The Roaring 20s for Social Europe. The European Pillar of Social Rights and burgeoning EU legislation

Abstract

Social Europe is not only back but, we aim to show, bigger and bolder than ever before. Through historical comparison we make the case that, rather than being a false dawn, legislative developments linked to the 2017 European Pillar of Social Rights (Pillar or EPSR) beckon such a significant and broad-based burgeoning of Social Europe that it can be characterised as the ‘Roaring 20s’ for Social Europe. This is quite a surprise based on recent Social Europe history, the Pillar itself and established EU competence limits and practices. How Social Europe has defied these justifiably low expectations is the primary focus of this analysis. It aims to characterise and illustrate what we see as a new and quite dramatic turn for Social Europe.