EU economic freedoms and social dumping

In the book, Market Expansion and Social Dumping in Europe, edited by Magdalena Bernaciak and published by Routledge, Jan Cremers (AIAS) contributes with a chapter called ‘EU economic freedoms and social dumping’. He demonstrates how the emphasis on the primacy of economic freedoms has negatively affected the application of the EU social policy. He discusses the legal ambiguities accompanying the notions of the freedom of establishment and the free service provision. He cites some recent cases of abuse of this freedom through the spread of letter-box companies leading to the creation of 'genuine undertakings' that serve as transnational recruiters of workers, thereby treating labour as a commodity. The freedom of establishment has created an industry of incubators able to deliver ready-made companies whose sole purpose is to circumvent national regulations, labour standards and social security obligations.