The Evolving Concept of “worker” in EU law

Abstract

The Court of Justice of the European Union has been shaping over the last thirty years the concept of “worker” for the purpose of determining the scope of application of employment rights provided by EU labour law. The concept, initially elaborated with a view to enhance the free movement of workers within the common market, has then been extended to other pieces of EU labour legislation and to the so-called labour exception to antitrust law. The outcome of the Court’s jurisprudence is the expansion of the employment protections granted by EU labour law beyond the employment contract, to the benefit of non-subordinate workers economically and/or operationally dependent from a client/principal.