Abstract
Western Europe is the developed world’s most attractive location for the posting of workers. The eastward expansion of the EU has widened the wage gaps between Member States and heightened the risk of social dumping. The liberalization of posting was initially pursued as part of the strategy for developing the internal market for services. But this came up against strong resistance in some Member States, prompting Community regulators to improve the protection of posted workers. As globalization’s testing ground for the effects of trade openness, the European internal market shows that safeguards are needed to counterbalance the liberalization of posting.