Cross-border workers in the Greater Region at the heart of Europe sometimes encounter legal or administrative obstacles. The components of the Greater Region have been taking measures to remedy this situation as early as 2011 by creating a project responsible for elaborating solutions and working towards their implementation: Task Force Frontaliers de la Grande Region / Task Force Grenzgänger der Großregion(Task Force Frontier workers of the Greater Region - TFF).

The COVID-19 pandemic of recent years has also brought its share of difficulties for cross-border workers and the companies that employ them. A major example was the exclusion of cross-border workers employed in Germany from compensation for loss of earnings in cases of quarantine ordered by their state of residence. In fact, cross-border workers cannot meet one of the conditions required by the German "Infektionsschutzgesetz" (Law on the protection against infection) concerning compensation for loss of earnings, stating that the quarantine must be issued by a German authority. As a result, and because they were also not able to obtain compensation in their State of residence, many commuters from France and Belgium were left empty-handed. The TFF advocated compensation for cross-border commuters right from the start of the pandemic and published a legal expertise with solutions in 2022. 

The situation has recently been clarified by the ECJ in a judgment of 15th June 2023 (case C‑411/22 Thermalhotel Fontana). In response to a request for a preliminary ruling from the Austrian Supreme Administrative Court, the ECJ ruled as follows:

 “Article 45 TFEU and Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 April 2011 on freedom of movement for workers within the Union must be interpreted as precluding legislation of a Member State under which the granting of compensation for loss of earnings suffered by workers as a result of isolation ordered following a positive COVID-19 test result is subject to the condition that the imposition of the isolation measure be ordered by an authority of that Member State under that legislation.” 

Such a provision in national law is contrary to the principle of freedom of movement as it in fact contains an indirect condition of residence on national territory which constitutes an indirect discrimination that is not objectively justified by the public health interest. This is in line with the position of the TFF in its legal expertise published in 2022.  

Germany must now comply with this decision in order to avoid infringement of European law: cross-border workers may no longer be excluded from compensation. The decision is also binding on German courts. 

That's one more legal obstacle solved on the cross-border labour market in the Greater Region!

Related links:

-Legal expertise of the Task Force Frontier workers of the Greater Region on this topic: in German / in French

-Judgment of the ECJ: case C‑411/22 Thermalhotel Fontana

-More information on the Greater Region: The Greater Region at a Glance — Grande Region

-More information on the Task Force Frontier workers of the Greater Region : in German / in French