22. Free Movement of Workers

Abstract

All books in this flagship series contain carefully selected substantial extracts from key cases, legislation, and academic debate, providing students with a stand-alone resource. The free movement of workers is of central importance to the EU, in both economic and social terms. This is reflected in the legislation that fleshes out the basic rights contained in Article 45 and in the European Court of Justice’s consistently purposive interpretation of the Treaty Articles and legislation to achieve the EU’s objectives in this area. This chapter considers several central legal issues that arise in the context of the free movement of workers. These include the scope of Article 45, the meaning accorded to ‘worker’, the rights of intermediate categories such as ‘job-seeker’, the kinds of restrictions that states may justifiably impose on workers and their families; and the rights which family members enjoy under EU law. The UK version contains a further section analysing issues concerning free movement of workers between the EU and the UK post-Brexit.