European Court Of Justice Case Study

To capture the social dimension of the European union, various studies have been carried out and some scholars have highlighted the problems in establishing the social policy, whilst others claim that the European dimension is evolving and already in place. The European Court of Justice has been very helpful, its importance is highly visible in the evolution of European Social policy in terms of integration. In this essay I will be looking at the extent to which the Court of justice has influenced the development of the social dimension of the European Union by identifying those areas they exercised their powers.

Firstly, the prohibition against discrimination has been strengthened by the European Courts case law. An example of this was where the court examined the very nature of the community and the traditional forms of international collaboration to contrast it. It also introduced new methods of interpreting community law which were different from those used in community law. The treaty rule in article 48 entails that free movement of workers implies the abolition of any discrimination based on nationality. Furthermore, the non-discrimination rule has been given a wider scope by the Court of Justice and not only applies to employment and working conditions. This can be seen in the leading case of Netherlands v. Reeds where the court’s judgement explained

“That, in some instances, general living conditions may be directly relevant to equal protection problems in the employment field”.

In another case concerning EU citizenship, this was the Martinez Sala case, it was the first time the court relied on the EU citizenship provision and revealed the potential of its legal concept. However, some others claim that the courts ...

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...tives, the ECJ’s interpretive powers has permitted action to

be taken in regards to health and education fields at the European Union level.

In conclusion, the social dimension of The European Union will not have developed the way it would without the influence of the Court of Justice because; The Court of Justice has played a major role. This is to say that through the courts interpretative powers, it has permitted actions to be taken in areas the Treaty has not been able to achieve the necessary actions it should have.

It has also helped in areas of discrimination by ensuring that nationals in member states not only have access to welfare benefits but others from other member states benefit from it as nationals would. It has also helped with the free movement of migrants within the union and also for the free movement of goods by removing restrictions.