Challenges in Intra-EU Labour Migration: Freedom of Movement and Combating Discrimination with a Focus on CEE Workers’ Treatment

Tena Konjević

doi:10.55073/2025.1.75-88

Authors

Tena Konjević Teaching Assistant, Chair of Labour and Social Security Law Sciences and Social Work, Faculty of Law Osijek, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia; PhD Candidate, Deák Ferenc Doctoral School of Law of the University of Miskolc; Researcher, Central European Academy in Budapest, Hungary https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9256-9103

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55073/2025.1.75-88

Keywords:

free movement, nationality discrimination, CEE workers, transitional arrangements, EU labour law

Abstract

The legal and contextual framework of the European Union that regulates workers’ freedom of movement is thoroughly examined in this article, with a particular focus on concerns of discrimination—both direct and indirect—that arise in the EU labour market. The free movement of labour is the cornerstone of the EU, but putting this principle into practice has presented a number of complex issues. Therefore, to provide a thorough understanding of the complexities surrounding worker mobility in the Union, the article begins with a thorough analysis of the legal and contextual framework of the principle of free movement of workers within the European Union. The main focus, meanwhile, continues to be on the complications brought about by (un)equal treatment based on nationality. This involves carefully examining direct discrimination, which means differences and obstacles that affect workers from certain countries, leading to unequal treatment. The cases decided by the CJEU help illustrate this concept. Moreover, the paper scrutinises the concept of indirect discrimination, whereby ostensibly impartial policies or transitional arrangements disproportionately impact specific worker cohorts, particularly those from Central-East European countries. These arrangements entailed intricate application protocols, encompassing prerequisites such as work permits, quotas, suitability assessments, and assorted national regulations, thereby adding complexity to the exercise of freedom of movement for CEE workers. Finally, the author critically examines the transitional arrangements in the context of (in)direct discrimination of CEE countries’ mobile workers. In summary, this paper illuminates the complexities surrounding the freedom of movement for workers within the EU, dissecting issues of discrimination and (un)equal treatment based on nationality while critically assessing the impact of transitional arrangements for the CEE workers in that context.

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