Article 156 [Inter-State Cooperation]

The genesis of Article 156 TFEU shows the original and current reluctances of the MS to assume social commitments, not only based on the dynamics of integration but even on the softer cooperation, since the social policy (like employment and fiscal policy) ‘form part of the core of the sovereign powers of the Member States and can thus be shaped supranationally only with regard to their budgetary components’ (➔ Article 1 TEU para 41). At first glance, if we consider that the first version of Article 156 TFEU appeared in the Social Policy Protocol annexed to the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, it could be seen as paradoxical that the pan-European organisation of cooperation par excellence (the Council of Europe) preceded the organisational model of integration (the European Communities) in tackling under the form of fundamental rights (both in the ECHR and especially in the 1961 European Social Charter) the social matters referred to in the TFEU as a mere potential source of cooperation.