A just yet unequal European Union

A defense of moderate economic inequality

Bibliographic Data

ID9255693
AuthorsAndreas Føllesdal (0000-0002-6419-7071, PluriCourts, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume81
Issue1
Pages8-36
Publication date2023-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReview of Social Economy (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-6764 • E-ISSN: 1470-1162
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00346764.2021.1967433
OpenAlexW3195860688
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited51

What does justice require concerning socio-economic distribution among citizens of the European Union? The EU should reduce cross-national economic inequalities among inhabitants of different member states, but full economic distributive equality or a European ‘Difference Principle,' may not be required. Individuals' claim to more political influence over matters controlled by their own state in the quasi-federal EU may permit some economic inequality. Section 1 orients this contribution relative to arguments for a European universal income. Section 2 provides relevant features of the EU. Section 3 considers contractualist arguments against certain forms of economic inequality, while section 4 identifies a further argument in favour of equal shares of benefits of social cooperation, based on an interpretation of ‘social primary goods' consistent with Rawls' theory. Section 5 argues that these reasons for economic distributive equality must be weighed against more political influence over matters controlled by the individual’s sub-unit

Argument (complex analysis) · Distribution (mathematics) · Distributive justice · Distributive property · Economic inequality · Economic Justice · Economics · European union · Inequality · International trade · Interpretation (philosophy) · Law and economics · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Public economics · Section (typography) · State (computer science) · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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