The Right to Strike vs. Business Freedom: How Does the EU Find a Balance?

This is one of the core questions legal professionals face when navigating the tension between fundamental rights and economic interests.

Our second-year Master’s students in Law had the opportunity to discuss this issue with Prof. Dr. Eva Kocher (Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Germany).

During the lecture, students:

– explored the main provisions of EU collective bargaining law;
– engaged in a discussion on the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the right to strike as a fundamental EU right;
– examined how this right interacts with the freedom of establishment and business activities within EU member states.

Prof. Kocher also highlighted the CJEU’s approach to legitimate interest and the principle of proportionality in restricting rights and freedoms.

The lecture was delivered as part of the European Labor Law course at the invitation of Dr Ivan Yatskevych, Head of the Private Law Department.

We are grateful to Prof. Kocher for an insightful dialogue that allowed our students to see how EU collective labor law works in practice.