Abstract

The essay is focused on the matter of the insertion of social rights in the UE Chart of fundamental rights. First of all, the author underlines the "midwife" role that constitutional principles such as those provided in the Chart can play as regards the adoption of those measures which are necessary in order to make them actually operative. After having stressed the thread which links some provisions of the Chart, the author analyses some specific issues, such as the right to be protected from unjustified dismissal and trade union rights. The author underlines in details the room devoted to the collective dimension of social rights: a space which, in the author's opinion, could open new perspectives also in relation to the trend to evaluate labour law rules in the light of European competition law.