EUR-Lex Access to European Union law
This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Document C2005/045/26
Case C-490/04: Action brought on 29 November 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Federal Republic of Germany
Case C-490/04: Action brought on 29 November 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Federal Republic of Germany
Case C-490/04: Action brought on 29 November 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Federal Republic of Germany
OB C 45, 19.2.2005, p. 13–14
(ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, NL, PL, PT, SK, SL, FI, SV)
19.2.2005 |
EN |
Official Journal of the European Union |
C 45/13 |
Action brought on 29 November 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Federal Republic of Germany
(Case C-490/04)
(2005/C 45/26)
Language of the case: German
An action against the Federal Republic of Germany was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 29 November 2004 by the Commission of the European Communities, represented by Enrico Traversa and Horstpeter Kreppel, acting as Agents, with an address for service in Luxembourg.
The applicant claims that the Court should:
1. |
declare that, by providing that
the Federal Republic of Germany has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 49 EC; |
2. |
order the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the costs. |
Pleas in law and main arguments
The Commission contends that furthermore certain provisions of the AEntG which transposed Directive 96/71/EC on the posting of workers into national law do not comply with certain provisions of that directive.
Rules relating to the obligation of employers established in a Member State other than Germany to pay contributions to the German holiday pay fund
In the Commission's view, the obligation to pay contributions to the German holiday pay fund constitutes an inadmissible restriction on the freedom to provide services, within the meaning of Article 49 EC, where employers who post their workers grant them the same paid holiday entitlement as that laid down by the German rules contained in the collective agreements and, under the legal system in the State from which they are posted, such workers enjoy the same or similar protection with respect to holiday pay as is guaranteed in Germany.
Rules relating to the obligation of employers established in a Member State other than Germany to translate documents
In the Commission's view, the requirement for documents to be translated is appropriate to meeting Germany's monitoring needs. However, having regard to the cooperation on information provided for by Article 4 of the Directive on the posting of workers, the obligation to translate all documents is no longer necessary and is therefore too far-reaching.
Rules relating to the obligation of employment agencies established in a Member State other than Germany to notify the competent authorities of the change before each transfer of a posted worker from one building site to another one.
Even if the obligation of employment agencies established outside Germany to notify each change has been slightly amended, the Commission is of the view that there is still unequal treatment, as, in the case of employment agencies established in Germany, the obligation to notify each change falls on the user of the worker's services, while in the case of employment agencies established outside Germany that obligation falls in principle on the supplier of labour and can be transferred to the user of the worker's services only by means of a contractual agreement. This unequal treatment constitutes an inadmissible restriction on the freedom to provide services within the meaning of Article 49 EC.