The Posting of Workers: The Perspective of the Sending State – The Judgment of the Civil Chamber of the Estonian Supreme Court of 16 January 2013 No 3-2-1-179-12

Abstract

Traditionally, the posting of workers within the European internal market has been a matter of concern mostly for the more affluent Member States. These countries fear that the deployment of workers from low-wage countries into their territory is made at the expense of the domestic labour force. In short, host states view the posting of workers mainly as a source of social dumping. More recently, however, the posting of workers has increasingly been raising concerns among the countries from which the workers are posted, i.e. the sending states. This trend is reflected by a recent decision of the Estonian Supreme Court. The Court ruled that construction workers employed by an Estonian company and posted to work in Finland are entitled to the minimum wage set out in the collective agreement universally applicable in Finland. The paper analyses the judgment of the Estonian Supreme Court and its implications for the provision of cross-border services in the European internal market. Special attention is given to the interaction between the Rome I Regulation and the Posted Workers Directive 96/71/EC and to the impact of the EU economic freedoms.

Keywords: European Union, Posting of Workers, Private International Law, Rome I Regulation, Directive 96/71/EC, freedom to provide services