Die Gestaltung des neuen Europas nach der EU-Erweiterung: Rechtliche und politische Implikationen de "Laval un Partneri-streits" um Sozialstandards zwischen Lettland und Schweden

The accession to the European Union of Central and East European new member states with weak trade union movements and poorly developed social dialogue may pose a threat to regulated labour standards in advanced social democracies with strong trade union movements such as Sweden. This article examines the political, economic and legal implications of a labour dispute in the construction industry arising from the presence of Latvian contract labour in Sweden employed by Laval un Partneri. The dispute exemplifies in microcosm the perceived challenges to labour standards posed by the recent Eastward enlargement of the EU.