Abstract

This study analyzes the main impacts made on the side of social rights, as a result of the enlargement of the european citizenship concept and the democratic principle, both redefined in the Treaty of Lisbon. Applied, particularly, to the proliferation of free movement right within the Union territories, considering also the interpretation of the Court of Justice as an attempt to reconstruct the right to free movement as a fundamental one, overcoming the original economic purposes. This survey focuses on the dichotomy of European citizenship - social rights, particularly regarding the employment relationship as a central theme in Europe's social life.