Enemy at the (Flood) Gates – EU "exceptionalism" in some recent tensions with the international protection of social rights

(eng) During the years of the Great Recession we are witnessing a growing tension between the action of the institutions of the EU and the rights and values embodied by the Conventions of the ILO and by the European Social Charter. The present contribution explores two case studies embodying this tension. The first section provides a brief historical account of the relationship between the EU and these legal orders. Sections two and three deal with two recent conflicts, in the areas of austerity policies and of the case law of the Court of Justice. The contribution then looks, in section four, at the possibilities offered by the EU legal order for a more genuine commitment to the respect of international standards of protection of social rights. Section five considers instead a different outcome of the conflict, exploring the possibility of a reduced commitment of the EU to the respect of international standards of protection of social rights. Section six is devoted to concluding remarks.