BACKGROUND

Modern welfare states face many challenges: the cost of living crisis exposes the inadequacy of existing levels of protection; large scale administrative scandals raise questions as to the ability of the system to fundamentally address the human dimension; and increased immigration threatens the inclusiveness of social security systems. Such pressures require a strong normative response. But is the existing corpus of social rights normatively solid enough and, if not, how should it be altered to cope with new societal challenges? This is the central question that was debated during the conference.

The conference is preceded by

• the MoveS seminar on EU social rights and freedom of movement and co-ordination of social security
• The inaugural lecture at Maastricht University of prof. Gijsbert Vonk on "Welfare State Dystopia as a Challenge for the Right to Social Security"

Both events provided different insights on the conference topic and took place on 25 September.