Book Review: Social Justice, Welfare and EU Law: Measuring Integration in the Visegrád Countries by Sára Hungler HunglerSára, Social Justice, Welfare and EU Law: Measuring Integration in the Visegrád Countries, Edgar Elgar Publishing, 2024, ISBN: 9781035323777 (cased)/ 9781035323784 (ebook), 282 pp.

The assumption that Member States of the European Union enjoyed exclusive competence over social provision has been shaken by the realisation that they are now “semi-sovereign welfare states” whose policy choices are subject to increasing scrutiny under Community law. This book seeks to take stock of how Community membership is reshaping the legal environment of welfare provision across Europe. Topics covered include: the evolving economic and governance debates about Community intervention in social rights; the relationship between public services and Community competition and state aids law; the crucial developments which have taken place in the sphere of health care; and recent judgments on free movement and equal treatment for Union citizens as regards national education and social assistance policies. Social Welfare and EU Law provides a valuable collection of essays overall exploring the emergence of new models of social solidarity within the European Union.

Review of Sara Hungler’s “Social Justice, Welfare and EU Law

Review of Sara Hungler’s “Social Justice, Welfare and EU Law

Social Justice, Welfare and EU Law

Hungler Sára: Social Justice, Welfare and EU Law. Measuring Integration in the Visegrád Countries (Edward Elgar 2024)

Constitutional right to social security

The Ministry of Justice plans on saving £450 million per annum from the legal aid budget through reforms contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.Over 60% of these savings will be found by removing whole areas of law and types of problem from the scope of legal aid support. One of the principal justifications for these reforms is the economic imperative; reducing legal aid expenditure is necessary to meet the Government's fiscal targets. This article examined whether these reforms will generate the substantial savings identified in the Government's impact assessment, or whether these costs will be passed on to other areas of government. Data from the Civil and Social Justice Survey were used to model the behavioural responses of people no longer eligible for legal aid under the scope changes. Economic costs were estimated for these responses where they will be incurred by the state, although many of these costs are likely to be underestimates. Many costs could not be estimated including, inter alia, the cost of increased criminality where people seek redress outside of the justice system. The analysis focused on family and social welfare law, which together represent 82% of the proposed savings from the scope reforms. Based upon this analysis, the Government is unlikely to save more than 40% of its prediction. At the same time, these minimal savings could generate inequality of access to justice and overburden an already struggling alternative advice sector. A significant uptake in funded mediation within family law is predicted.

‘Social welfare law’ is suffering from a longstanding identity crisis. The field’s development in the UK is tied closely to that of this journal – its foundation in the 1970s as the ‘Journal of Social Welfare Law’ reflected a burgeoning area of research and practice. However, many of the concerns raised at the time about the meaning, scope and future direction of ‘Social welfare law’ as an area of research, teaching and practice remain unresolved. As Martin asked, is there ‘really something here which deserves recognition as a distinct field of law?’ In revisiting social welfare law’s problem of definition, this article does two things. First, drawing on prior work on ‘Social welfare law’, we provide a typology of approaches to defining the field of inquiry. We argue that there are five approaches reflected in writing on social welfare law: ‘statutes specify’, ‘law for the poor’, the ‘dustbin’, the ‘case study’ and ‘common denominator risk’. Second, we draw two reflections about how future social welfare law research can expand its boundaries. We argue for: (i) a ‘global’ social welfare law scholarship, and (ii) analysis that accounts for non-state actors.

German social security and welfare law experienced the west-east-divide after 1945, which it overcame troublesome since 1990. From its very beginning after 1945 German social security and welfare law became a part of the European and the world’s legal order, which paves its way since then. In the 1960ies it was confronted with an economic crisis due to the transition of an industrial to a post-industrial society, which exacerbated after 1990. German social security and welfare law mastered the challenges in the early years of 2000 in sequence of international experiences and demands, which lead to profound reforms. Today the ecological transformation demands this law to become sustainable for tomorrow and makes it relevant for the transformation.

Introduction to social justice, welfare and EU law

Book Review: <i>Social Welfare and EU Law</i>, edited by Michael Dougan and Eleanor Spaventa. (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2005)

Book Review: <i>Social Welfare and EU Law</i>, edited by Michael Dougan and Eleanor Spaventa. (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2005)

