CELEX: C2004/228/40
Language: en
Date: 2004-09-11 00:00:00
Title: Case C-244/04: Action brought on 8 June 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Federal Republic of Germany

11.9.2004   
            
            
               EN
            
            
               Official Journal of the European Union
            
            
               C 228/20
            
         Action brought on 8 June 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Federal Republic of Germany
   (Case C-244/04)
   (2004/C 228/40)
   An action against the Federal Republic of Germany was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 8 June 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities, represented by Gerald Braun and Enrico Traversa of its Legal Service, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
   The applicant claims that the Court should:
   
               1)
            
            
               declare the Federal Republic of Germany in breach of its obligations under Article 49 EC in that by its practice based on administrative circulars, it has consistently and disproportionately restricted the posting of non-member-country workers to Germany for the provision of services;
            
         
               2)
            
            
               order the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the costs.
            
         Pleas in law and main arguments:
   Workers who are nationals of a non-Member State and are to be posted to Germany in order to provide a service require a ‘work visa’, which is only issued if the worker was employed by the undertaking making the posting for a minimum of one year prior to the posting.
   In the view of the Commission, both (1) the practice based on an internal administrative instruction, of requiring a work permit in advance and (2) the issuing of such a permit only ‘Stammarbeitnehmer’ (regular/core workers) constitute an unjustified and disproportionate restriction on the freedom to provide services.