Internal Market Architecture and the Accommodation of Labour Rights: As Good as it Gets?

Abstract

This paper suggests that investigating how internal market architecture affects the accommodation of labour rights helps us better to understand internal market-labour rights conflicts and how they might be resolved. It probes the legislation/primary Treaty freedom dimension of the architecture, by looking at the interplay between legislature and Court of Justice in two overlapping free movement of service fields where labour rights’ accommodation is contested: posting of workers and public procurement. The aspirations and reality of the current architecture are explored. Five lessons about internal market architecture are drawn from the case-study. Alternative architectural options, drawing on new governance, are canvassed.