Business Freedoms and Fundamental Rights in European Union Law

Article 16 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, recognising 'the freedom to conduct a business in accordance with Union law and national laws and practices', has been the subject of intense debate over the value of business freedoms within EU law. Problematically, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) relied on this provision in a series of highly deregulatory judgments, invoking Article 16 to undermine the effectiveness of employee-protective legislation.

Business Freedoms and Fundamental Rights in European Union Law assesses the value placed on the freedom to conduct a business as a fundamental right within the legal reasoning of the CJEU. Arguing that this freedom can only properly be understood in relation to its wider constitutional and social rights functions, it uses the employment law context as a case study, given the tensions that exist between the (economic) rights of employers and the (social) rights of employees. Examined holistically, the book demonstrates that granting fundamental rights status to business freedoms is not inherently deregulatory, with such freedoms also encapsulating 'social' rights, values, and interests. The freedom to conduct a business, therefore, emerges as a malleable fundamental rights concept, dependent on the underlying constitutional context, whether that be within national constitutional law, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, general principles of EU law, or in the arrangements governing the United Kingdom's departure from the EU.

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Niall O'Connor, Senior Lecturer, University of Essex

Niall O'Connor is a Senior Lecturer in European Union Law and Labour Law at Essex Law School. Before joining Essex, Niall completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge, an LLM at the College of Europe, Bruges, and an LLB in Law and French at Trinity College, Dublin. Niall's research interests lie at the intersection between EU law and domestic employment law, with his existing research exploring the relationship between EU-derived fundamental economic and social rights concepts and the domestic United Kingdom employment relationship. His most recent research examines the consequences of Brexit for the ongoing influence of EU fundamental rights within the UK.

IntroductionPart I The Constitutional Contours of Business Freedoms and Fundamental Rights1. The Fragmentary Constitutionalization of Rights, Freedoms, and (General) Principles2. The Deconstitutionalization of European Union Fundamental Rights in the United KingdomPart II The Reconstitution of the Freedom to Conduct a Business as a Fundamental Right3. The Evolution of the Freedom to Conduct a Business as a Fundamental Right4. Competing Conceptions of the Freedom to Conduct a Business as a Fundamental RightPart III The Entrenchment of the Freedom to Conduct a Business as a Fundamental Right5. The Jurisprudential Significance of the Freedom to Conduct a Business as a Fundamental Right6. The Systemic Implications of the Freedom to Conduct a Business as a Fundamental RightConclusion