12 - General principles of enforcement of European labour law

Summary

Introduction

European labour law, as the law of the EU, has specific qualities of enforceability which distinguish it from domestic labour laws. However, European labour law also has specific qualities which distinguish it from other branches of EC law.

In domestic law, it is recognised that different branches of law have adapted specialised enforcement mechanisms to their specific exigencies. As the various branches of EU law develop, it becomes apparent that to talk in general terms of enforcement of EU law risks overlooking the specific enforcement mechanisms adopted in different branches.

Comparative analysis of national systems of labour law reveals differences between the enforcement mechanisms used in labour laws of different countries. The enforcement of EU law will have its own characteristics, but it will bear the imprint of the national system in which it operates.

The specific quality of EU labour law, in terms of the combination of different enforcement mechanisms to be adopted, is still open to debate. Everything that has been said about the nature of European labour law, its synthesis of national experience in the form of EU level regulation, applies also to the issue of enforcement of EU labour law. Enforcement mechanisms of European labour law cannot be a wholly autonomous product. National traditions of labour law enforcement will not easily give way to purely EU legal technique. Rather, the EU has experimented with a number of traditional techniques, some of which have had more success than others.