Network Cooperation in the Enforcement of EU Mobile Workers’ Labour Rights: Structures of Cooperation between Host and Origin Countries

During the Covid-19 pandemic, several incidents in the meat processing and harvesting sector demonstrated that labour rights of EU mobile workers are often only partially enforced. Existing literature illustrates that enforcement frequently fails due to differences between administrative actors across member states or a lack of access to interest representation for mobile workers. While the importance to foster cooperation for more efficient enforcement of EU law has been widely acknowledged, the focus often remains on cooperation between member state authorities. This paper aims to shed light on cooperation beyond the structures of horizontal and vertical cooperation. Therefore, I examine how political and administrative actors, but also actors from civil society interact and cooperate in the cross-border enforcement process. What kinds of actors are recognized? Under which circumstances do actors in the enforcement process cooperate? How do these actors shape the policy enforcement process? I examine cross-border cooperation between Germany (one of the main host countries for mobile workers) and Poland (one of the main countries of origin). Empirically, this paper is based on semi-structured interviews with union representatives, political actors, and members of the administration in Poland and in Germany. I interpret my data through qualitative network analysis (QNA) and supplement the interviews with government and media reports. Analysing actor dynamics and building on existing literature on cross-border cooperation and enforcement of EU law, I find that cooperation to enforce mobile workers’ labour rights does not function merely linearly between authorities, but in networks of various actors and along the lines of specific projects.