Overview of recent cases before the Court of Justice of the European Union (September 2020-December 2020)

Abstract

The reporting period (September 2020-December 2020) was a particularly intense time in terms of important judgments on social security with no fewer than four judgments from the Grand Chamber of the Court. This overview reports five cases in total. First, there are three cases on the Posted Workers Directive. The first two are on the dismissal of the annulment procedures regarding the adoption of the new Posted Workers Directive (Directive 2018/957) started by Hungary (C-620/18) and Poland (C-626/18). Then, the FNV case (C-815/18), which is on the application of the Posted Workers Directive (Directive 96/71) to the transnational provision of services in the road transport sector, is discussed. The overview continues onto other subjects, with a follow-up of the Dano and Alimanovic saga in the Job Center Krefeld case (C-181/19), which relates to the access to social assistance for a job-seeker who is the primary carer of a child receiving education in the host Member State. From there, commentary is given on the A v. Veselï bas ministrija case, which deals with the difficult balance between the freedom of religion and the system of prior authorization for planned healthcare. Finally, the Syndicat CFTC case (C-463/19) is reviewed, and it concerns the conditions under which an additional maternity leave can be reserved to female workers without being considered as discriminatory.