The European Internal Market and the Competition between Workers

Abstract

This article examines to what extent European internal market law has led to regulatory competition between Member States in the field of labour law. Such competition is not limited to the relations between the Member States. Regulatory competition can also occur within the territory of the same Member State, since the internal market also influences the definition of the territorial scope of national labour law, in particular when a cross-border aspect is involved. This article looks into these questions from a legal point of view. First it summarises the principle underlying these issues, more specifically the fact that labour law continues, in the first place, to be a matter of national competence. It subsequently analyses the impact of, and the interplay between, the freedom of movement for workers, the freedom to provide services and the rules of private international law. It pays special attention to the meaning of Posting of Workers Directive 96/71 and analyses how this Directive and the case law of the Court of Justice relating to it are situated at the cross-roads of legal rules and economic interests.