scholarly journals Regions without borders? Regional governance, migration, and social protection in Africa and Europe

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Deacon ◽  
Lorenzo Fioramonti ◽  
Sonja Nita

In many respects, Europe and Africa (particularly Southern Africa) represent two opposing examples in the study of intra-regional migration and social cohesion. The European Union (EU) has been a global pioneer in allowing freedom of movement and portability of social rights across member states. A centerpiece of the EU integration process has been the progressive establishment of a common market, in which goods, services, capital, and people can move freely. With regard to the la􀄴 er, the concept of free movement originally only targeted the economically active population (in other words, the free movement of workers) but was gradually extended by Treaty amendments to all citizens of the EU. This extension was further strengthened by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, which introduced the concept of citizenship in the European Union thereby establishing the fundamental and personal right to move and reside freely within the EU.

2020 ◽  
pp. 507-528
Author(s):  
Marios Costa ◽  
Steve Peers

This chapter examines the social rights that arise as part of free-movement rights under Articles 21, 45, 49 and 59 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It highlights the extensive interpretation given by the Court of Justice (CJ) to these rights ensuring equality of treatment for those migrants who are economically active. As well as dealing with the provisions in the Citizens’ Rights Directive (CRD) (Directive 2004/38) and Regulation 492/2011 on the free movement of workers, the chapter deals briefly with the provisions relating to social security and EU citizenship.


2016 ◽  
Vol 236 ◽  
pp. 23-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Barnard ◽  
Amy Ludlow

For many people the key question in the referendum is whether a vote to leave will enable the UK to take back control of its borders. So for them the focus is primarily on Article 45 on the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) which allows free movement of workers. But for individuals much movement to other EU Member States is covered by Article 56 TFEU on the free movement of services. This article will argue that empirical research shows that there is in fact an interesting link between temporary migration under Article 56 TFEU and ultimately permanent migration under Article 45 TFEU. Brexit has the potential profoundly to affect both.


2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-143
Author(s):  
Joanna Ryszka

Social rights protection in the European Union has undergone significant development. Currently their protection is regulated by relevant treaty provisions and the Charter of Fundamental Rights (Charter), both of a primary law nature, as well as by the non-binding European Pillar of Social Rights (Pillar). The aim of the paper is the assessment of the social rights protection in the EU, and whether all social rights provided in the CFR have their counterparts in the EPSR, hence whether and in what way the EPSR assists the actual exercise of social rights provided by the CFR. Comparing the content of the above-mentioned legal instruments makes it possible to answer the question whether all social rights provided in the Charter have their counterparts in the Pillar. This can help determine whether the latter affects the implementation of the former. If the answer is in the affirmative, it can further allow for determining in what way the principles of the Pillar assist in the actual exercise of social rights provided by the Charter. This is very important taking into account the need for an ongoing response to unforeseen threats, like for example COVID-19. The social aspects of EU integration thus are and will remain a subject of interest in the nearest future.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Belinda Brucker Juricic ◽  
Mario Galic ◽  
Sasa Marenjak

This paper reviews the recent literature on skill and labour shortages in the labour market with special emphasis on the construction sector in the European Union Member States, foreseeing the Construction 4.0 era. The free movement of people is one of the rights of all citizens of the EU which also includes the free movement of workers. Labour shortages in the EU are expected to increase in the future due to a declining population and an ageing workforce. In order to recognize and forecast labour shortages, EU Member states use a variety of instruments but they do not answer as to whether it is possible to use migrant labour to appease those shortages. There are several systems used to classify labour shortages in the EU Member states. Most of the countries classify labour shortages in relation to different sectors or occupation groups as well as by skill levels, but in some Member States, classification is made according to the type of employment. Instruments used to measure labour shortages significantly differ from country to country. Several criteria are used for creating lists of shortage occupations and most of the criteria include demand side and supply side criteria. A majority of the Member States are facing labour and skill shortages in various sectors and the construction sector is not an exception. As total employment in the construction sector decreased, so did the share of employed migrants. Labour shortages in the construction sector can be eased by the availability of a labour supply willing to accept unqualified and low-paying jobs. The construction sector seeks low-, medium-, and high-skilled individuals and is most likely the sector where most of the incoming migrants will be working, which has an impact on the development and implementation dynamic of Construction 4.0.


