Legal nature of the EU Open Method of Coordination in the sphere of social rights

Abstract

The article analyzes the legal phenomenon of the Open Method of Coordination. The history of the emergence of coordination methods, prerequisites for the development of a new regulation, as well as fundamental diff erences between the new regulation and the old ones are defined. The author has also defined the scope of public relations to be regulated by methods of coordination to promote their better efficiency compared with traditional methods of legal regulation. The greatest attention is paid to the definition of the legal nature of the Open Method of Coordination and its differentiation from similar legal concepts, such as “soft law” and the Community method. Along the way, the article proposes a defi nition of EU soft law corresponding to modern realities. Also a great amount of scientific works of foreign researchers are reflected and critically evaluated. The basic function and purpose of the OMC, the coordination process with the participation of social actors, the EU institutions and Member States, is also described. At the end of the article the main criteria of distinguishing between the Open Method of Coordination and soft law are highlighted. Refs 21.