OVERVIEW

The course is designed to provide students with an essential and critical knowledge of EU labour law that is nowadays a fundamental part of every European Member State’s national law. The course is particularly focused on Freedom of movement; Non-discrimination and equality of treatment;  Flexible work;  Workers’ participation in firms’ restructuring and in the decision-making process; Conflict between economic freedoms and social rights. Comparative research will be always taken into account.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to provide participants with a knowledge of various aspects of EU labour law and with the ability to present and discuss some of the most important judgments in this field. Particular attention will be paid to directives and measures adopted by the European Union and to important judgments delivered by the European Court of Justice. Among the most relevant topics, we may mention: the free movement of workers; equality directives and prohibition of discrimination in employment and occupation; the contract of employment (Working Time Directive, Part-Time Work, Fixed-Term Agreements); employment protection (collective redundancies, transfers of undertakings, insolvency); workers participation in the decision-making process (information and consultation rights; European Work Councils; Societas Europaea); conflict and balance between economic freedoms and fundamental social rights.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

EU labour law  is designed to provide students with a thorough grounding in all major fields of labour law at EU level. Notably, it aims to provide specific skills and knowledge in the following topics:

• The development of EU labour law from and historical perspective;
• The sources of EU labour law with particular regards to the EU Charter, the EU Social Pillar and the Treaties;
• The problematic conflictual relationship between economic freedoms and social rights (particularly, right to collective bargaining and right to strike);
• EU antidiscrimination law and its impact at national level;
• EU legal regulation of flexible work and its impact at national level;
• Collective redundancies, Transfer of undertakings and different forms of workers participation to the business decision making process.

At the end of the course, students will be expected to have:

• Acquired a general knowledge of the main principles and rationales underlying EU labour law and, broadly, the process and strategy of construction of the EU social dimension and integration;
• Acquired a more specific knowledge on some fundamental labour law issues such as anti-discrimination law;
• Acquired the sensibility and capacity to make an independent assessment of EU social policies and their impact at national level;
• Acquired knowledge and skills to understand the problematic conflict between economic freedoms and social rights and the different solution provided at EU and national level;
• Acquired the ability to read and interpret judgments of the EUCJ and the judicial dialogue between the EUCJ and domestic courts;
• Given a presentation of one or more judgments of the EUCJ;
• Become more confident with the problem of comparing different legal systems particularly when dealing with collective social rights, deeply rooted in the different cultural, economic, political and social contexts.

TEACHING METHODS

The course is entirely taught in English language with the support of power point presentations. Attending students are required to actively contribute to the discussion of judgments of the EU Court of Justice and other teaching materials. Attending students may also give a presentation discussing one or more judgments of the EU Court. In the light of the strong participation of Erasmus students, comparison between different legal systems is also developed; notably, students are invited to explain their different legal perspectives and interpretations of some common problems and issues.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

1. Introduction. European Labour Law, EU Labour Law and the Development of the European Social Model; 2. Free Movement of Workers; 3. Equality Law – Development and Principles; Equal Pay; Equal Treatment; 4. EU Labour Law and the so-called Atypical Work (Fixed-term work and agency work); 5. The Non-Regression Clause and the Principle of Favor in EU Law; 6. Employment Rights in Firms’ Restructuring (Transfer of Undertakings and Collective Redundancies); 7. Workers Participation in the Decision-Making Process (European Work Councils and Societas Europaea –SE); 8. Regulatory Competition and Conflict between Economic Freedoms and Collective Social Rights; 9. Labour Rights as Human Rights in the EU Social Model.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Readings for attending students (80% of presence during the course)

• A.C.L. Davies, EU Labour Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012.
• articles used curing the course.

Readings for non-attending students 

•  A.C.L. Davies, EU Labour Law, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012.
• B. Bercusson, European Labour Law, 2nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 2009, chapter 17, pp. 521-562; chapter 21, pp. 663-714.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

CINZIA CARTA (President)

MARCO NOVELLA

ANNAMARIA DONINI (President Substitute)

GIULIA BANDELLONI (Substitute)

BEATRICE DASSORI (Substitute)

DANIELA DEL DUCA (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

II semester from February 13th to April 11th 2023.

Class schedule

EUROPEAN UNION LABOUR LAW

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

- For attending students, this subject is examined by a takehome paper on one topic to be chosen among three. The paper is of maximum 5.000 words and must be sent before the exam and discussed during the exam, where other issues will be also addressed (on two other topics other than the one exposed in the written paper). Class participation is also strongly considered.

- For non-attending students (those who have attended less than 28 hours of lectures) the exam is an oral exam that will consist of at least three questions about all the programme.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The exam for attending students aims to verify that the student has acquired the knowledge contained in the programme. In order to do this, attending student are required to write a short dissertation in which they discuss relevant EU labour law topics. The dissertation allows to ascertain whether they have become able to use, understand and interpret, also in a critical perspective, the different sources of EU law (Treaties, regulations, directives, judgments of the EUCJ). Also, the takehome paper allows student to carry out, individually, a scientific research in English language, learning how to use the library resources and the EU and international databases. The oral discussion of the paper is turned to confirm that they have effectively acquired these abilities and that they are able to discuss EU labour law topics.

For non attending students, the exam will aim at verifying whether the student has acquired the knowledge contained in the programme and the degree of authonomous and critial thinking in this respect.

Exam schedule