Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2014:2408
Date: 2014-12-03
Language of the case: Dutch
Court formation: Third Chamber
Subject matter: Freedom to provide services
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Belgium

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Third Chamber), 3 December 2014 1. Freedom to provide services — Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services — Directive 96/71 — Scope — Control measures to ensure that rules for minimum protection relating to working conditions are applied posted workers — Not included (European Parliament and Council Directive 96/71, Arts 3(1) and 10) 2. Freedom to provide services — Restrictions — Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services — Obligation for employers wishing to post workers to another Member State to make a prior declaration of posting — Infringement of that obligation — National legislation obliging the recipient of services provided by employees posted by a service provider established in another Member State to declare the identification data relating to the latter — Restriction — Justification — Protection of workers — Fight against social fraud — Proportionality — Assessment by the national court (Arts 56 TFEU and 57 TFEU) 1. Article 3(1) and (10) of Directive 96/71 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services seeks to ensure that the rules of the host Member State for minimum protection as regards the terms and conditions of employment relating to the matters mentioned in Article 3(1) thereof and, as the case may be, those specified by the Member States in accordance with Article 3(10) thereof will be applied to posted workers while they work on a temporary basis in the territory of that host Member State. Measures monitoring compliance with rules for minimum protection do not fall within the scope of Directive 96/71 and that they are not harmonised at EU level and may, therefore, be freely defined by the Member States, in compliance with the Treaty and the general principles of EU law. (see paras 45, 47) 2. Articles 56 TFEU and 57 TFEU must be interpreted as not precluding legislation of a Member State, under which the recipient of services performed by workers posted by a service provider established in another Member State is required to declare to the competent authorities, before those workers begin to work, the data identifying those workers who are unable to submit proof of the declaration which their employer should have made to the competent authorities of that host Member State prior to the commencement of that provision of services, since such legislation is capable of being justified as safeguarding an overriding ground of public interest, such as the protection of workers or the combating of social security fraud, on condition that it is established that that legislation is appropriate for ensuring the attainment of the legitimate objective or objectives pursued and that it does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve them, these being matters for the referring court to determine. Such national legislation, in so far as it involves monitoring the obligation to make a declaration imposed on the employer of workers posted temporarily may be regarded as being the corollary of such an obligation and as necessary in order to attain the objectives pursued by the cross-border information system for the investigation of migration by the social security administration (‘the Limosa system’). (see paras 72, 75, operative part)