Type: Other

Authority: European Authorities: Euopean Communities' Court of Justice

Date: 05/27/2007

Subject: The Advocate General suggested that the Directive 96/71/EC and Article 49 EC must be interpreted as not preventing trade unions from attempting, by means of collective action in the form of a blockade and solidarity action, to compel a service provider of another Member State to subscribe to the rate of pay determined in accordance with a collective agreement which is applicable in practice to domestic undertakings in the same sector that are in a similar situation and was concluded in the first Member State, to whose territory workers of the other Member State are temporarily posted, provided that the collective action is motivated by public-interest objectives, such as the protection of workers and the fight against social dumping, and is not carried out in a manner that is disproportionate to the attainment of those objectives.

Parties: Laval un Partneri Ltd c/ Svenska Byggnadsarbetareförbundet e altri

Classification: Art. 15 Freedom to provide services - Equality - Art. 21 Non discrimination - Solidarity - Art. 28 Rights of workers, employers and their organisations: collective agreements - Rights of workers, employers and their organisations: collective actions - Rights of workers, employers and their organisations: strike

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Notices: Effectiveness of the Charter
The Advocate General, to adfirm that the right to resort to collective action is a general principle of Community law, refers to article 6 of the EU Treaty, the constitutional traditions, the ECHR, and the international instruments regarding human rights. The Charter, although not binding, is principally intended to reaffirm the rights resulting in particular from the constitutional traditions and international obligations common to the Member States, the ECHR, the Social Charters adopted by the Community and by the Council of Europe, and the case-law of the Court of justice and of the European Court of Human Rights.