Social law - public law in a European context?

The paper addresses the issue of whether social law can be perceived as a separate and specific field of law and whether it can be defined as a purely public branch of law. Recent specific cases of the application of contractual principles in legal relations falling under social law and the impact thereof on the practice are discussed. Selected decisions from the ECJ are used to demonstrate a shift in the perception of Member States’ autonomy to set their own social policy.