In July 2018 the new European directive 2018/957/EU for the modification of European posting became effective, which aims to improve the protection of workers posted throughout the EU. The changes made due to the directive have been highly controversial even during the time of the legislative procedure since some European member states consider current pay gaps as legitimate competitive factors they want to preserve. Hungary and Poland have filed a suit against the passed directive at the European Court of Justice. They believe that the directive is incompatible with the primary law of the EU (constitutional law) and therefore seek an annulment of the directive by the European Court of Justice. In the framework of his empirical research on European posting law, Dr. Thomas Klein has dealt intensively with the pleas in law that have been brought forward by Hungary and Poland. In his opinion, the directive 2018/957/EU is compatible with the primary law. The directive can be supported by the legal basis chosen by the legislator and does not violate the freedom to provide services. Therefore, Dr. Klein expects that the annulment will not be granted by the European Court of Justice.
The examination results have been published in issue 16 (p. 673-679) in the Europäischen Zeitschrift für Wirtschaftsrecht.