reSEArch-EU - European University of the Seas

SEA EU Talent Communications – Migration and human rights

Title:

Defending French national employment or posted workers’ rights?

Abstract

My communication deals with the protection of posted workers’ rights in France, where they are often perceived as a threat to national employment. Since the early 2000s and until the pandemic crisis, more and more “posted workers” were sent in French firms by their employers from other EU Member State – majorly from Southern and Eastern Europe – to carry out services on a temporary basis. The posting of workers is thus a major economic issue, at the core of political debates on the Common Market. This is especially the case in posted worker’s importing countries like France, which justifies anti-fraud policies. Based on a mix-method research design combining qualitative and quantitative data, I adress the tensions between the defense of French national employment and posted workers’ rights that run through these anti-fraud policies. First, I analyze how French anti-fraud programs aim to legitimize European legal reforms. Then, I will show how the French government pressure on the labour inspection generates a differential treatment of posted workers according to their nationality, with limited results regarding the protection of their rights.

Short CV

Pierre-Edouard Weill is associate professor at the University of Western Brittany and member of the Lab-LEX research team.

His work focuses on the sociology of law, social policy and cultural issues, combining qualitative and quantitative data and methodologies. He has published several books and various papers in French and international journals. Among his latest publications : (avec Sébastien Michon) «“East-West Split” about the Posting of Workers? Questioning the Representation of Socio-Economic Interests in the European Parliament », Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 2022 (online first); « From the Train Yard to the Auction House. Connecting the Graffiti Subculture to the Art Market », Cultural Sociology, vol. 16, n°1, 2022, pp. 45-67.

Contact: pierre-edouard.weill@univ-brest.fr