This collection of essays brings together contributions from judges, legal scholars and practitioners in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of the law and practice of exceptions from the principle of free movement. It aims: - to conceptualise how justification arguments relating to exceptions to free movement operate in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and national courts; - to develop a comprehensive and original account of empirical problems on the application of proportionality; - to explore the legal and policy issues which shape the interactions between the EU and national authorities, including national courts, in the context of the efforts made by Member States to protect national differences. The book analyses economic, social, cultural, political, environmental and consumer protection justifications. These are examined in the light of the rebalancing of the EU constitutional order introduced by the Lisbon Treaty and the implications of the financial crisis in the Union.

This collection of essays brings together contributions from judges, legal scholars and practitioners in order to provide a comprehensive assessment of the law and practice of exceptions from the principle of free movement. It aims: - to conceptualise how justification arguments relating to exceptions to free movement operate in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and national courts; - to develop a comprehensive and original account of empirical problems on the application of proportionality; - to explore the legal and policy issues which shape the interactions between the EU and national authorities, including national courts, in the context of the efforts made by Member States to protect national differences. The book analyses economic, social, cultural, political, environmental and consumer protection justifications. These are examined in the light of the rebalancing of the EU constitutional order introduced by the Lisbon Treaty and the implications of the financial crisis in the Union.

This book investigates the extent to which the European Union intervenes, and should intervene, in domestic labour law. It examines the stated and potential rationales for EU intervention, and argues that there are considerable merits to be derived from separating out the integrationist, economic and social arguments which have been deployed in defence of EU intervention. It critically considers the competence of the EU to act in this field, and seeks to demonstrate that proper regard for the subsidiarity and proportionality principles can contribute to the legitimacy of the EU. The book is informed by the ongoing debate on governance in Europe, and aims to provide insights into the implications of shifts in policy-making technique. From the governance perspective, labour law is a particularly useful focus of study, given the range of traditional and new approaches to governance which have been attempted, from harmonisation through framework measures to the open method of coordination, and the range of actors involved in the policy making process. The intention is not to provide an exhaustive account of European intervention in the labour law arena. Instead it provides a framework to enable the reader to think about the role that the EU has, and should, play in this field, and argues that European level intervention can make a valuable contribution to the making of labour law in European Member States.