One Step Forward, Two Steps Back? The Viking and Laval Cases in the ECJ

This article analyses the judgements of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Case C-438/05 International Transport Workers’ Federation and Finnish Seamen's Union v Viking Line (Judgement 11 December 2007) and Case C-341/05 Laval v Svenska Byggnadsarbetareforbundet (Judgement 18 December 2007). In these cases, the ECJ held that where industrial action infringes an employer's free movement rights under Article 43 EC (freedom of establishment) and Article 49 EC (freedom to provide services), respectively, these Treaty provisions can have horizontal direct effect against the unions organizing the action. Unions may defend themselves against these claims by asserting a right to strike (which the Court recognized as a fundamental right within Community law) but only where they are acting proportionately in the exercise of that right. The article explores the key elements of the ECJ's decisions on direct effect, fundamental rights and proportionality, and draws out some of the implications of these cases for English law.