Simon Deakin

Bio: Simon Deakin is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Brexit & Referendum. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 7 citations.

Brexit, Labour Rights and Migration: Why Wisbech Matters to Brussels

Abstract: In the aftermath of the Brexit referendum of 23 June 2016, the question of migration has been at the forefront of attempts to understand what happened, and in particular why working class communities in many of the regions of England, and in parts of Wales, voted predominantly for the Leave side. Polling data show a weak correlation between areas of the country that voted for Leave and high levels of inward migration from the rest of the EU. The link between immigration and Brexit is very clear in East Anglian agricultural towns like Boston and Wisbech, but otherwise is weak. South Wales and the North East of England, which also saw clear majorities for Leave, are not areas of high EU migration. Instead, they are regions that have experienced successive waves of deindustrialisation since the 1980s. The overriding issue raised by the Brexit vote, in my view, is not migration as such (although that is part of the story), but a wider phenomenon of deepening economic insecurity, and the dangerous political dynamic it has created.

Towards More Resilience for a Social EU - the Constitutionally Conditioned Internal Market

Abstract: Gap between the EU’s normative commitments to socio-economic justice and the practical workings of its integration project -- Potential for strengthening the social EU by recourse to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Charter normatively commits EU to a constitutionally conditioned Internal Market – Charter curbs property rights and entrepreneurial freedom specifically for the sake of social rights guarantees – Constructive response to legitimacy dilemmas emerging from cases such as Laval, Viking and AGET Iraklis – Reinstating socially embedded constitutionalism at EU levels as an alternative to relegating social integration to national levels

Article 26 [Establishing the Internal Market]

Abstract: Article 26 TFEU dates back to the Single European Act (SEA) of 1986 and was inserted one year later, in the context of the first great revision of the initial EEC Treaty, as Article 8A. The common market is seen as the predecessor of the internal market. Article 2 of the EEC Treaty of 1957 determined that “it shall be the aim of the Community, by establishing a Common Market and progressively approximating the economic policies of Member States, to promote throughout the Community a harmonious development of economic activities, a continuous and balanced expansion, an increased stability, an accelerated raising of the standard of living and closer relations between its Member States.” Following this aim, the EEC Treaty in particular intended the establishment of a common market (Article 8) as well as a customs union (Article 12 et seqq.) and standardised fundamental freedoms in the area of free movement of goods, persons, services and capital (Articles 9–11, 48–73). Furthermore, the Treaty of 1957 anchored the establishment of a system of genuine competition and—if necessary—the harmonisation of the Member States’ legislation. Fundamental freedoms, legislative approximation and the protection of fair competition build since then the constituents of the Single European Market.