The Far-Reaching Implications of the Laval Quartet: The Case of the UK Living Wage

Abstract

Abstract The decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Laval quartet1 called in question the diversity of labour law rules and industrial relations systems at national level and brought the issue of the interaction between economic freedoms and social rights in the European Union (EU) into political focus.2 While related to the question of labour standards in the case of posted workers, Rüffert has been used to question in some cases the more general issue of the application of Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) to the inclusion of social and environmental considerations in procurement. Against this context, the paper examines the implications of Rüffert for the UK Living Wage. While the UK government has relied on the CJEU case law to challenge the inclusion of living wage clauses in public procurement, there is evidence of significant consolidation and even further promotion of the Living Wage Campaign. This may be attributed to the concerted efforts of non-judicial actors to respond to the challenges to the campaign following Rüffert3 as well to recent developments in UK procurement law that provide for a more supportive reading of living wage clauses in public procurement.