Re-embedding the transnational employment relationship – can the Commission proposal deliver?

In this paper, I explore the debate on cross-border posting of workers in the EU from the perspective of ‘(dis)embeddedness’. Posting of workers profoundly challenges the embedding of the labour relationship itself and the market on which the work is performed. In this contribution I will analyse different aspects of the concept to see whether it can provide new insights into the problem of regulating this controversial issue. In doing so, I will look into the following questions: Which rules and mechanisms currently determine the level of protection of an EU worker who is hired to perform services in another Member State? How can these mechanisms be understood from the perspective of embedding? Does the concept shed new light on the controversy surrounding posting of workers? Does it help to predict the success of the current proposal?