinity with the underlying labour law functions and, second, in consideration of the judicial law-making logic they express.

How this will help you:

Delving deep into the normative implications of EU policymaking in the labour and social domains, its thorough exploration of the CJEU’s judicial law-making dynamics, and its extensive empirical legal analysis of the CJEU’s case law on transfer of undertakings, the book is nonpareil in revealing the forces that guide the CJEU’s decisions in the realm of labour law. Of particular value to scholars and researchers interested in EU social policies and constitutional law, the book will be highly appreciated by labour law practitioners aiming to use the case law of the CJEU, as well as to in-house counsel, industrial relation specialists, and trade unionists.