The decision has important implications with more organisations to be treated as emanations of the state, giving more workers the direct benefit of European law. But the answer makes an important difference for employees' rights at work.
European law is the key.
If a government fails to pass the necessary laws, or passes laws which do not implement the Directive properly, it may be challenged in the European Court. This is a slow process which would not immediately help workers who have been deprived of the rights they should have under the Directive. The European Court of Justice plugged that gap in two ways. This is because a state employer should not be allowed to take advantage of the state's failure to comply with European law. Employees in the private sector cannot rely on this approach.