Market Expansion and Social Dumping in Europe

The term ‘social dumping’ regularly appears in public debates and in policymaking circles. However, due to its ambiguity it is used in a manner that is convenient for individual discourse participants, thus opening the door for misconceptions and ill-grounded accusations. This book systematically examines social dumping in the context of the European integration process. It defines social dumping as the practice, undertaken by self-interested market participants, of undermining or evading existing social regulations with the aim of gaining a competitive advantage. It also shows how the two major EU integration projects the creation of the Internal Market, and EU enlargement to the east and to the south have provided market actors with new incentives and opportunities to contest existing social ‘constraints’. The empirical chapters examine social dumping practices accompanying labour migration, employee posting and cross-border investment distribution. In addition, they outline the process of formation of social standards and trace initiatives at EU and national levels that contribute to the spread of social dumping in Europe. This book will be of interest to scholars and students of employment relations, EU studies, international political economy, globalisation studies, welfare studies, social policy and migration studies.