National Effects of the Implementation of EU Directives on Labour Migration from Third Countries

Bulletin of Comparative Labour Relations Series Volume 91

In National Effects of the Implementation of EU Directives on Labour
Migration from Third Countries, six distinguished European labour law
academics discuss how three EU Directives on labour migration – the Single
Permit Directive, the Blue Card Directive, and the Directive on Seasonal
Employment – are being implemented in EU Member States. Guaranteeing
third-country national workers robust equal treatment with regard to working
conditions and pay is a crucial criterion for avoiding social dumping,
exploitation, and other reasons for regime shopping within the EU. However,
Member States are still reluctant to compromise control of their borders and
their labour markets. The EU legislation adopted is, as a result, fragmented
and full of solutions that give Member States an extensive margin of room for
manoeuvre. This book looks at the interaction of the EU legislation adopted
with the labour migration systems of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and
Sweden – five countries with very different characteristics and approaches to
the implementation of these Directives.

What is in this book: Concrete issues dealt with in each country
include the following:

• conditions for granting work permits;
  
• reasons for withdrawing a work permit;
  
• how long a migrant worker can stay;
  
• whether a migrant worker can bring his or her family;
  
• employment and labour rights of migrant workers;
  
• migrant workers’ access to social rights;
  
• how a migrant worker may enforce rights;
  
• sanctions for violations of applicable provisions; and
  
• potential for permanent status for a migrant worker.
  

For each of these issues, the authors analyse to what extent national
legislators are prepared to adapt their national systems in order to fulfil
the aims of the EU Directives. They also identify unintended, or at least not
explicit, effects of the implementation process. The authors clearly reveal
whether the ambitions of the EU, when initiating this process, can be detected
in the implementation process and how implementation of the three Directives
have changed, and could change national law on these issues thereby providing
a detailed consideration of legal issues faced by third-country migrant
workers in the five EU Member States.

How this will help you:

As the first in-depth analysis of how the intersection of migration and labour
law (and how their impact on labour and employment relations plays out in the
EU context), this book brings important insights into the growing literature
in the field of labour and employment and migration. The book serves to
provide a solid basis for developing policy initiatives on migration into the
EU and its Member States. The analysis provided will be of particular interest
to national legislators, but it is also sure to be warmly welcomed by
academics and practitioners in fields related to labour and employment and
migration.