SOCIAL POLICY: COURT CLARIFIES SOCIAL SECURITY LAW FOR POSTED WORKERS.

Fitzwilliam Executive Search Ltd (FTS), an Irish company established in Dublin, is engaged in the provision of temporary personnel. The company places temporary workers of Irish nationality resident in Ireland in their home state and in the Netherlands. Employment contracts are all governed by Irish law. The workers remain registered with the Irish social security system when posted to the Netherlands. An E 101 certificate drawn up by the Irish Department of Social Welfare certifies that they are covered by that system. However, the Dutch authorities asked FTS to pay employers' contributions in the Netherlands for posted employees because its turnover between 1993 and 1996 was higher in the Netherlands than in Ireland. FTS challenged this decision before the Amsterdam District Court, which asked the Court of Justice to rule on the application of Community law in the matter.Community rules on the application of social security schemes to employees say that the latter are subject to the social security system of the Member State in which they are working (even if the employees live in another Member State or if their employer...