European social policies : a legal review at the eve of enlargement a Hungarian point of view

Abstract

The conceptualisation of the social dimension of the European Community, and Union, has proven to be a complex challenge. Beyond the central elements such as free movement of workers, equal treatment, workplace health and safety, the boundaries are uncertain. The situation is further complicated by the fact that though most issues of labour law and social policy primarily fall within the responsibility of the Member States, there has always been a common vision of a European social model based on mutually accepted values and principles. Having this vision in mind, distilled from the rhetoric of the Treaties and from political commitments, the research was based on a learning process. This process opened up a critical approach towards the initial assumption which described European integration around a social model per se founded on solidarity and welfare. By juxtaposing various opinions and explanations, both from the side of Community institutions and scholars, a more articulated view was acquired on the value choices and reasons which fundamentally influenced the development o f Community labour law and social policies. The most appropriate method seemed to be the historical reconstruction of the evolution of those institutions, processes and motivations which form the core elements of the European social dimension. A project to analyse the whole area would have been too ambitious: the research focuses on those aspects which then led to the new Title on employment in the Amsterdam Treaty. This method might be considered as a descriptive one, but it proved to be a useful way to understand and to make visible how Community reasoning and value choices have changed and new issues have emerged throughout the Community's history.