The European precariat: the protection of precarious workers in the European Union

Carter, D.W. (2023)

Doctoral Thesis

The traditional concept of employment, which involved fixed, permanent contracts, with full time hours and security in work has gradually been replaced by a ‘neoliberal’ model of employment that prioritises the development of competitive labour markets through increased flexibility in work⁠. This shift has resulted in increasing levels of ‘precarious’ work: forms on non-standard employment that places the individual in a situation where they have little security in work or power over their working situation⁠. Examples of precarious employment include platform work, zero-hour and on-demand contracts, the repeated use of temporary⁠/short-term contracts, and bogus⁠/false self-employment⁠.
The European Precariat asks what level of protection is available to EU migrant workers engaged in precarious employment, who must navigate complex national migration and social security rules linked to their employment status⁠. The thesis assesses how economic and political changes affect the constitutional and political limitations of European integration; how the legal framework applicable to precarious workers risks creating gaps in the law and excluding them from certain protections; and finally suggests how EU migrant workers engaged in precarious work can be better protected under EU law while adhering to the economic, political, and constitutional limitations of the legal system⁠.

• European Union Law
• The Free Movement of Workers
• Precarious Employment
• Migration Law
• Social Law
• Employment Law
• Bogus Self-employment
• Social Security Law
• European Union Citizenship

• All authors: Carter, D.W.
• Supervisor: Tobler, R.C.
• Co-supervisor: Jesse, M.
• Committee: Dougan, M.; Nic Shuibhne, N.; Van den Bogaert, S.; Kosta, V.
• Qualification: Doctor (dr.)
• Awarding Institution: Institute of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Leiden University
• Date: 2023-04-19