Smart mobility in the European labour market: a legal assessment of the European approach to transnational labour in the new world of work

This research project examines the influence of the new world of work on the legal setting of transnational labour in the EU and attempts to reach out an improved typology of labour mobility and suggestions to adapt the current European mobility legislation. The main focus concerns therefore the question whether the current European mobility legislation still offers an adequate response to a specific new form of work, namely the smart mobility. The legislation that will be reviewed entails the provisions of the free movement of workers and services (posting) and the private international law. The research hypothesis is that these legal provisions are not adjusted to the challenges of smart workers. This legal exercise tries to push through the traditional clash between the social and the economical dimension. Instead, it puts the developments and trends of the new world of work central, by focusing on the rising digitalization of labour and the establishment of all new forms of work on the labour market. The emerging phenomenons of virtual labour markets and smart work referring to 'working anytime, anywhere' raise new legal questions regarding their applicable labour conditions. These megatrends will be evaluated by a new approach of 'fair mobility' and of the 'European Labour Market', for which normative frameworks will be used. Replacing the traditional approach with a European Labour Market one enables this research to gain new perspectives and to provide potential innovative suggestions regarding the legal position of smart workers. This research therefore concludes with a few recommendations for positive law using this normative framework.