Abstract
The EU has come a long way since its foundation as the European Economic Community in 1957. Starting out as a purely economic union, the integration process has progressively entered into areas of political, social and cultural concern for the Member States. Meanwhile, the institutionalised ‘logic of the market’ and related harmonisation increasingly lead to tensions not only with varying socio-economic and legal systems, but also with different political and cultural perceptions. ‘Conflicts-law constitutionalism’ aims at developing new awareness for Europe’s conflict constellations and their (re-)interpretation with respect to socio-economic diversity, the social embeddedness of markets and the different regulatory cultures in the Member States. Therefore, it does not only serve for critical re-construction of the integration process but also aims at a ‘third way’ between the defence of the nation state and a quasi-federalist streamlining of Europe`s diversity. This is illustrated with five prominent and topical conflicts where market interests interfere with political, social and cultural preferences: the legendary Cassis de Dijon case, the labour law cases of Viking and Laval, the fully harmonised unfair commercial practices law, the promotion of renewable energies and the regulation of genetically-modified organisms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Varieties of European Economic Law and Regulation : Liber Amicorum for Hans Micklitz |
| Editors | Kai Purnhagen, Peter Rott |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Publisher | Springer |
| Publication date | 2014 |
| Pages | 285-314 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-3-319-04902-1 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-319-04903-8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
