Reconciling Fundamental Social Rights and Economic Freedoms after Viking, Laval and Rüffert

The Viking - Laval - Rüffert judgments have triggered – more than almost any other jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the EU – a debate about the balance between economic freedoms and fundamental social rights. We can expect it to take a long period to establish consensus about a new equilibrium. The intention of this book is to provide a positive contribution to this debate.
In the light of the new situation brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, i.e. the strengthening of fundamental rights and the forthcoming EU accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms the book develops and contemplates the concept of a cooperative structure of national, supranational and international courts and actors.
Country reports written by renowned labour lawyers analyse the consequences of the Viking - Laval - Rüffert decisions on national level with regard to legal and policy issues. Thereafter approaches and principles aimed at protecting fundamental social rights and facilitating a process of inter-court dialogue and cooperation are developed and suggestions for political guidelines on balancing economic freedoms and fundamental social rights are presented.