For a Social Europe - introduce a social protocol in the EU Treaty

The social dimension of the European Union (EU) has great significance for the attitude of the trade union movement to European cooperation. Ever since the European Court of Justice judgment in the Laval case the question of the status of trade union rights within EU cooperation has been under discussion. The debate has at times been lively within the labour movement. This report describes the position of the social dimension in the EU as well as the question of how a social protocol attached to the EU treaties can change the balance between fundamental trade union rights and freedoms and free movement of services in the EU internal market.