This article is about the state of social rights in the European Union, in comparison with their protection at national level. The first part aims to define the term of social citizenship as it is understood in European legal culture. The second part examines the recent evolution of the case-law of the ECJ on social rights protection, which is, essentially, a jurisprudence which does not recognize but few, if any, fundamental social rights. This disparity between the national and the EU concept of social citizenship could create serious problems of legitimacy in the future.