The Luxembourg Case COM v LUX C-319/06
Luxembourg law requires companies which post workers to its territory to comply with certain standards. The European Commission brought legal proceedings before the ECJ against the state of Luxembourg arguing that the Luxembourg legislation exceeded that which was allowed under the Posting of Workers Directive. Following the other three cases the ECJ upheld the Commission’s complaint on 19 June 2008 saying that the way in which Luxembourg has implemented the Posting Directive is an obstacle to the free provision of cross border services. Luxembourg will now have to change its laws.
The ECJ says that any exception to the fundamental principle of freedom to provide services, such as in the PWD must be interpreted strictly. A Member State may impose upon foreign service providers terms and conditions of employment other than those contained in the PWD, but only if they constitute crucial public policy provisions. The ECJ agreed with the Commission that Luxembourg had wrongly described provisions as falling under national public policy. Luxembourg failed to establish that a serious threat to a fundamental interest of society was at stake.
