Many European constitutions expressly affirm that they are "social states" (Sozialstaat), and/or contain lists of fundamental social rights or directive principles. The EU constitutional framework also recognises the fundamental nature of social rights. However, this protection remains partial, limited and uncertain. This was not a problem when background economic and political factors favoured the expansion of the post-war welfare states. But austerity is different. This is not to dismiss the value of the limited degree of social rights protection that exists in European constitutional systems. It affirms the role of the state in securing "social citizenship," opens up room for courts to interpret core constitutional principles such as dignity and equality with reference to the ideal of "social citizenship," to read legislation in a socially protective manner, and to develop the type of "baseline standards" jurisprudence exemplified by the Hartz IV judgment of the German Constitutional Court. However, beyond that, courts have been unwilling to intervene in areas where breaches of baseline standards are not at issue.