The principle of free movement in the European Union : the phenomenon of social dumping and the posting of workers

Abstract

The posting of workers is a crucial resource for the effective functioning of the Internal Market. This concept has evolved into an extremely debated and highly contentious matter throughout the Union. Whilst posting has numerous beneficial implications on the European economy as a result of efficiency and productivity gains, such positive outcomes may be suppressed by social dumping practices. Social dumping has been defined as the practice, undertaken by selfinterested market actors, of undermining or evading existing social regulations with the aim of gaining a competitive advantage. This dissertation provides a thorough analysis of the legislative framework encompassing the posting of workers. It seeks to answer how and to what extent the European Union is taking collective action to limit social dumping practices in this sphere. Concurrently, delving into the Posting of Workers Directive as the legal foundation on bona fide cross-border work so as to elicit the enduring challenges of implementation and enforcement derived from legal complexities therein. By employing a comparative analysis between the Revised posting of workers Directive and the original posting of workers Directive, this study will extract commonalities; amendments and; enhancements made to the legislative framework. As well as deliberating whether the revision stipulates added protective safeguards for posted workers. Social dumping has essentially transpired as a central matter in most policy debates however whilst the present scale of this phenomena is still unclear, it should be recognized for what it is: an extensive challenge to protecting the foundations of social standards in the labour market.