This thought-provoking book examines the state of the European Monetary Union (EMU) and its shortcomings in terms of social rights protection in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the Euro crisis. Providing a critical analysis of the basic tenets of European economic governance, it highlights current challenges for a Social Europe and proposes new avenues for tackling these issues. Focusing on the existing mechanisms of social rights protection in the EU, chapters explore the imbalance between economic and social goals within the EMU, discussing how to strengthen the building blocks of Social Europe in order to address this. The book also investigates the challenges for the adjudication of social rights before European and domestic courts, and considers alternative models of judicial review that offer better protection in the context of crisis. Scholars and students of EU law, constitutional law, and public international law will find this book a crucial read, in particular those with an interest in law and economics. It will also be useful for EU law practitioners working in social rights.

The development of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice has transformed the European Union and placed fundamental rights at the core of EU integration and its principles of mutual recognition and trust. The impact of the AFSJ in the development of an EU standard of fundamental rights, which has come to the fore since the Treaty of Lisbon, is a topic of great theoretical and practical importance. This is the first systematic academic study of the AFSJ and its implications from the point of view of fundamental rights. The contributions to this collection examine the normative and jurisprudential development of the AFSJ in order to assess its effects on the overall construction of the scope and standards of protection of EU fundamental rights in this particularly complex and sensitive field of integration. The expert contributors systematically map and critically assess this area of EU law, together with the relevant case-law.