Trügerisches soziales Europa

The European integration process has always been closely linked to economic liberalisation, which has mostly been pursued without sufficient social integration. Moreover, with the enlargement rounds since 2004, the socio-economic heterogeneity of the member states has further increased. The European Union has recognised this discrepancy between social and economic integration and emphasised its efforts towards a social Europe with various initiatives. Is it no longer the case that the EU is biased towards economic interests? Have the chances of success for a social Europe improved? This article explores these questions using the example of the posting of third-country nationals. The authors focus on the national handling of the posting of third-country nationals in two important posting countries: Poland and Slovenia. They find that inter-state cooperation takes place at both the administrative and the societal level to foster social goals. Yet, the regulations are so complex, and the control of posting is extremely difficult to handle administratively so that exploitation can barely be curbed.