Book | Website Peter Lang European Integration from Rome to Berlin: 1957-2007, History, Law and Politics Baquero Cruz, J., Closa Montero, C. (eds.) (2009) P.I.E. Peter Lang, Brussels. This edited volume is an interdisciplinary analysis of the past, present and future of the European Union. It addresses the lessons of EU history, its current challenges and its future perspectives. Areas examined include the evolution of the law of integration, Europe’s influence on political transitions, economic governance, social governance, the system of Treaty reform and its limits, the future role of the Court of Justice, enlargement and the vexed question of Turkish accession. One of the most striking conclusions of this book is that European integration through law has reached its limits (power has “broken free from the bounds of law”, as demonstrated by phenomena such as the Open Method of Coordination, discussed in several chapters of the book).

Book |  Website Cambridge University (Order) |  Website TMC Asser Press The Changing Legal Framework for Services of General Interest in Europe Between Competition and Solidarity Krajewski, M., Neergaard, U., Van de Gronden, J. (eds.) (2009), TMC Asser Press, The Hague.  This edited volume examines the impact of internal market, competition, state aid and public procurement law on the provision of services of general interest, in particular health services, social services and local public services. It consists of thirteen horizontal chapters taking into account the most recent ECJ case law, complete with ten country case studies covering both old and new Member States.

Book | Website Kluwer Calidad del trabajo en la Unión Europea. Concepto, tensiones, dimensiones by Roger Blanpain (editor) (2009), Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations, N° 69, Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands Two recent decisions of the European Court of Justice – Laval and Viking Line – have ignited a politically explosive controversy over the role of collective labour actions in the European industrial market. Far from settling a long-standing contentious issue, it appears that the Court has brought opposing interests into sharper conflict, in the process also exacerbating tensions between ‘old’ and ‘new’ Member States. Although the ultimate impact of the two decisions on national labour law regimes is unpredictable, the need for a summing-up of trends so far is clearly advantageous to all concerned parties. To this end, in this book nineteen labour law scholars present country reports detailing challenges and consequences of the rulings evident in twelve EU Member States, as well as in Norway and Russia.

 

Book | Order  on Intercodex website Calidad del trabajo en la Unión Europea. Concepto, tensiones, dimensiones A. Guillén at al. (2009), Thomson-Civitas, Madrid Employment creation has been placed at the top of national political agendas from the crisis of the 70s onwards. The dominant view around the problem of employment (and that of unemployment) has stemmed from an essentially quantitative perspective. The introduction of flexibilization measures, the upsurge of new contractual forms or the adoption of public policies aimed at strengthening the supply side have led to major transformations in the labour market. Since the mid 90s, a growing interest on the issue of quality of employment is easily detectable. The current context of economic crisis increases this interest on the dynamic tensions between quality and quantity of jobs. This volume is the result of a collaborative project among an interdisciplinary team of researchers within RECWOWE Strand 03. The book analyses the upsurge and progressive consolidation of growing concerns about the quality of jobs and employment promotion within public agendas, in particular in the areas of labour market, social protection and industrial relations. It also aims at exploring existing tensions between the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of employment, constituting a novel and appealing field of research of immediate practical relevance.   Following a brief presentation, the first section of the volume bears an essentually conceptual and methodological character, having the purpose of focusing the debate around the issues of quantity and quality of jobs. The second section of the book gathers different contributions devoted to especially relevant aspects of the tensions between quantity and quality of jobs, namely, the growing salary dispersion and in-work poverty, the persistence of wage inequalities in gender, the impact of the processes of restructuring of the European public sector and the analysis of job quality from a psicosocial approach. The third section of the book presents an analysis of job quality from an industrial relations perspective. The concluding section undertakes a challenging reflection on the problematic construction of European indicators on quality and quantity of employment.

  

Journal | Download FR | NL  (3,5 Mo, PDF) | Website  FR | NL    Approche internationale de la protection sociale: un cycle de publication Denis Bouget in Revue belge de sécurité sociale, 2009/1, pp. 7-36 Also available in Dutch: Internationale benadering van de sociale bescherming: een publicatie-cyclus  Denis Bouget in Belgisch Tijdschrift voor Sociale Zekerheid, 2009/1, pp.7-38

  

Book | Download  (PDF) | Council of Europe Website  Well-being for all - Concepts and tools for social cohesion Trends in social cohesion, No. 20 , Council of Europe Publishing, 2008 The concepts of well-being for all and of responsibility borne by all are fundamental to the definition of social cohesion propounded by the Council of Europe and bring a new dimension to the ideas of freedom, choice and preference. All the articles in this volume come together to demonstrate the importance of not only the tangible but also the intangible dimensions of well-being, and more specifically, each person's recognition of their role as an actor in society. This recognition is pivotal for advancing progresses conducive to well-being founded on mutual responsibility. The way in which responsibilities are apportioned probably contributes to the widening or maintenance of gaps between the sense of well-being and the material dimensions of well-being observed in modern societies. This volume tries to suggest ways in which we can develop inclusive and concerted opinions on the subject of well-being (taking into consideration common goods) as a tool for improving social cohesion.