Editorial EELC 2019 issue 1: Order!

Let me share something utterly irrelevant: I dislike so-called reality television. There is, however, one notable exception. I’m hooked on the reality show called ‘Brexit’. I enjoy the Brexit debates in the British House of Commons, and in particular I find the Speaker Mr John Bercow both intriguing and amusing, especially when he tries to restore some line and logic in the debate, by ‘requesting’ the Members of Parliament to keep ‘order’. I have read somewhere that he even named his cat ‘Order’: all part of method-acting I presume. Mr Bercow in my view is very well casted by the producers of the show, as is Mrs Theresa May, who is convincing in her role of the Prime Minister reaching a point of despair in a country that seems to be in the midst of chaos. The reality show Brexit also has numerous cliff-hangers. At the time that I am writing this editorial, I am very curious as to how the scenario writers will work their way up to the next cliff-hanger, the coming deadline of 12 April 2019. As of yet, it is still unclear how the plot will unfold.

Brexit would in my view be an excellent television show, if it wasn’t so real and serious. As things are now, we are heading towards a, mildly put, sub-optimal solution, being a hard Brexit. May’s plan to bring about Brexit in an orderly fashion seems further away than ever. It is somewhat ironic that the main goal of the founders of what now is the European Union was to bring about peace and stability – or as Bercow would say: order – to the European region, and now it turns out that leaving the European Union results in chaos.

Brexit may very well overshadow other developments in Europe, including legal developments. And here EELC comes in. It is there to restore order. Our academic Board brings you the hard facts on developments in ECJ case law on employment matters in 2018, including on issues such as collective labour law, transfer of undertaking, working time, fundamental rights, fixed-term and part-time work, annual leave and collective dismissal. And how about the gig-economy? Besides, we have our usual vast array of national cases on these and other EU-law related topics, including comments from other jurisdictions. All orderly put together in this magazine. Enjoy!

Zef Even, editor