Contemporary Social Policy in the E.U.
Professor John Wilton
Lecture 5
Labour mobility and employment policy in the E.U.

Lecture 5
 Is the growth of E.U. social policy a positive development?
- 2 possible answers:
(i) from the ‘right’ of the political spectrum – ‘free market liberals’
(ii) from the ‘left’ of the political spectrum – social democrats

Lecture 5
(i)from the ‘right’ of the political spectrum – ‘free market liberals’
- development of E.U. social policy   counterproductive (dangerous!)
- constitutes a constraint on the functioning of the free-market
- plus = one element in growth of E.U. ‘superstate’ and large bureaucracy

Lecture 5
(ii) from the ‘left’ of the political spectrum – social democrats
 - development of E.U. social policy is a positive and necessary development
- needed to protect E.U. citizens from worst excesses of free-market
 - plus, has economic gains for the market as assists in production of highly skilled,
well-trained, well educated workforce

Lecture 5

E.U. labour and employment policy
a) the ‘acceptable core’
     - i.e. health and safety, training,
and ‘free movement of labour’ (until recently)
b) the ‘disputed extended areas’
     i.e. working conditions, employment rights

Lecture 5
‘Free movement of labour’
- Art. 48 to 51 Treaty of Rome,    1957 established right of freedom of mobility for workers
(excluded public sector workers)

Lecture 5
1974 to 1976 Social Action Programme:
- encouraged creation of common vocational training, and employment and social protection policies
- plus a social action programme for migrant workers and their families (for EEC and non-EEC
nationals)

Lecture 5
-1985 White Paper on Completing the Single Market
-1987 Single European Act
-1988 Social Dimension initiative of the E.C. Commission
- all moved policy on ‘freedom of   movement of labour’ forward

Lecture 5
‘Social Dimension of the Internal Market’
 ‘ Social policy must, above all, contribute to the setting up of a “single labour market” by doing
away with the barriers which still restrict the effective exercise of two basic freedoms: the
freedom of movement of persons and the freedom of establishment.’
(European Commission, 1988, p.2-3)

Lecture 5
1988 Social Charter
- freedom of movement (first ‘social right’)
- encouraged harmonisation of conditions of residence
- encouraged mutual recognition of occupational qualifications
- included requirement of improvement of living and working conditions of immigrant workers

Lecture 5
1997 Treaty of Amsterdam
- Art.62 demanded that within 5 years the E.U. Council of Ministers should adopt “measures with a
view to ensuring … the absence of any controls on persons, be they citizens of the Union or
nationals of third countries, when crossing internal borders”.

Lecture 5
•Since May 2004 the application of one of founding principles of  EEC in 1957 Treaty of Rome – on
free movement of labour - has been varied:
• a) between Member states (different approaches, different application of regulations);
• b) within policy areas/sectors

Lecture 5
•Phases in E.U. labour mobility and employment policy:
•Phase 1 – 1950s ‘recovery’ – ‘economic’ concerns dominant – ‘social’ subordinate
•Phase 2 – late 1950s/1960s ‘boom’ – ‘economic’ and ‘political’ concerns dominant – ‘social’
concerns expedient

Lecture 5
•Phases in E.U. labour mobility and employment policy:
•Phase 3 – ‘recession’ 1970s/mid 1980s – ‘economic’/ ‘political’/‘cultural’ concerns dominant –
‘social’ concerns subordinate
•Phase 4 – ‘boom’ mid 1980s/mid 1990s – ‘economic’/‘political’/‘social’ concerns expedient

Lecture 5
•Phases in E.U. labour mobility and employment policy:
•Phase 5 – ‘uncertainty’ late 1990s/2007 – ‘political’/‘social’/‘cultural’ concerns dominant –
‘economic’ concerns subordinate?
•Phase 6 – ‘uncertainty’ 2008 economic depression, Eurozone crisis, public sector and social policy
cuts, political (nationalist?) reaction?