European Commitment to the Full Recognition of Workers' Rights in the Sustainable Development Towards Constitutionalisation of the Right to Work in the EU Legal Order?

Abstract

This article analyses the process of 'de facto constitutionalisation' of the right to work within the European Union’s legal order. Despite the absence of a formal treaty revision, this evolution is taking place through the systematic integration of the right to work into the EU’s sustainability policies and development objectives. It argues that the interplay between the CFREU, secondary legislation, and the CJEU’s case law serves as an engine of progress for elevating labour guarantees from mere programmatic social policy objectives to implicit, binding constitutional principles.

By examining the tripartite axis, this article highlights how the concept of decent work and sustainability agendas operate as a quasi-constitutional framework, capable of imposing criteria of legitimacy upon economic action. Ultimately, it suggests that the right to work is becoming a fundamental pillar of European democratic identity, transforming the single market into a community of law oriented towards social justice.