As will be shown, one of the fundamental differences between France and Germany is the fact that in France external monitoring of labour law provisions plays a dominant role whereas in Germany internal monitoring is the most important mechanism. This differenceisdeeplyrootedintheculturalandpoliticaltraditionsofthetwocountries. It goes without saying that the purpose cannot be to attempt a comprehensive assessment of effectiveness of labour law in Germany. Instead some randomly selected examples are chosen to illustrate the problems at stake.