Call for papers: Workshop on “EU law and its disconnections from society”
While faith in a Union ever closer to its people characterized the first decades of European integration, this belief seems to have faded in recent years. Scholars have pointed out an increasing disconnect between EU law and social reality (Azoulai 2024), and a discrepancy between ‘the grand discourse of the ever-increasing reach of EU law and the far more complex and modest reality on the ground’ (Vauchez 2020).
The hiatus between EU law and social reality manifests in different ways. Perhaps most evidently, at times EU law is simply not litigated, either before national courts or the Court of Justice. We refer to this situation as ‘litigation disconnects’: pieces of legislation, policy fields, or geographical areas, where EU law is under-litigated or not litigated at all. The existence of these litigation disconnects is consequential, as they challenge our idea of an ‘ever more powerful court’ (Martinsen 2015) or the feasibility of EU governance through decentralized enforcement (Pollack 2003).
Litigation disconnects are only part of the story, as EU laws and policies themselves can be cut off from reality. Examples of such ‘misfits’ are norms, which are either ill-designed to tackle certain societal issues or designed in a manner that makes them unsuitable to serve society and its needs. Structurally, some persons and places in the Union, because of their position or identity, are unable to benefit from EU law, or even mobilize it. Common categorizations within the legal framework, as the ‘economically active citizen’, the ‘caretaker’, or the ‘economic actor’, may exclude those who do not align with EU law expectations and values. It is thus crucial to shed light on the situations and subjects excluded from the reach of EU law, that fall through the grids of a rather rigid system of constructed legal categories and remain in the shadow of European integration.
STRUCTURE OF THE WORKSHOP
This international workshop aims to be a space of discussion and exploration where the foundation of a new research agenda is laid out. The workshop’s initial goals are: 1) the identification of areas where EU law disconnects from society and 2) the elaboration of new concepts and methods to capture and make sense of them. Selected papers will be invited to contribute to a special issue in a leading academic journal.
We invite scholars of any level of seniority to submit an abstract of a paper that subjects EU law to a reality check. We welcome proposals from law, political science, sociology, anthropology, and economics. The keynote speech will be delivered by Loïc Azoulai, Chair of European Social Policy at the European University Institute.
KEY DATES AND INFORMATION
Deadline for abstract: 28 February 2025 (max 450 words)
Deadline for papers: 25 September 2025 (max 8000 words)
Date of the workshop: 9 & 10 October 2025
Please send your abstract and CV to: lucia.lopez.zurita@jur.ku.dk and virginia.passalacqua@unito.it
The workshop is funded by the Carlsberg Foundation. Travel expenses for the participants will be partially covered.