Fundamental Social Rights in Pre- and Post-Constitutional Terms

Abstract. Fundamental social rights have come a long way in the history of the European Union. Until recently, with the currently contested EU Constitutional Treaty, the Union showed a willingness to adopt a binding instrument containing fundamental social rights. This article argues that the newly pledged fundamental rights would have a considerable impact on both EU as well as Member State policies. The paper also outlines the development of fundamental social rights in the European Union and shows a lack of a clear and uniform approach to the fundamental rights debate in Europe. It is argued that a more general ?constitutionally coloured? fundamental rights pathway must be distinguished from the social policy track, but that the two approaches have merged over the years, finding a synthesis in the Charter on Fundamental Rights incorporated into the Constitutional Treaty. The focus is therefore on a pre-constitutional and a post-constitutional understanding of fundamental social rights.