This book brings together essays by leading legal scholars from a number of European countries. These essays are based on papers presented at a research conference held at the Copenhagen Business School, on September 18, 2009. The contributors are all lawyers, but have their main professional activity within different legal disciplines. They represent different legal cultures and styles, partly related to different geographical backgrounds, and the diversity is represented in their contributions. The book is concerned with trends in the development of a European social model and the theoretical and methodological implications thereof, with the essays focusing on the role of the courts at both national and supra-national level. Each essay addresses different dimensions of the general theme.