EU and international labour law 2200-1I103-ERA

Labour law is no longer a pure national issue, instead it can be characterized as a typical topic of legal pluralism. Within the European continent, labour law is regulated by the national legislation of the European states themselves, influenced by the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Social Charter of the Council of Europe, and for those countries that are also a member of the European Union, labour law is also heavily influenced by the regulations, directives, recommendations and strategies of the European Union (EU). Furthermore, labour law is shaped by the labour standards of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which have been codified in conventions and of which some have the status of core or fundamental labour rights, meaning that they apply whether those conventions have been ratified or not. On top of all this, there are also transnational rules that influence national labour laws. This means, that in order to become an all-round labour lawyer, besides profound knowledge of national labour law, knowledge and understanding of European, international and transnational labour law is also necessary. That is exactly what this course aims to offer.

The course European Union and International Labour Law starts with a focus on EU labour law and next of The part of the course that deals with international labour law.

EU labour law starts with an exploration of the main topic itself: labour law. What do we mean with labour law? What does it refer to in your national jurisdictions and how does that compare to what the EU is doing? Second, when working with EU labour law we have to understand the relationship between the legal order the EU is creating and the legal jurisdictions of its Member States. This is especially true when we are dealing with the EU’s fundamental rights. The remaining meetings will be devoted to particular topics of EU labour law, namely free movement and posting of workers, equal treatment, and occupational health and safety and working time.

International labour law starts with the study of the International Labour Organization. One of the oldest international organizations in the world, established by the Treaty of Versaille and its Constitutional treaty in 1919. The reason for its establishment is closely related to the creation and maintenance of peace: peace at the labour market is peace in society. How is this peace at the labour market created? What are the ILO’s foundational principles? How have they been worked out in labour standards? What are the ILO’s core labour standards and what does that mean in practice? How is compliance with the ILO’s labour standards enforced and monitored? During the first four meetings we will explore these questions. Then we will move on to how international labour law works from the perspective of a transnationally operating company. What kind of laws and regulations are they bound by? What are CSR, ESG and HRDD? What are countries doing? How does all this relate to the ILO’s (core) labour standards?

The classes will be a mix of lectures and seminars, depending on the topic and time devoted to a topic.

The teaching methods that will be used foster interactions in the forms of debates, solving problems, exploring and evaluating developments of EU labour law, and analysing the context in which EU labour law operates.

The teaching methods will also support the development of soft skills, such as writing, presenting, debating, communication, and group work, and research skills, such as working with databases of the EU (Eurlex and Curia), thw ILO and the OECD. This means that for every meeting texts need to be read and assignments need to be prepared.

The course will be taught in English.