The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of six women from Eastern Europe who want to work as prostitutes in the Netherlands. The women had argued they should be granted this right under the terms of the treaties between the European Union and its applicant countries. But the courts’ ruling may have little effect on the situation of the six women who brought their case this far.
The European Court declared that prostitution can be legally defined as an economic activity within the terms of the agreements between the EU, and Poland and the Czech republic. So in theory, the six women who were previously denied residents permits in the Netherlands, should now be able
to work as self-employed prostitutes here on an equal footing with independent workers in other professions.
But in practice the court’s ruling isn’t quite so clear cut. The court also declared that EU member states are entitled to apply their national immigration regulations in accordance with their national interests. The court said that in this case, the right of entry into the EU isn’t an absolute privilege. So it can be just as difficult now as it was before for prostitutes from Eastern Europe to be granted residence permits from the Dutch authorities who argue that they need strict controls on the sex industry in order to fight the illegal trade in women trafficking.
Now the case of the six women goes back to a Dutch court, which is expected to give a similar ruling that the women should be allowed to work as prostitutes here, but that the immigration service has the final say.
BBC news want to produce a reportage about the case and send a crew to the Netherlands. One of the six east-European women is interviewed about her quest to get a work permit in the Netherlands to work as a sex worker. Her lawyer explains what the case is about and what the chances of the women are. A specialist a foundation promoting acceptation of and discussion about prostitution
and a professor in European immigration law from the University of Nijmegen give their views on the case.
For this BBC news reportage Featurez gave advice, did the research, set-up and planning, and accompanied the filming.