ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how the evolution of the European integration project has transformed its originally symbiotic relationship with the post-war social state into one of dominance under the current economic crisis. It first provides an overview of the distinctive elements of the social state – which traditionally guaranteed social rights through fundamental rights, social policies and public services – and of its legal manifestation, the Social and Democratic Rechtsstaat. Using this notion as a conceptual framework, the analysis describes a series of unrelated events which, when combined, explain how European integration affected and transformed the social state by disentangling from each other its three foundational elements: the rule of law, the democratic principle and its responsiveness to social demands. Concisely, during the early stages of European integration the Court of Justice established European Union (EU) law as an autonomous legal order. Its primacy over national legal systems was the starting point of a process that gradually disconnected law from its concrete (national) social context. After the Treaty of Maastricht, and due to constitutionalization, the economic rationale of EU law was imposed over more socially sensitive national law, hence contributing to law’s disconnection from the social context – a process fuelled by the increase of EU competences and Member States. Moreover, market rules were for the first time applicable to public services, reducing the number of tools available for states to direct the economy and, importantly, to guarantee social rights. Finally, during the recent global economic downturn, the adoption of a set of anti-crisis measures circumvented the European legal order and undermined the democratic principle at both the European and national levels. In sum, the effects of the evolution of European integration on the social state suggest not only a deviation from the classical formulation of the Social and Democratic Rechtsstaat, but a new governing rationale at the European level, according to which social rights are not a priority but a secondary objective subjected to financial stability.
