Full Description
Hit by the European financial and economic crisis in 2008, several Member States of the European Monetary Union (EMU) were unable to refinance their public debt through the financial markets. As a result, they asked for financial assistance from international institutions and European financial assistance mechanisms. That assistance often came at a high price for citizens, cuts in pensions and social assistance, and controversial reforms in public healthcare. These far-reaching reforms were, in many cases, experienced as violations of people's human rights. National constitutional courts, the Court of Justice of the EU, and the European Court of Human Rights issued a series of rulings on the conformity of the reforms in social protection initiated during the Eurozone crisis.
This book offers a holistic analysis of the specific reforms in social protection introduced during the European financial crisis and their implications for constitutional law. Focusing on the social reforms of nine European countries that were greatly affected by the financial crisis, the volume seeks to address the legacy of the financial crisis on the application of constitutional law and the welfare state.
The book will act as a helpful tool to legal academics interested in the challenges of constitutional and social law initiated by financial assistance conditionality, to advocates in quest of sound legal bases for the protection of individuals affected by social security reforms, and to national and international judges who are confronted with cases that question the legality and legitimacy of the crisis-related reforms.
Contents
1: Ulrich Becker: Introduction
2: Anastasia Poulou: Human Rights Obligations of European Financial Assistance Mechanisms under EU and International Law
3: József Hajdú: The Transition from Welfare to Workfare in Times of Crisis: A Double-Based Reform of the Hungarian Welfare State
4: Kristine Dupate: The Latvian Response to its First Economic Crisis under a Free Market Economy
5: Elena-Luminita Dima: Upholding the Welfare State During the Financial Crisis: The Pivotal Role of the Constitutional Court of Romania
6: Maria Bakavou: Salus Rei Publicae Suprema Lex Esto? Welfare State Reforms Before the Greek Courts
7: Elaine Dewhurst: The Financial Crisis as a Turning Point for Constitutional Rights Jurisprudence: An Assessment of the Absence of Social Rights Protection in the Irish Constitution
8: Jose Carlos Vieira de Andrade, Suzana Tavares da Silva, João Carlos Loureiro: Legal Changes and Constitutional Adjudication in Portuguese Social Law in Consequence of the European Financial Crisis
9: Constantinos Kombos and Athena Herodotou: A 'Bail-In' of Social Rights? The Cypriot Experience of the Financial Crisis
10: Andrea Pin and Matteo De Nes: The Outcome of the Financial Crisis in Italy: A Sea-Change for the Doctrine of Social Rights
11: Juan Antonio Maldonado Molina and Juan Romero Coronado: The Predominance of a 'Strong' Economic over a 'Weak' Social Constitution: The Legacy of the Financial Crisis in Spain
12: Ulrich Becker: Conclusions from a Comparative Perspective
