Posting: Social protection of workers vs fundamental freedoms?

Introduction:

The ECJ has recently repeatedly had to deal with national provisions which grant social protection to employees posted from one country to another, and which thereby at the same time render their activities more difficult for their employers. In the provisions concerned, not only social protectionwas at play, but partly also protectionist tendencies. The ECJ clearly found it difficult in the application of the fundamental freedoms, especially the freedom to provide services, to assess the social intentions behind the different national statutes. But the decisions not only reflect the tensions between social protection and the creation of the internal market. They also provide new insight into the structure of the norms on the fundamental freedoms.