SOCIAL RIGHTS AND EUROPEAN INTEGRATION THEORY: SITUATING CJEU JURISPRUDENCE IN TRHEE NATIONAL CONTEXTS

Abstract

This article examines the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) concerning the social rights of mobile EU citizens from the perspective of European integration theory. Our aim is to situate the effects of EU jurisprudence in 3 Member States – Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK and examine to what extent the selected Member States change their policies on social rights in relation to CJEU jurisprudence. Europeanization through law has been described as one of the most powerful meta-narratives of European integration: the adoption of common laws and standards coupled with the primacy and direct effect of EU law force the Member States to adjust their national policies and legislations in order to comply with EU rules. Europeanization literature has taken a keen interest in legislative acts, and although the importance of CJEU jurisprudence is acknowledged, Europeanization through case law remains a somewhat lesser explored area. The argument put forward in this article is that although EU legislative measures remain an important source of Europeanization of the welfare state, CJEU decisions play an equally important role in clarifying Member State obligations towards economically inactive mobile EU citizens.