Book Description
The European legal dimension of an establishment of a European Unemployment Benefit Scheme is only little discussed. Namely the European Commission stated in its communication on 'Strengthening the Social Dimension of the Economic and Monetary Union' in the chapter on EUBS: 'Such measures would require a substantial Treaty change, since, at present, the EU does not have the competence to adopt them, either for the euro area or for the EU as a whole. The EU cannot engage the budgetary responsibilities of its Member States. The EU's current competences are limited, as regards employment, to incentive measures designed to encourage cooperation between Member States and to support their action, excluding any harmonisation (see Article 149 TFEU). As regards social security and social protection, its competence is limited to adopting directives setting minimum requirements for Member States' systems whose fundamental principles and financial equilibrium are set by Member States (see Article 153 TFEU). Given the current framework of competences and the system of own resources of the Treaties, the flexibility clause of Article 352 cannot be used either, as the establishment of macroeconomic stabilisation systems would exceed the general framework of the current Treaties and thus amount to amending the Treaties without following the requisite procedures. In other words, this final stage would require a fundamental overhaul of the Treaties, which would also have to be accompanied -- as detailed in the blueprint -- by commensurate political integration, ensuring democratic legitimacy and accountability.' The legal impossibility to introduce a EUBS within the existing Treaty framework is supported by Fuchs. In contrast to these statements, Kullas and Sohn concluded in a report that a 'stormy day' insurance could be realised on the basis of Article 122(2) TFEU and other equivalent systems on the basis of Article 352(1) TFEU. Eichenhofer, Repasi and Barnard and De Baere consider Article 153 TFEU as possible legal base. Next to these articles and statements, there are, until now, no in-depth legal analyses on possible European Unemployment Benefit Schemes. The present legal analysis refers to the existing Treaties and examines to which extent a EUBS can be established without a Treaty amendment.