The Future of EU Labour Law: Insights from Christian Ethics

Abstract

This article focuses upon the discrete question of what role, if any, there might be for Christian ethics in shaping the future direction of EU labour law. Christian ethics, applied to the social sphere, seek ‘to describe the conditions that societies and their institutions need to possess in order to help individuals to live fruitful and effective lives.’2 Christian social ethics thus start from the identification of fundamental moral principles and then apply these to the analysis of social challenges, such as the future of work. In exploring a possible relationship between Christian social ethics and EU labour law, this article examines three issues. First, it sets the scene by identifying current trajectories in EU labour law. Secondly, it considers whether, as a matter of principle, religiously-inspired thinking can be a legitimate point of reference for the EU. Thirdly, it focuses upon what insights might be yielded if a Christian social ethics perspective on EU labour law is taken into consideration.