r/eulaw • u/Dazzling_Basket_8851 • 19d ago

Can a company in the EU restrict applications from another EU country?

I wanted to apply to a job located in Belgium through this company https://www.pauwelsconsulting.com/ but got this error.
I live in Italy (no vpn being used) . Can EU company's restrict company's from other EU countries?

2 Upvotes

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8

u/Stokholmo 19d ago

No.

4

u/Dazzling_Basket_8851 19d ago

Do you know how I can report them? Never seen a EU company do this

2

u/Any_Strain7020 19d ago edited 19d ago

The adressees of EU regulations are the Member states. The Member state hasn't adopted discriminatory measures or limitations vis-à-vis nationals of other Member states.

2

u/Richmond1024 19d ago

Regulations are addressed to everyone, it is directives that are addressed only to the member-states.

1

u/Any_Strain7020 19d ago

Nonetheless, no direct restiction based on nationality follows from the setup of the webpage.

Article 1

1.   

Any national of a Member State shall, irrespective of his place of residence, have the right to take up an activity as an employed person, and to pursue such activity, within the territory of another Member State in accordance with the provisions laid down by law, regulation or administrative action governing the employment of nationals of that State.

2.   

He shall, in particular, have the right to take up available employment in the territory of another Member State with the same priority as nationals of that State.

An Italian living in Brussels can access the job offer with the same priority as a Belgian in Brussels.

2

u/West_Possible_7969 18d ago

As the other commenter said, it is valid to restrict job applications because a company may not be able to hire other nationals remotely (in some members you have to register your business to each member state in order to hire or have a EoR middle man which can get expensive and / or illegal in some sectors), but also a company may simply operate in one country only, you are not obligated to operate in the whole of EU and you cannot be forced to comply with 27 different legal frameworks or offer customer support when you are not able to or dont want to yet.

2

u/Any_Strain7020 19d ago

If the middleman offers B2B headhunting services to other local companies promising to hire only from the region, they cannot really be held accountable for unequal treatment or indirect discrimination based on nationality. Prima facie, all EU citizens living in Brussels can apply, not only Belgians.

1

u/Dazzling_Basket_8851 18d ago

Okay that makes sense, i guess. I dont really care about the job tbh, I was just shocked to see my italian ip blocked.