Gavin Barrett

Deploying the Classic ‘Community Method’ in the Social Policy Field: The Example of the Acquired Rights Directive

The use of the Community method of legislation, in particular the deployment of directives, has for a long time been at the core of EC labour market policy. This article seeks to reflect on the lessons to be learned from the experience of the adoption and operation of one particularly significant directive, namely the Acquired Rights Directive, and on the experience of its transposition in one Member State, Ireland. Among features noted at the EU level are the watering down of the Commissions initial legislative ambitions; the substantial lacunae, failures to address issues and ambiguities incorporated in the text of the directive, the consequent enlarged role for the Court of Justice and the apparent difficulty in changing policy direction in the event of errors being made. As regards the Irish experience of transposing the directive, lessons learnt have included the importance of the means of implementation chosen by the Member State; the obstructive effect which national industrial relations systems may have on the evolution of a common European approach; the significance which attaches to national sanctions and enforcement mechanisms; the importance attaching to the degree of collective organisation in workplaces where the implementing legislation is sought to be relied upon; and the potential which the implementation of a directive has for disruption of the harmony of a national policy approach. Finally, the use of a form of social dialogue in the implementation of employment-related directives in Ireland is also commented upon.

European economic governance: deficient in democratic legitimacy?

Abstract This article seeks to offer an overview of the structures of democratic legitimisation in EU economic governance, and to consider their adequacy, examining in particular the question of the extent of parliamentary participation in such governance. Although much progress has been made in establishing throughput legitimacy and creating processes furthering the interests of accountability, transparency and efficacy, it will be seen that considerable deficiencies continue to exist, at both European and member state level.

The use of referendums in Ireland: an analysis

ABSTRACT The referendum is a phenomenon which is becoming increasingly normalised in the constitutional practice of many countries. Ireland is an EU member state with particularly extensive experience of the referendum as a decision-making tool. To date, it has held 39 referendums on a variety of issues – ranking it among the top four states in Western Europe in this regard. This article seeks to review the emergence of referendums in Ireland as a decision-making instrument and to ask what constitutional, legal or institutional factors have led to referendums enjoying such comparatively extensive use there. It seeks to examine which political issues have formed the subject of referendums in Ireland, and to investigate what kinds of issues have succeeded in gaining electoral approval and what kinds have not. The extent of electoral participation in (and thus representativity of) Irish referendums is also scrutinised, and factors affecting participation rates examined.

Long Train Running: The Slowly Developed (and Slowly Developing) Role of Ireland’s Oireachtas in EU Affairs

The attitude of the Irish public to European Union (EU) membership has traditionally been positive through the years of membership and remains so now (even if trust in EU institutions has now fallen sharply due to the association in the public mind of these institutions with the harsh economic medicine doled out in order to deal with the banking and financial crisis). Thus, even at the times when two of Ireland’s many referendums on EU-related issues went against the ratification of individual EU treaties, opinion polls concerning the merits of EU membership itself consistently gave results that were among the most favourable in Europe.1 Ireland has now had nine referendums concerning seven treaties — beginning with the Treaty of Accession to the original three European Communities, and followed by referendums on the Single European Act, the Maastricht Treaty,2 the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Nice (twice) and the Lisbon Treaty (twice). Most recently, on 31 May 2012, a constitutional amendment facilitating ratification of the Fiscal Stability Treaty was approved in a referendum, with 60.3 per cent of votes in favour and 39.7 per cent against on a turnout of 50 per cent. The major role assigned to referendums in the Irish legal system has, however, tended at times to divert attention from the rules governing the role of the Irish Parliament (the Oireachtas) in EU affairs, which merits attention and is of considerable comparative interest.