EU states eye political response to Laval court ruling

Published: Friday 10 October 2008 Employment ministers from France, Luxembourg and Sweden yesterday (9 October) called for a political solution to European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that has inflamed debate on the balance between workers' rights and economic freedom in the EU. The ministers convened at the Forum on Workers' Rights and Economic Freedoms in Brussels to discuss the implications of the Laval court ruling, which has come under fire for opening the door to "wage dumping" within the Union . The Laval case concerned a Latvian company which posted dozens of workers at a Swedish building site on wages below the national minimum, triggering legal action from Swedish trade unions. But in a landmark ruling, the ECJ said minimum working conditions were limited by the EU's principles of freedom of movement and... [read full story]