Transformation or Dilution: Fundamental Rights in the EU Social Space

Abstract:  This article argues that in developing social rights to counterbalance economic freedoms, the EU has begun to reformulate traditional notions of rights. Instead of creating rights in their traditional individualised, negative, judicially enforceable, and fault-based form, a new proactive model is emerging, which aims at institutional change, based on the notion of the active citizen and the centrality of participation in both rule formation and enforcement. It is argued that while this model has important advantages, its weakness lies in its dependence on political will. The challenge is therefore to ensure that proactive strategies are firmly centred on fundamental rights rather than political discretion. Part I briefly sketches the development of social rights in the EU; Part II examines the applicability of Third Way ideology; Part III considers European employment strategy and gender mainstreaming, asking whether they represent a dynamic new manifestation of fundamental rights at work, or a betrayal. Part IV applies a similar evaluation to the EU Charter.