"This paper examines the growth and development of European labour law over the past twenty-five years, starting from a European Economic Community (EEC) of just twelve Member States in which the focus was on the construction of the single market, and leading, by means of three successive enlargements, to a European Union of twenty-seven Member States. The paper tracks the rise of social Europe to an equal footing with economic Europe, one sign of which is the adoption of the fundamental social rights in the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the EU. The landmark developments in individual and collective labour law are charted, and the recent emphasis on soft law is subject to critical analysis. The author suggests that the twenty-five years in which the Journal has been in existence may be described as the golden age of European labour law, and underlines the need for continuing critical scrutiny of European labour law developments."

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