INNOVATIONS AND CHANGES BROUGHT BY THE LISBON TREATY: THE SOCIAL ASPECT

Abstract

The Lisbon Treaty is an attempt to overcome the difficulties faced in the functioning of previous treaties of the European Union. It aims, through its provisions, at offering better opportunities for action including the social scope, but the inter-governmental nature of decision-making continues to prevail. This paper focuses on provisions for social policy in the Lisbon Treaty and important changes that deal with reforms in this field. More concretely, the objective of this paper is to emphasize the most important social aspects of the Treaty in question. Social policy has been qualified as a common competence of the EU and member states (article 4b). The EU has to undertake measures to assure the coordination of employment policies of member states and to initiate the coordination of social policies of member states. This paper analyzes the provisions that deal with employment, social dialog, consultations between employees and employers, child protection, as well as other segments of social policy.

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