Book Review: Social Inclusion and Social Protection in the EU: Interactions between Law and Policy
| Author | Jackie Gulland |
| Published date | 01 June 2014 |
| Date | 01 June 2014 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/138826271401600206 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Bekker systematically describes how the different EU Presidencies tackled the
issue and how, triggered by the German and Portuguese Presidencies, this resulted in
a strengthening of the social perspective. The gap between employers’ and employees’
interests is still wide – trade unions prefer hard law, not for a top-down steering of
the labour market but, rather, as an instrument for ensuring minimum standards for
the protection of workers. However, their early involvement in the process of agenda-
setting and policy-making gave rise to a strengthening of labour law, understanding it
as more than purely a part of the market logic.
Bekker concludes with some in-depth explanatory remarks summarising the
characteristics of the European flexicurity concept. It becomes clear that constructive
and productive policy-making is a question both of transparency and of the involvement
of all stakeholders, and is thus closely linked to governance rather than to top-down
steering by hard law. Opening up the process of policy-making to representatives of
civil society and, regarding employment, to representatives of the industry and the
workforce, influences the content of legal provisions. Rules have to be negotiated in
order to be able to represent different views and take into account policy outcomes
and the resulting effects on all relevant groups and actors. The merit of Bekker’s study
is that it emphasises the common EU perspective, rather than simply analysing and
comparing law- and policy-making in a single Member State. The Lisbon strategy thus
becomes visible as a truly European strategy, focusing not just on the content, but also
on the process of policy-making.
Constanze Janda
SRH University of Applied Sciences
Heidelberg
Constanze Janda has a first degree in Law fom Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena in
Germany, and a Master’s degree in European Social Security Law from Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. She is currently working as a Professor at the SRH
University of Applied Sciences in Heidelberg, Germany, where she teaches labour law,
social security law and civil law. Her special fields of interest include social protection
of migrants as well as benefits for old age, sickness or unemployment.
Bea Cantillon, Herwig Verschueren and Paula Ploscar (eds.), Social Inclusion
and Social Protection in...
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