Social Europe without social dialogue : decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in C-928/19 P European Federation of Public Service Unions

Abstract

This article explores three dimensions of how the decision in EPSU affects the future of social Europe. First, it discusses how this decision rejects a right of legislative initiative shared among the social partners and the Commission and turns the participatory mechanism of social dialogue into a mere stakeholder consultation – an anti-model of social dialogue. Second, the article considers how the Court refuses to recognise social dialogue as an alternative means of democracy within the EU tying into the case-law on the European Citizens’ Initiative and constraining democratic deliberation in Europe. Finally, the article explains why the decision in EPSU is a lost chance to clarify that it is the Union’s fundamental interest to protect and promote fundamental rights.