EU states divided over planned revision of labour laws

Better-off countries, mostly from Western Europe, have argued that current laws on the posting of workers are unfair as they give low-cost employees from abroad an advantage over their local peers.

Last year, the European Commission proposed equal pay rules for delegated workers in the bloc, drawing criticism from 10 former communist countries, including Poland, and Denmark.

“This is a protectionist measure. It is also very harmful to Polish workers, for example, or to other workers from lower-wage countries,” said Damjan Kukovec of the European University Institute.