Browsing by Subject "competence creep"

Social policy is a policy area with close connections to citizens’ everyday life ranging from social security to questions of safety at work. Decisions regarding social policy issues are based on value choices about the redistribution of wealth. Hence, traditionally social policy has been a policy area closely connected to the national sovereignty of states and it has developed on the basis of national history and values. In the Union context, the development of competences in this policy area has been slow as European integration has taken place primarily based on the internal market integration and integration in other policy areas was expected to follow. Currently, social policy is part of Unions’ shared competences, and the Union has been granted certain powers in social policy questions in the Treaties. These competences are, however, mostly limited. Moreover, decisions in this policy area are hard to be achieved due to member states’ different views on social policy questions. Regardless of the limited Union competences, the national leeway in regulating social policy questions is narrowing. The Union social policy integration is not always taking place under the intended decision-making procedures or under the intended legal bases, but integration by stealth is taking place. This causes the creeping of competences in a form of positive integration through the back door, negative integration, soft law instruments and other forms, such as the increased usage of economic governance affecting national social policy decisions. Therefore, the EU can in an ever-increasing way be seen to be interfering with national social policy decisions and guiding the organisation of national social policies for example with economic governance. This form of integration may be inherent to the sui generis character of the Union. However, it is not completely unproblematic with regards to the legitimacy of Union action. Moreover, the creeping of competences poses a danger on the essence of social policy, which is often considered to be to help the ones in need of assistance, being overruled by economic considerations in both the European and the national level. This thesis is about analysing the durability of the current Union competences in the area of social policy. The thesis starts by delving into the character of the Union as this becomes relevant when analysing the current Union actions. Furthermore, the historic development and the current state of the social policy competences of the Union will be outlined. Based on this, the thesis includes an analysis of the Union actions in the area of social policy and on how these actions affect the member states’ leeway in social questions. The issue of competence creep and its causes are furthermore evaluated. Lastly, the question of whether the current social policy competences of the Union need a clarification is contemplated and certain alternative models are considered for the future.