Barnard, Catherine --- "The calm after the storm: Time to reflect on EU (labour) law scholarship following the decisions in Viking and Laval" [2016] ELECD 1423; in Bogg, Alan; Costello, Cathryn; Davies, C.L. A. (eds), "Research Handbook on EU Labour Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016) 337

Book Title: Research Handbook on EU Labour Law

Editor(s): Bogg, Alan; Costello, Cathryn; Davies, C.L. A.

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781783471119

Section: Chapter 14

Section Title: The calm after the storm: Time to reflect on EU (labour) law scholarship following the decisions in Viking and Laval

Author(s): Barnard, Catherine

Number of pages: 26

Abstract/Description:

It started as a folder, then a file, then a large box. Papers, articles and books on the Court of Justice’s decisions in Viking and Laval, and their progeny Rüffert and Commission v Luxembourg, are now in a heap on the floor of my office. Millions of words have been written on and about these decisions, thousands of euros have been spent on conferences, and hundreds of hours of teaching time have been devoted to debating their implications. Saturation point may have been reached. To what avail? Now that substantial time has elapsed since the judgments in Viking and Laval, this chapter takes a step back to consider the diversity of approaches employed by the academic literature in response to the decisions. I wish to argue that there are four, loosely chronological, phases of response in the literature to a major legal ‘event’ such as the Viking and Laval rulings: 1. The initial reaction: understanding the decisions and framing the debates; 2. Exploration: deepening and reframing of the debate; 3. Concept and theory building; and 4. Responding to subsequent developments and reassessment of the situation. I wish to show how the literature on Viking and Laval fits into these four phases and to consider the literature at each phase. In making this assessment, I draw on van Gestel and Micklitz’ article, ‘Why methods matter in European Legal Scholarship’.