Flex Work Research Centre

This article analyzes the Directive on Temporary Agency Work (2008) in the face of a new internal market in services in the European Union. I argue that the adoption of this Directive is paradoxical: on the one hand, it breaks the lengthy stalemate characterizing workers’ and employers’ efforts to craft a framework agreement. On the other hand, the compromise reached marks a setback for workers’ protection because the Directive qualifies equal treatment and its adoption fuels pressure to include services provided by temporary work agencies within the Services Directive (2006).