2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winfried Lotz-Rambaldi ◽  
Ines Schäfer ◽  
Roelof ten Doesschate ◽  
Fritz Hohagen

AbstractAccording to the aim of the Treaty of Rome from 1957 which postulated the free movement of workers throughout the European Union, the European Board of Psychiatry in the UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists) carried out a comprehensive survey of training in psychiatry, including all member countries in order to evaluate the present state of training in psychiatry in each. The survey should indicate whether the training requirements [UEMS Section Psychiatry. Charter on training of medical specialists in the EU: requirements for the speciality psychiatry. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 1997;247(Suppl.):S45–7; UEMS Section Psychiatry. Charter on training of medical specialists in the EU: requirements for the speciality psychiatry. <www.uemspsychiatry.org/board/reports/Chapter6-11.10.03.pdf>; 2003 [last revision]] have had an impact on the actual conditions of training in psychiatry in the member countries. We gathered 22 questionnaires from 31 national representatives involved and 424 questionnaires completed by the chief of training and the representative of trainees at the responding training centres from 22 countries. The results give an overview about the practice of training in psychiatry in many European countries. While there are great differences between the training centres in different countries, apparent progress towards developing high standards in training in psychiatry has been made.


2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Del Sol ◽  
Marco Rocca

The European Union appears to be promoting at the same time both cross-national mobility of workers and an increased role for occupational pensions. There is, however, a potential tension between these two objectives because workers risk losing (some of) their pension rights under an occupational scheme as a consequence of their mobility. After long negotiations, the EU has addressed this issue through a minimum standards Directive. Shortly before the adoption of this Directive, the Court of Justice also delivered an important decision in the same field, in the case of Casteels v British Airways. By analysing the resulting legal framework for safeguarding pension rights under occupational schemes in the context of workers’ mobility, we argue that the application of the case law developed by the Court of Justice in the field of free movement of workers has the potential to offer superior protection compared to the Directive. We also highlight the fact that the present legal framework seems to afford a much fuller protection to the intra-company cross-national mobility of workers employed by multinational companies, while also seemingly favouring mobility for highly specialised workers.


Author(s):  
Fabrício José Rodrigues de Lemos

A INTEGRAÇÃO ECONÔMICA E O REGIME JURÍDICO DO EURO  ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AND THE LEGAL REGIME OF THE EURO  Fabrício José Rodrigues de Lemos* RESUMO: Em um mundo de relações econômicas cada vez mais complexas, as nações se veem compelidas a formalizar uniões em torno de objetivos comuns, de maneira a fazer frente à acirrada concorrência internacional. Nesse sentido, buscam a formação dos chamados espaços econômicos integrados. Para isso, são necessários diversos requisitos, tais como a livre circulação de mercadorias, a liberdade de estabelecimento, a livre circulação de trabalhadores e de capitais. Entretanto, para que seja atingido o estágio mais aprofundado da integração econômica, além das exigências já exemplificadas, se constata imprescindível a instituição de moeda única. Nesse sentido, o artigo pretende, a partir de reflexões históricas e filosóficas acerca da implantação da zona do Euro, fazer apontamentos sobre a integração econômica existente na União Europeia, detalhando o regime jurídico da moeda única europeia, para, ao final, tecer considerações sobre o futuro do mercado comum europeu. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Integração econômica. Zona do Euro. Regime jurídico. União Europeia. ABSTRACT: In a world of increasingly complex economic relations, nations find themselves compelled to formalize unions around common goals, in order to cope with the fierce international competition. In this sense, they seek the formation of the so-called integrated economic spaces. Thereunto, several requirements must be met, such as the free movement of goods, freedom of establishment, free movement of workers and capital. However, in order to achieve the furthest stage of economic integration, in addition to the requirements already explained, the institution of a single currency is imperative. In this sense, the article intends to give pointers, from historical and philosophical reflections about the implementation of the Euro zone, on the existing economic integration in the European Union, detailing the legal regime of the single European currency, to, at the end, weave considerations about the future of the common European market. KEYWORDS: Economic integration. Eurozone. Legal regime. European Union. SUMÁRIO: Introdução. 1 Reflexões Históricas e Filosóficas acerca da Implantação da Zona do Euro. 1.1 Implantação da Zona Monetária Comum e o Critério de Convergência. 1.2 Conceito de eficiência em Richard Posner e a maximização da riqueza e do bem-estar social. 2 Regime Jurídico na Zona do Euro. 2.1 Integração regional e o Mercado Comum Europeu. 2.2 Considerações sobre o futuro do Mercado Comum Europeu. Considerações Finais. Referências.  * Mestrando em Direito Público, na Linha de Pesquisa Sociedade, Novos Direitos e Transnacionalização, pela Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Bacharel em Direito pela Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS). Integrante do Núcleo de Direitos Humanos da Unisinos (NDH). Advogado. 


