The social dimension of the European Union has been the subject of various controversies including concerning the capacity or otherwise of the EU to continue to adopt directives and other forms of hard law. This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis using two data bases. The first, coordinated by Sc-Po Paris, contains, as from 1996, all legislative acts (regulations, directives and decisions), while also covering the length of proceedings, opposition in the Council and European Parliament, and several other variables. It enables the social dimension to be approached and compared with other sectors (agriculture, internal market, justice, environment, etc.). In actual fact, however, most of the legislation in this area was adopted before 1996 and the ETUI data base, on the basis of a more restrictive definition (regulations and directives only), covers the whole of the 1958-2015 period, thereby allowing analysis of the differing social dynamics characteristic of different periods. The two quantitative analyses are rounded off by qualitative analysis of the nature and the degree of novelty of the legislative acts adopted.
