Introduction
| Date | 01 September 1990 |
| Published date | 01 September 1990 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2230.1990.tb01825.x |
| Author | Francis Snyder |
THE
MODERN LAW REVIEW
Volume
53
September
1990
No.
5
Introduction
Francis
Snyder*
The Modem Law Review was founded as a forum for the critical examination of contem-
porary legal issues and the law as it functions in society. Few issues are more contem-
porary than the nature and functions of European Community law, and few offer greater
scope for the study of law in society than the role of European Community law in the
completion of the Single European Market. These issues are the subject of this special
issue on European law.
This special issue has two principal purposes. The first is to present some of the most
stimulating current writing on European law, giving special but not exclusive attention
to the policies, assumptions and implications of the completion of the Single European
Market. The second is to contribute to the development of new approaches in the study
of European law, particularly, but not only, by placing law in its economic, social and
political context. European law is understood in this issue to include the law of the European
Community as well as the national laws of the various European countries, both inside
and outside of the European Community, even though most of the contributors focus
primarily on European Community law. The special issue is not intended to provide either
an exhaustive survey or even a representative sample of contemporary issues in European
law. Instead, it is designed to stimulate reflection and to provoke further analysis. It is
meant to form part of an indicative map, tracing selected important or emerging themes,
analysing underlying assumptions, identifying problems, either
of
current significance or
of lasting importance, and, where necessary, charting new directions.
The articles in this issue concern several topics of central importance to the completion
of the Single European Market. These topics include the development, role, and legal
and political strategies of the principal European Community institutions in achieving the
Single European Market; the four freedoms, particularly the free movement of goods and
persons; the ‘social dimension,’ including the equal treatment of women and men and
the European Community’s Charter of Fundamental Social Rights of Workers; and the
ways in which legal principles, rules, institutions and processes may be used to protect
our environment. Numerous other topics are of course also of special significance for
the completion
of
the Single European Market. The topics discussed in this issue have
been selected, however, because recent developments in particular areas raise controversial
issues which require analysis; because some new concerns which emerged with the
*University College London and the European University Institute, Florence.
The views expressed in this Introduction are my own and do not necessarily represent those
of
the Editorial
Committee
of
the Modem Law Review or
of
the contributors
to
this issue.
1
For further discussion
of
some
of
these issues, see Francis Snyder,
New Direcrions
in
European
Comrnuniry
Low
(1990).
The Modern Low Review
53:5
September
1990
0026-7961
573
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