STATUS OF POSTED WORKERS IN THE EU DURING CURRENT DYNAMIC CHANGES

Abstract

The principle of free movement of workers as a basic principle of the common market had a
dominant influence on the labour legislation in the European Union. As opposed of this, a principle
of free movement of people as EU citizens was later established. Removing the need for economic
justification of the right to free movement for work, this transition to free movement of EU citizens
has a wider impact on the initiatives and activities of EU institutions active in the field of free
movement. In this paper, the author analyses the free movement primarily through the economic
aspect, pointing out many problems of a social nature.
European law on posted workers, expressed through European acquis communaitaire, is
considered to focus on regulating and balancing the creation of equal conditions for provision of
cross-border services in a faster way and protection of the rights of posted workers by guaranteeing
a single set of social rights to prevent unfair treatment and creating cheap labour force. It is this
paradigm that is examined through this paper, through the normative aspect as well as through the
practice of the European Court of Justice.
Through the paper, the author considers that it is crucial to understand the European normative
framework regarding posted workers, especially the Directive on posted workers, which regulates
this matter, and to achieve harmonization of practices between the European Union and the
Member States, as well as the candidate countries.