IMPROVEMENT OF EU LEGAL BASIS CONCERNING THE EXERCISE OF RIGHTS OF WORKERS IN THE CONTEXT OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OF WORKERS

Abstract

Abstract. This article deals with the practical steps of EU on the way to improvement of
EU legal basis concerning the exercise of rights of workers in the context of freedom of movement
of workers; it overviews the sources of legal regulation of the freedom of movement of
workers in the EU and defines the obstacles which EU citizens can face moving from one member
state to another. The gap between the rights that EU citizens have in theory and what happens
in practice has been underlined in several acts of EU institutions (the European
Parliament’s report on «Problems and prospects concerning European citizenship» of 20 March
2009, Resolution on promoting workersʼ mobility within the European Union of 25 October
2011, the report «A new Strategy for the Single Market» of 9 May 2010, Communication on
«Reaffirming the free movement of workers: rights and major developments» of July 2010, the
2010 EU Citizenship Report «Dismantling the obstacles to EU citizens rights» of 27 October
2010, Employment package of 18 April 2012 on the Communication from the Commission «Towards
a job-rich recovery»). Summarizing the data from the documents mentioned above, one
of the obstacles EU citizens can face moving from one EU member state to another is the incompliance
of national legislation and general practices. In its scope are different conditions applied
for recruitment of EU nationals, nationality conditions for access to posts which are not
covered by the exception in article 45(4) TFEU, introduction of nationality quotas for EU citizens,
different working conditions for EU nationals, access to social advantages made subject
to conditions which are more easily met by nationals than by EU citizens, professional qualifications
and experience acquired in other member states are not taken into account or they are
taken into account in a different way than those obtained in the host member state for the purpose
of access to employment, residence condition required by national legislations for access
to study grants for EU migrant workers and members of their families despite well-established
case law of the EU Court of Justice in this area, discrimination against frontier workers etc.
To improve and reinforce the way in which article 45 TFEU and Regulation (EU) 492/2011
are applied in practice across the EU the European Parliament and Council of the European
Union have adopted Directive 2014/54/EU on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred
on workers in the context of freedom of movement for workers of 16 April 2014 to establish
a general common framework of appropriate provisions and measures for facilitating a
better and more uniform application of rights conferred by EU law on workers and members of
their families exercising their right to free movement.
Key words: freedom of movement for workers, rights of workers, obstacles EU citizens
can face moving from one member state to another, Directive2014/54/EU of the European Parliament
and of the Council on measures facilitating the exercise of rights conferred on workers
in the context of freedom of movement for workers of EU.