The Posting of Workers Directive Revised: Enhancing the Protection of Workers in the Cross-border Provision of Services

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Table of Contents: I. Introduction. – II. Posting of workers on European labour markets. – III. Introducing workers' protection through the Posting of Workers Directive. – III.1. The Court of Justice and workers' protection in the context of cross-border services. – III.2. The Posting of Workers Directive laying down a nucleus of protective rights. – III.3. Continued controversy in the balance between free movement and social protection. – IV. Clarification of the rules through the Enforcement Directive. – V. Revision of the Posting of Workers Directive. – V.1. The Commission's 2016 Proposal – V.2. Revised rules for the Posting of Workers. – V.3. Remuneration, posting allowances and collective agreements. – V.4. Long term posting. – V.5. Abuse and strengthened enforcement of the Posting of Workers Directive. – VI. Conclusion.

Abstract: In March 2016 the European Commission proposed a revision of the Posting of Workers Directive (Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services). Two years later, the co-legislators have adopted the revised Directive (Directive 2018/957/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 June 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services). This Article seeks to explain how this reform builds on the principles developed in the case law of the Court of Justice and eventually managed to upgrade the Posting of Workers Directive into an extended package of protective labour rules that nevertheless remains within the boundaries of internal market legislation.

Keywords: free movement of services – protection of workers – posted workers – Posting of Workers Directive – Enforcement Directive – equal pay for equal work.

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European Papers, Vol. 3, 2018, No 3, pp. 1401-1427
ISSN
2499-8249 - doi: 10.15166/2499-8249/276

* Associate Professor, Institute for European Law, KU Leuven; Member of the Cabinet of Marianne Thyssen, Commissioner for Employment, Social affairs, Skills and Labour mobility, piet.vannuffel@kuleuven.be.
** Master of Law graduate, KU Leuven and University of Zürich; former trainee at the Cabinet of Com-missioner Marianne Thyssen, s.afanasjeva@gmail.com.

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