European Union Labor Law and Its Harmonization into National Law: Estonian Experience and Current Situation

In order to ensure uniform applicaCon of European Union law, member states must adopt European Union law. This can be done in different ways: harmonize European Union direcCves; implement European Union regulaCons; implement CJEU judgments. The European Union leaves the member states with the opCon of deciding how to implement EU law, either by harmonizing direcCves word for word or by establishing a legal framework only to implement the purpose of the direcCve.This article analyzes the application of European Union law to labor relations based on Estonian law. First, the competence of the European Union to establish legal norms in labor relations is analyzed. In the following, the personal scope of the labor law regulation of the European Union is analyzed. Finally, individual examples of how Estonia has applied European Union law to various aspects of labor relations are analyzed.