ABSTRACT
Integration in the European Union (EU) is both economic and social. It is still marked by the original decisions surrounding the construction of a “common market,” stemming from the Treaty of Rome, although since the single currency was adopted there has been a signifi cant shift towards monetary integration. Moreover, with each successive enlargement, a Union now comprising 27 member states, navigating the relationship between the economic and the social also increases in complexity. Added to the challenge of monetary integration and EU enlargement (Lhernould 2004), is institutional blockage due to non-ratifi cation of the Constitutional Treaty for Europe (Rodière 2005); they have collectively created an ambiguous, even paradoxical situation, making it diffi cult and even risky at this current uncertain juncture to predict the future of social policy in Europe ( Degryse & Pochet 2006). That challenge is exacerbated since recent Court of Justice decisions that arbitrate between economic and social rights in a manner that privileges the former.
