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EU:s förändrade utstationeringsdirektiv– Socialt skydd eller förtäckt protektionism?

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Abstract

I denna rapport analyseras utstationeringsdirektivets utveckling och 2018 års förändring. Leder förändringen till att den inre marknaden stärks genom ett ökat social skydd eller utgör den en förtäckt form av protektionism? Utstationering handlar om villkoren för arbetstagare som tillfälligt levererar en tjänst i en annan medlemsstat än i den där de är anställda.

Den tidigare formuleringen om minimilön i direktivets hårda kärna ersätts med ett vidare ersättningsbegrepp. Konsekvenserna beror i hög grad på hur detta ersättningsbegrepp tolkas: som ersättningar på miniminivå, vilket direktivtexten indikerar, eller som ”lika lön för lika arbete”.

Ett huvudproblem med den senare tolkningen, vilken exempelvis den svenska regeringen retoriskt förespråkat, är att detta i praktiken är svårt att tillämpa och riskerar att leda till godtycklig diskriminering och till processuell orättvisa för utländska tjänsteleverantörer. Särskilt problematiskt kan detta bli i länder som Sverige, där löner och andra villkor bestäms genom icke-allmängiltiga kollektivavtal.

Tolkat som ersättning till minimivillkor kan förändringen förvisso bedömas som proportionerlig, men blir inte heller då enkel att tillämpa, då Arbetsmiljöverkets information till utländska tjänsteföretag redan i dag är bristfällig.

Förändringen kan därför, oavsett hur den tolkas, inte sägas vara nödvändig eller effektiv för att uppnå ett socialt skydd för utstationerade löntagare. Redan i dag ligger svenska minimilöner långt över de villor som gäller i länder de utstationerade löntagarna vanligtvis kommer ifrån. Risken är därför att tillämpningen fungerar som en form av förtäckt protektionism.

Det förändrade utstationeringsdirektivet kan även påverka den svenska arbetsmarknadsmodellens funktionssätt då en enskild myndighet, och i förlängningen även EU-domstolen, kan komma tolka och i praktiken närmast allmängiltigförklara svenska kollektivavtal.

Karlson, N. (2019). EU:s förändrade utstationeringsdirektiv – Socialt skydd eller förtäckt protektionism?, (Arbetsmarknadsprogrammet, rapport nr. 8) Stockholm: Ratio.

Details

Author
Karlson, N.
Publication year
2019
Published in

Arbetsmarknadsprogrammet

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  • Bild av Nils Karlson, medarbetare på Ratio
    Professor, Founder and former CEO

    Nils Karlson

    +46708670351nils.karlson@ratio.se

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Insider activism refers to situations where public officials use administrative discretion to advance personal or ideological preferences. Although the concept has received increasing attention in organizational and political science research, empirical evidence remains limited. This research note examines whether insider activism may influence regulatory practice in the Swedish forestry sector and how perceived enforcement uncertainty affects forest owners’ behavior. A survey of forest owner representatives in southern Sweden indicates low trust in regulatory objectivity and weak perceptions of legal security. Many respondents report experiences of officials acting beyond their formal mandate. The findings suggest that perceived activism-driven uncertainty encourages defensive strategies among forest owners, including early harvesting and reduced willingness to report environmental values.

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This paper aims to analyse how the European Union (EU) energy policy has merged social policy concepts with energy efficiency policy. Energy efficiency has increasingly become understood through social policy concepts such as energy poverty, energy inequality, and lack of cohesion. Previous research has shown how the social aspects of energy efficiency have been highlighted by the European Commission when discussing the multiple benefits of increased energy efficiency efforts, such as building renovations.

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Working Paper No. 383 Insider activism in the forest industry: An empirical public choice analysis

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Published in

Ratio Working Paper Series

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Insider activism—where bureaucrats use discretionary power to advance own ideological goals—has significant implications for regulatory stability and property rights security. Using the Swedish forestry industry as a case study, the purpose of this study is to investigate if insider activism affects the Swedish forestry sector and how such possible regulatory uncertainty influences economic decision-making. Assembled survey data suggest that forest owners perceive regulatory enforcement as unpredictable, leading to defensive actions such as premature harvesting to preempt restrictive future regulations. To explain these patterns, we apply public choice theory and a game-theoretic approach, demonstrating how bureaucratic drift, regulatory ratcheting, and time-inconsistency problems contribute to persistent distortions in forestry policies. Policy wise, the findings emphasize the need for judicial review, regulatory impact assessments, and clearer legislative mandates to reduce enforcement uncertainty and improve institutional trust. This research advances discussions on bureaucratic incentives, regulatory capture, and legal certainty in environmental policy.

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