Employment & Social Affairs

One of the declared goals of the Treaty establishing the European Community was to promote a high level of employment and of social protection (ex-Article 2 TEC). One step towards achieving these goals, for example, was the introduction of a coordinated “European Employment Strategy” at the Luxembourg jobs summit in October 1997.

This goal is no longer contained in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) which entered into force on 1. December 2009 and substituted the EC Treaty. However, Art. 3 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU) stipulates that the Union should aim at establishing a social market economy which focuses on full employment and social progress.

The EU is increasingly taking measures in the area of labour market policy. The free movement of workers is enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Theoretically, this means that any person is free to work in any Member State without being subject to national barriers. In practice, however, prospective employees are confronted by national legislation restricting cross-border mobility. The EU is addressing these contradictions through large-scale efforts to harmonise labour laws.

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