EU

EU standardisation of services worries trade unions

Common EU standards are aiming to speed up cross-border trade in services. Just as long as this doesn’t mean introducing EU rules through the backdoor which would be in breach with member states’ labour law and collective agreements, say trade unions – whose concern is shared by the Swedish government.

New government in Iceland

Iceland has a new government. It has announced a stop to EU membership negotiations to allow time to decide whether negotiations will continue at all. It is still unclear when a referendum on EU membership will take place.

Nordic countries: conflicting views on social dumping

 

Norway has its Laval judgement - but this time the union won

On 5 March Norway’s Supreme Court passed judgement in what in Norwegian has become known as ‘verftsaken’, or the shipbuilding case. The judgement has been called the most important win for the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO) in recent times. Losing this case could have been as significant for the fight against social dumping as the Laval case in neighbouring Sweden.

ILO critical of Sweden’s handling of the Laval case

Sweden’s Labour Court and ”lex Laval” comes under severe criticism from the International Labour Organisation, giving the Swedish government plenty of food for thought.