Service contracts which involve the movement of workers can result in a certain number of social problems. For example, it is generally difficult to measure labour flows stemming from such contracts and to know their impact on the labour market. In addition, legislation on social matters, in particular that relating to labour and to social security, differs from one country to another. In this context, international labour mobility can give rise to a fraudulent use of service contracts and lead to forms of "social dumping".

In her report, the author defines service contracts in the context of Community law and specifies the conditions under which contracted services can be freely supplied in the European Communities. This right has been extended to other non-Community countries and was considered in the GATT negotiations on trade in services. The author then identifies restrictions on the free supply of services and examines their impact on movements of non-EC workers and on fraudulent ...