본 연구는 한국의 지역사회보장체계에서 커뮤니티 케어와 사회적 돌봄의 요건이 되는 사회적 자본의 형성과 확충방안 제시를 목적으로 한다. 이를 위하여 사회복지법제에 나타난 사회적 자본의 개념과 주요 요소를 분석한 결과, 사회보장기본법과 사회복지개별 법률 등에서 규정하고 있는 사회적 자본의 개념은 신뢰·연계·참여·협력·호혜적 활동에 의한 사회통합의 노력을 촉구하는 것으로 나타났다. 궁극적으로 사회복지법제에 나타난 사회적 자본의 주요 요소들은 무형의 자본인 사회적 자본의 실현 방안을 촉구하고 있어 기존의 이론을 실현할 수 있는 실천적 근거를 제시하고 있다. 또한 국가와 지방자치단체가 관장하는 지역사회보장체계 구축의 구도는 사회적 돌봄의 전제가 되는 전문직 간 협력 구도와 주민 참여, 민관협력 등 복지거버넌스의 책임이라 할 수 있다. 이에 사회적 자본 구축에 의한 지역사회통합돌봄과 평생사회안전망을 보장하기 위한 광역 연계와 네트워크 등 지역사회보장체계인 지역 복지거버넌스의 사회적 자본 형성과 확충 방안을 제언하고자 한다. 첫째, 지역 공동체성 강화를 위한 사회적 자본 확충을 위하여 지역사회보장협의체의 사회보장기능의 확대가 필요하다. 지역공동체성은 신뢰, 참여, 연계와 네트워크, 협력과 호혜성을 바탕으로 새로운 사회적 자본을 확충할 수도 있으므로 종전의 지역사회복지 및 지역사회보호체계에서 지역사회보장체계로 구축되어야 한다, 둘째, 사회서비스 수요자의 네트워크를 구축하는 ‘복지멤버십’ 추진으로 사회보장정보원을 통한 기초자치단체 간 사회보장정보전달체계의 네트워크 연계와 통합이 필요하다. 서비스 수요자의 수급자격 조사의 자동화와 지자체간 정보공유 절차를 생략하는 전자정부 기능으로 서비스의 분절화를 예방한다. 셋째, 지방자치단체 간 광역 연계와 네트워크 형성에 의한 사회서비스 통합 전달체계 구축으로 복지 자원 네트워크 연계를 강화하여 지역복지와 보건의료 서비스의 간극을 해소하는 사회서비스의 보편화를 촉진한다.This study aims to present plans for the formation and establishment of social capital that is a requirement of social care and the establishment of community social security systems in Korea. For this, it analyzed concepts and major elements of social capital that appear in social welfare law. Research results show that the concepts of social capital that are stipulated by the Framework Act on Social Security and individual social welfare laws demand efforts of social integration through trust, linkage, participation, cooperation, and reciprocal activities. Eventually, the major elements of social capital that appear in social welfare law demand realization plans for social capital, which is intangible capital, providing practical grounds on which existing theories can be realized. Also, establishment structures of community social security systems that control nations and local governments can be considered the responsibility of welfare governances such as cooperative structures among specialized jobs, resident participation, and public-private partnerships, which are prerequisites of community care. At this, proposals were made of social capital establishment plans in local welfare governances such as metropolitan linkages and networks for the securement of lifelong social safety nets and social care for the establishment of social capital. First, the social security functions of local social security councils must be enlarged for social capital expansion that can reinforce local community spirit. Local community spirit can expand new social capital based on trust, participation, connections, networks, cooperation, and reciprocity so local social security systems must be established from existing local social welfare and local social protection systems. Second, network connections and integration are needed in social security information delivery systems among primary local authorities through social security sources with promotions made by welfare memberships that construct networks for social service users. The segmentation of services is prevented with electronic government functions that omit information sharing procedures among local governments and the automation of supply and demand qualification surveys of service users. Third, broad connections and networks must be formed among local governments. With welfare support network connection reinforcements among local governments, proposals can be made for the establishment of social service integration delivery systems that promote the generalization of social services.

Social provision for women in the welfare system of Taiwan has been scarce since 1949. But the welfare provision for women gradually increased after 1987 when Martial Law lifted. However, this change formed a kind of sexual segregation in social politics. In the early 50s to 70s' authoritarian system, men and. women in Taiwan had a great discrepancy in their rate of social particiption. Women's welfare issues were always decided by men. The gender ideology of equal treatment became mainstream in the political process of social welfare policymaking. After 1987, more female politicians entered into the political arena, but under the traditional paternalist male dominated political structure, the gender representitiveness cannot critically influence social politics, especially in regards to the passage of women's welfare laws. In the most recent decade, more women have became involved in the political system and social organizations. Many social welfare laws have been passed by this lobby of those female politicians and social activists. However these women and their organizations still have to play the traditional ideal women's role, in order to penetrate into traditional men's politics. It is a strategy and also a pitfall for women trying to influence men's politics in Taiwan. However, it has also resulted in the passage of several welfare laws for socially disadvantaged groups and unfortunate women.

With the recent desperate recession in the UK, and with a general election fast approaching, the pace of change in social welfare law and procedures has spiralled fiercely. The government has tried to anticipate or respond to a vast range of difficulties and events. This article gives some context for a wide-ranging third calendar of benefit changes, published online alongside this edition of Benefits: The Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, which aims to keep readers on top of the many changes in a turbulent year: 2009.