European Economic Constitution: A German-Italian Dialogue for a Solidarity-oriented Common Market
European Economic Constitution: A German-Italian Dialogue for a Solidarity-oriented Common Market
Das Projekt wird von Prof. Dr. Martin Schmidt-Kessel zusammen mit Prof. Dr. Pasquale Femia (Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta) und Prof. Dr. Camilla Crea (Università del Sannio, Benevento) durchgeführt und vom DAAD im Rahmen des Programms „Hochschuldialog Südeuropa 2019“ finanziell gefördert. Beteiligt sind ferner Wissenschaftler der Universitäten Marburg und Mannheim.
Teil des Projekts sind auch zwei Tagungen, nämlich:
- 25./26. März 2019 an der Università della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Caserta (Programm) – Sonderveranstaltung im Rahmen der Reihe „Forum Verbraucherrechtswissenschaft“ der Forschungsstelle für Verbraucherrecht
- 28./29. November 2019 an der Universität Bayreuth (Programm) – zugleich 16. Forum Verbraucherrechtswissenschaft der Forschungsstelle für Verbraucherrecht
Die Beiträge beider Tagungen sollen im Jahre 2020 in einem von den drei Projektverantwortlichen herausgegebenen Band publiziert werden.
Projektbeginn: Januar 2019
Projektlaufzeit: zwei Jahre
Projektbeteiligte in Bayreuth:
Prof. Dr. Martin Schmidt-Kessel
Pia Kraus
Projektbeschreibung (englisch):
Strategic or management choice on the location of production entities typically seeks to ‘increase’ economic and financial gains/profits. Where enterprises receive any state funds or support, those choices may be corrected by law (be either ex ante by means of authorization or, ex post, by means of judicial review), taking into account reasons and arguments based on solidarity (as well as on environmental protection etc.). The Italien Embraco case is a paradigmatic example of the market forces that made businesses delocalization within the EU – including the practice of social dumping – a far more diffuse phenomenon. Attracted by the prospect of lower labor costs and a lower fiscal pressure, free movement of companies in Europe has become, at least to some extent, instrumental to the affirmation of the dominance of the logics of liberalized markets on the rights and expectations of weaker constituencies – such as workers, whose bargaining power is relativized at both the individual and the union levels.
This calls for a broader inquiry into the relationship between markets and laws, more specifically, for the role of law in a world strongly influenced by the market. Nowadays, in the current socioeconomic context power speaks other languages, all related to economics: production, finance, investments, incomes, growth, employment, wealth and poverty. The emphasis on the market’s reasons seems to be problematic because it tends to neglect social repercussions. A broader assessment of the role of law is essential to strike an adequate balance with a view to a solidarityoriented common market. An open dialogue between German and Italian scholars and practitioners can help identify a set of legal tools to better understand and govern abuses and/or rebut inequality/unfairness through law.
By enabling established and promising academics from Italy and Germany to gather and discuss the topic, the initiative shall significantly enhance international cooperation among the institutions from the selected jurisdictions, which have a strong link in terms of legal tradition, but nowadays express different points of view (given their different local economic situation and role in the European scenario). Furthermore, the initiative shall possibly lead to new forms of cooperation with a view to monitoring the further developments of the project or other European policy initiatives. The initiative shall unfold in a number of stages: An “opening conference” will be held in March 2019 at the premises of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli. This conference will aim mainly at portraying a general picture of the project but also understanding what risks and opportunities for a change the domestic institutional apparatus and regulatory framework would arise and debating how both Germany and Italy may benefit from the mutual dialogue in terms of socioeconomic and legal policies with a focus on the selection of measures appropriate in the context of the European market. Morover, a workshop titled “European Economic Constitution: a German-Italian Dialogue for a Solidarity-oriented Common Market ” – to be held in December in Bayreuth. Both events will be accompanied by an international “call for papers”. Main results of the project will be published in a book titled “European Economic Constitution: a German-Italian Dialogue for a Solidarity-oriented Common Market”.