ABSTRACT

The dramatic results of the 2014 European Parliament elections have highlighted the European Union’s urgent need for a review of the scope and purpose of its social objectives and for a reordering of European priorities.

This book advocates a radical and original alternative to the current philosophy that determines the set of rules for the awarding of EU public procurement contracts. It calls for a reordering of the EU’s economic and social priorities. In doing so, it advocates for a social dimension to be placed at the core of public procurement, which could elicit a social model of integration in the EU in which the European citizen is the key actor. This is achieved through an analytical approach as well as concise and contextualised explanations relating to free trade theories, poverty and public interest theories.

This book will be of key interest to students and scholars of the European Union, political theory, and EU law.

part |131 pages

The status quo

chapter |38 pages

Introduction

chapter |23 pages

Free trade

What about it – myths or realities?

part |57 pages

Closing the gap

chapter |36 pages

The mission of serving the public

Services of general interest and community law

part |37 pages

The solution

chapter |22 pages

On public-private partnerships

A European theory of a socially just alternative

chapter |13 pages

Conclusions