2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willem Maas

Abstract This article surveys some general lessons to be drawn from the tension between the promise of citizenship to deliver equality and the particularistic drive to maintain diversity. Democratic states tend to guarantee free movement within their territory to all citizens, as a core right of citizenship. Similarly, the European Union guarantees (as the core right of EU citizenship) the right to live and the right to work anywhere within EU territory to EU citizens and members of their families. Such rights reflect the project of equality and undifferentiated individual rights for all who have the status of citizen. But they are not uncontested. Within the EU, several member states propose to reintroduce border controls and to restrict access for EU citizens who claim social assistance. Similar tensions and attempts to discourage freedom of movement also exist in other political systems, and the article gives examples from the United States and Canada. Within democratic states, particularly federal ones and others where decentralized jurisdictions are responsible for social welfare provision, it thus appears that some citizens can be more equal than others. Principles such as benefit portability, prohibition of residence requirements for access to programs or rights, and mutual recognition of qualifications and credentials facilitate the free flow of people within states and reflect the attempt to eliminate internal borders. Within the growing field of migration studies, most research focuses on international migration, movement between states, involving international borders. But migration across jurisdictional boundaries within states is at least as important as international migration. Within the European Union, free movement often means changing residence across jurisdictional boundaries within a political system with a common citizenship, even though EU citizenship is not traditional national citizenship. The EU is thus a good test of the tension between the equality promised by common citizenship and the diversity institutionalized by borders.


Author(s):  
Thomas Faist

Europe, and the European Union in particular, can be conceived as a transnational social space with a high degree of transactions across borders of member states. The question is how efforts to provide social protection for cross-border migrants in the EU reinforce existing inequalities (e.g. between regions or within households), and lead to new types of inequalities (e.g. stratification of labour markets). Social protection in the EU falls predominantly under the purview of individual member states; hence, frictions between different state-operated protection systems and social protection in small groups are particularly apparent in the case of cross-border flows of people and resources. Chapter 5 examines in detail the general social mechanisms operative in cross-border forms of social protection, in particular, exclusion, opportunity hoarding, hierarchization, and exploitation, and also more concrete mechanisms which need to be constructed bottom-up.


Author(s):  
Bruno de Witte

This chapter retraces the post-enlargement trajectory of the protection of fundamental social rights in Europe. The chapter selects three years that signpost this trajectory: 2000, when the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights was adopted, with the inclusion of a social rights chapter; 2009, when the Lisbon Treaty seemed to contain a renewed promise of social progress in the Union; and 2017, when the European Union launched a European Pillar of Social Rights, as part of an effort to revitalize the social protection agenda of the European Union after the disappointing post-Lisbon years.


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