Constitutionally Conditioned Markets and a Resilient EU

Traditional perceptions of EU Internal Market Law and Economic and Monetary Union Constitution suggest that social and labour rights must be limited by these institutions. However, a different perspective is possible: the European Treaties can be interpreted as demanding a Constitutionally Conditioned Internal Market and Economic and Monetary Union.

This paper develops the constitutionally conditioned market as a normative frame for overcoming the alleged tensions between the legal frame for EU economic integration and social and labour rights. It scopes the potential consequences for the adjudication of conflicts between collective industrial action and economic freedoms on the one hand and for the re-interpretation of regulatory scope for societal actors and the EU in fields such as providing a floor of rights in precarious labour market sectors characterised by high levels of mobility and the creation of unemployment insurance for highly mobile workers.