This volume examines the state of Social Europe as it manifests itself when European Union (EU) principles and policies have to be implemented in the member states while the EU legitimacy crisis and Great Recession prevail. The volume explores diverse processes, stages and subjects of...

Recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) marks a striking shift towards a more restrictive interpretation of EU citizens' rights. The Court's turnaround is not only highly relevant for practical debates about ‘Social Europe' or ‘welfare migration', but also enlightening...

Translating complex, politicised and ambiguous European legislation and case law into practice is the difficult everyday condition for street-level bureaucrats in European Member States. Yet their crucial role remains remarkably understudied in EU compliance literature. This paper argues that...

The constitutionalisation of the European Union has since the early 1990s become a truism in European studies. This article revisits the constitutionalisation theory drawing on the insights from emerging historical research and new strands of political science research. We find that the...

The chapter examines the tensions between welfare states on the one hand and social Europe on the other and colliding principles in their historical setting. In particular, the chapter focuses on Social Services of General Interest (SSGI) as core institutions of the welfare state and the...

In various aspects health care constitutes a less likely or critical case of both European integration and Europeanization (Eckstein 1975). As set out explicitly in the Treaty, the organization of health care is the responsibility of the Member States (art. 168 (7) of the Lisbon Treaty,...