Language of document :

Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark (Austria) lodged on 15 October 2018 — NE

(Case C-645/18)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landesverwaltungsgericht Steiermark

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: NE

Respondent authority: Bezirkshauptmannschaft Hartberg-Fürstenfeld

Interested party: Finanzpolizei

Questions referred

Must Article 56 TFEU, Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services 1 and Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC 2 be interpreted as precluding a national provision which, for infringements of formal obligations in connection with the cross-border deployment of labour, such as a failure to make available documents relating to pay and social security documentation or a failure to report to the Central Coordination Office, provides for very high fines, in particular high minimum penalties, which are imposed cumulatively in respect of each worker concerned?

If the answer to Question 1 is in the negative:

Must Article 56 TFEU, Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC be interpreted as precluding the imposition of cumulative fines for infringements of formal obligations in connection with the cross-border deployment of labour which have no absolute upper limits?

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1 OJ 1997 L 18, p. 1.

2 OJ 2014 L 159, p. 11.