Restructurations et citoyenneté sociale Européenne

The phenomenon of restructuring is more and more visible and traumatic in European societies. The European Union tries to limit its negative consequences. The measures taken to limit the negative impact of restructuring are very diverse. Aimed at the employees, the territory or the company, they are still insufficient. If it is clear that help goes through actions towards people, firm and territory, it is not clear yet what can make a restructuring operation a ?success?. Some cases had a great deal of measures and still a big loss of employees. The aim of this article is to propose a better follow-up of restructuring. European social citizenship is proposed as a new way to look at and to face firm restructurings. It proposes a different approach of the whole process. The idea is to develop some basic rights of the European citizen (the citizen and not the worker because the later can loose his status too easily) : solidarity, protection, mobility and formation. These rights are under development thanks to the European Court of justice. They need to be more taken into account at any firm restructuring. A better link between the Court?s rulings and the practice could lead to an improved protection before, during and after the employment and a better preparation to face the unexpected.