ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to provide not only the position of social rights in the EU's internal market project, but also to discuss how those rights are embedded in the political and economic context of the market. It describes the emergence of consumer law as part of the EU 'social market economy'. The chapter seeks to analyse the legislative action taken by the European institutions, taking into account the internal market itself, and the ideological bases on which it operated. It assesses how social rights are currently being balanced with economic rights in EU consumer law: the Treaties, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, free movement regulation and harmonized consumer law. The chapter concludes by evaluating the position of the Court within the wider framework of lawmaking in EU consumer law, and puts the primary responsibility for the promotion of social rights in this field back with the EU legislature.
