사회적 시장경제에 있어서 환경적 지속가능성의 수용: 독일 사회적 시장경제 사상의 기원과 전개를 중심으로

Sustainability demands a reconfiguration of existing principles and priorities not only in the economic sphere but across all aspects of human life, and policies and legislation aimed at achieving this must be justified in light of constitutional economic order. This paper examines how Germany’s social market economy originated and evolved, and how environmental sustainability has been legitimized and implemented within this framework. In particular, the recently proposed concept of a socio-ecological market economy (sozial-ökologische Marktwirtschaft) in Germany, as a response to the climate crisis, seeks to add “protection of nature and ecology” as a new pillar to the traditional structure of social market economy, which is based on “economic freedom” and “social equity.” This expansion raises the question of whether the theoretical foundations of the social market economy allow its scope to extend to the natural domain. Germany’s social market economy is grounded in an anthropological view that every human being possesses inherent dignity as the “image of God” (Imago Dei), from which the principles of subsidiarity, solidarity, and justice are derived. Christian social thought shaped the core structure of the social market economy, emphasizing harmony between market and society for the common good. In particular, the perspective of “creation order” restored the recognition that humans are part of nature, thereby providing ethical and political legitimacy for environmental sustainability. This intellectual foundation enabled sustainability to gain normative and persuasive force in Europe. The Korean Constitution similarly pursues the “integration of market and social principles” or the “limitation of market principles through social principles,” as reflected in Articles 119(1) and (2). This integration should be understood as a value-based combination rather than a mere functional complement. Korea’s constitutional economic order is a multidimensional system in which economic and non-economic values are organically connected; economic freedom is not guaranteed without limits but is constrained by other constitutional values. Although the relationship between economic order and environmental or ecological values has not been sufficiently explored, the concept of “economic democratization” in Article 119(2) offers a potential pathway for incorporating non-economic values. Finally, the incorporation of environmental sustainability into competition law represents a significant example of its practical implementation. Traditionally, competition law has focused on economic efficiency and rarely considered non-economic values such as environmental concerns. However, the EU and its member states have recently shifted toward actively integrating sustainability into competition law enforcement. This approach aims to reduce legal uncertainty for businesses and institutionalize sustainability objectives, even when restrictive effects on competition occur. Such developments indicate not merely policy adjustments but a structural integration of environmental values into economic regulation. This evolution exemplifies how, within the social market economy, the principles of market and competition can be modified and constrained by the principles of nature and ecology.