Book review: Questioning EU Citizenship: Judges and the Limits of Free Movement and Solidarity in the EU
| Author | Primož Rataj |
| DOI | 10.1177/1388262719869554 |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
European Journal of Social Security 21(3)
territorial scale of social policy and the influence of cities on social policies, the implications of
European structural funds for territorial cohesion is only touched in a cursory way.
An obvious strength of this collection is the recurring themes, which develops a web of discussions
running through various chapters. The gender perspective on European Welfare states is introduced
from a theoretical perspective by Birte Siim and Anette Borchorst. Several chapters investigate
persistent gender inequalities in terms of social rights, labour market access, and risks of exclusion.
The challenges of migration for welfare states are treated from various perspectives, while social
investment and austerity seem to be the main common frames for social policy in the European states.
Looking at the different chapters, one gets the impression that Europe is divided between the better-off
states, which are primarily concerned with discussions of social investment (see, in particular, the
chapters of Jon Kvist and Anton Hemerijck), and the southern states, which still suffer from the crisis
and must cope with lingering austerity measures (and are, therefore, less inclined to ‘invest’ in the
future). From this perspective, European integration has – despite some hard and mostly soft law
instruments – not yet fostered convergence towards a common social model. Furthermore, as Patricia
Kennett argues in her concluding chapter, the European project faces multiple crises, making disin-
tegration an obvious threat. With populism challenging the legitimacy of the European institutions,
financial crises subverting the material basis of welfare states, and declining solidarity within and
between the member states, the future of European social policy remains fragile.
Taken together, although this collection is a worthwhile read on the state of the welfare
states in the European Union, it has some shortcomings. It will undoubtedly be useful for
students and scholars of European integration and comparative welfare state research and
some of the lacunae could be filled in future editions. In this way, an excellent edited
collection could turn into a real handbook.
Author biography
Stephan Grohs received his degree in social sciences from Humboldt University in Berlin and
his PhD from Ruhr University Bochum, Germany. He currently holds the Chair of Political
Science at the German University of Administrative Sciences, Speyer, where he teaches courses
on public policy and public administration. His research interests include comparative public
policy and administration, the europeanisation of national administration and welfare systems,
and local and sub-national governance.
Thym, Daniel (ed.) (2017), Questioning EU Citizenship: Judges and the Limits of Free Movement and
Solidarity in the EU, Oxford and Portland, Oregon: Bloomsbury, Hart Publishing, 330 pages, ISBN:
978-1-50991-468-5 (hardcover).
Reviewed by: Primoˇz Rataj, University of Ljubljana
DOI: 10.1177/1388262719869554
Questioning EU Citizenship: Judges and the Limits of Free Movement and Solidarity in the EU is
one of the volumes in the series Modern Studies in European Law, which publishes the best new
Book review
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academic works by younger scholars on EU law. The series embraces the full scope of scholarship
on EU law from doctrinal analysis to theoretical exploration, and also encourages interdisciplinary,
comparative and historical approaches, with the overall aim of publishing innovative work that will
widen knowledge and understanding of the place of law in the creation of Europe. This is the case
for the book under review, edited by Daniel Thym, a well-established Professor of Public, Eur-
opean and International Law and Director of the Research Centre on Immigration and Asylum Law
at the University of Konstanz in Germany.
The reviewed volume consists of 15 contributions (in three parts), written by 16 contributors
active in various fields of law (e. g. EU and/or Constitutional Law, Migration Law, International
Law, Public Law, etc.) as university academics and/or researchers. In addition, academics from the
fields of political science and sociology, along with a legal secretary at the European Court of
Justice (ECJ),...
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