In a political context that is already very fraught due to the discussions on the future mobility rights of workers in the EU, irrespective of whether they are posted workers or simply Europeans working in the United Kingdom, the European Commission decided on Tuesday 22 September to launch infringement procedures against 17 member states for failure to respect European legislation on the question of the free movement of workers.
Fifteen member states will receive a warning letter with regard to the 2014 implementing directive on the posting of workers and the instruments for tackling fraud (2014/67/EU), which is now often part of the debate on targeted revision of the basic directive of 1996. Eleven of these states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain) have not transposed it at all into their respective national rules, although they were expected to do so by 18 June at the latest.
Another warning letter was sent to 12 other member states, including those already affected by the first procedure (Hungary, Romania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Portugal). Austria, France, Lithuania and Denmark are also being targeted. This time, it involves the directive on measures to facilitate the exercising of rights conferred on workers in the context of the free movement of workers (2014/54/EU), which should have been transposed for 21 May. This directive seeks to guarantee the correct application of Article 45 of the TFEU, which guarantees the free movement of workers within the EU.
The Commission's announcement is unusual because it comes outside the customary "package" of infringements, which is often presented to the public during the last week of the month. In a statement released to the press, Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, in charge of Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Workers’ Mobility, explained: "Given that all member states agree on the need for more effective instruments to fight abuses when it comes to labour mobility, I now call upon these same member states to make use of the tools we have given them and make sure that the responsible authorities in their countries, such as labour inspectorates, dispose of the necessary instruments to do their job. The launch of the infringement procedures will serve as a means to keep the pressure to finish the transposition process as soon as possible". (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)