Konstantinos Alexandris Polomarkakis co-presents paper on EU social rights

On 8 May 2021 Dr Konstantinos Alexandris Polomarkakis, together with Dr Lisa Mardikian (Brunel University London), presented a paper at the 23rd Irish European Law Forum conference on 'Critical Exploration of Human Rights: When Human Rights become Part of the Problem', hosted by the UCD Centre for Human Rights.

Drawing on ongoing research, their paper entitled 'Intention, Interpretation or Bias? Social Rights in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union' went beyond a mere critique of the inadequate protection of social rights in the Charter. The paper embarked on a socio-legal inquiry as to why this is the case by looking at the ambiguous intentions of the drafters of the Charter, the vague provisions of the final document and the flawed interpretation of social rights by the Court. The paper concluded by arguing that the ‘commodified’ solidarity, which dominates the EU discourse, had permeated the drafting, interpretation and application of social rights under the Charter, being responsible for their inadequate protection therein.