Setting the scene: Understanding the context of workers rights and the Posted Workers Directive

The Treaty of Rome, which was signed in 1957, laid down the legal foundations for the European Economic Community (EEC), and, from 1993, the European Union. The treaty enshrined four fundamental freedoms which were designed to be the framework for all future EU legislation - free movement of goods, services, capital, and people. These freedoms reflected the treaty's vision of a unified European market. The free movement of goods facilitated trade by removing tariffs and quotas, while the freedom of services and capital encouraged investment and financial integration. Additionally, the free movement of people allowed EU citizens to live, work, and study in any member state.

In parallel, since the very early days of the EU, its legislators have had as one of their key areas of focus the protection of workers' rights, and specifically to uplevel these rights as part of a social improvement agenda, and to equalise them, thereby helping facilitate free movement. To achieve this, over the last 60 years the European Union has enacted numerous directives and regulations aimed at safeguarding the rights and well-being of workers across member states. These measures covered a wide range of areas, including working conditions, health and safety standards, equal treatment, and collective bargaining rights.

So, in the context of workers’ rights, what is the issue that the Posted Worker’s Directives are trying to deal with?