Abstract

The essay examines the Amsterdam Treaty in the light of social fundamental rights protection. It points out the significant role played by this Community Act in defining a social strategy for Europe and in implementing a new, autonomous, social policy. It also stresses the interpretative activities of the Court of Justice, which was able to incorporate social rights in the peremptory catalogue of individual inalienable rights, some time before the coming into force of Amsterdam Treaty. The essay, then, turns towards the supranational and transnational dimension of social rights protection. It analyses if the model of Social Clauses, only seldom adopted in the world commerce agreements, can effectively protect the fundamental rights of workers. In this context, social standards must limit economic freedom in order to create a shared binding system that refuses the idea that labour has a value comparable to other goods.